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Office of Research, Trent University
TIPS ON HOW TO FILL IN AN APPLICATION
Advice to Potential Applicants
Taken from presentation written by SSHRC Research Officer L.
Messier
Office of Research, Trent University
Preparation & Overall Presentation
Do not submit a premature proposal Ensure that the necessary ground-work
has been done (i.e. extensive literature review, verification of the availability of resources, etc.)
Invest time in the preparation of your proposal…committees can spot a hastily prepared proposal
Make sure that all parts are well organized and laid out logically, without repetition
Office of Research, Trent University
Preparation & Overall Presentation con’t
Ensure that there are no errors in spelling, grammar or fact
Present a well written and carefully crafted proposal using the limited space to maximum advantage
Use clear, unambiguous language. Avoid jargon and trendy terms
Ask a trusted colleague for feedback on your draft
Office of Research, Trent University
Presentation of your research program
Present your proposal in such a way as to convey confidence and convince your peers that the likelihood of scholarly outcomes is high
Avoid appearing too tentative Present a challenging research topic
that sparks the interest and engages the imagination of the peer reviewers
Your excitement about your research should be evident in your proposal
Office of Research, Trent University
Presentation of your research program
Establish clearly the need for this research Demonstrate its importance and originality,
by explaining gaps in existing literature Prepare your proposal with the assessors
and committee in mind. Anticipate possible questions or objections they may raise
Try to strike a balance between ambition and realism. Set challenging yet realistic goals (i.e. in terms of chronology, themes, sources covered)
Office of Research, Trent University
Presentation of your research program
Be as specific as possible about the parameters of the research
The committee should have a good idea of where this research will lead…no fishing expeditions
Demonstrate how this new research builds upon your past work and accomplishments
Office of Research, Trent University
Statement of objectives and theoretical framework Present your objectives and key research
questions in a clear and precise manner Articulate clearly the theoretical or
conceptual framework guiding the research
Do not neglect the literature review Situate your research within the context
of the literature and current debates in the field
Office of Research, Trent University
Statement of objectives and theoretical framework
Present differences in viewpoint in a positive and constructive manner
Define all key terms or concepts Underlying assumptions should be
made explicit and justified Append a list of all references cited
Office of Research, Trent University
Methodology
Explain and justify your choice of methodology
There should be an evident synergy between your objectives and the chosen methodology
Office of Research, Trent University
Presenting your C.V.
In presenting your c.v., follow the instructions on the application form
Provide complete citations of published work
Organize your publications in a clear and logical manner (i.e. group refereed publications together)
Office of Research, Trent University
Presenting your C.V. Make sure you include page numbers
for everything you list Avoid inflating the c.v. (i.e. double
entries that are not explicit, claiming book reviews are articles, claiming all conference presentations as “refereed”)
Demonstrate your productivity from previous grants (especially past SSHRC grants)
Office of Research, Trent University
Budget and Students
Present a reasonable and fully justified budget
Note the university per diem, etc. Use students creatively Explain the role of students and
the anticipated benefits to student training
Office of Research, Trent University
Budget and Students Give some detail to this; do not just say
they will benefit from your mentoring or example
There is supposedly no discrimination against universities without grad programs in the area of the applicant
Think about where you might obtain grad research aid from a nearby university, use honours students or make use of grad students from Trent’s interdisciplinary programs
Office of Research, Trent University
The Team
In a team application, the role and contribution of each member should be elaborated
If you are re-submitting an application, try to make improvements over the previous one, incorporating if appropriate the feedback from assessors/committee
Office of Research, Trent University
The Team You can include a response to previous
reviewers…Keep this constructive as possible (don’t get into debates with past reviewers)
*New Scholars: Don’t submit a project that sounds the same as a recent thesis or post-doctoral fellowship project. This should be “new” research, even if it is building on something you have already done
Office of Research, Trent University
Ways to ensure you will annoy the committee! Write in a small font- even it if is
allowable Avoid paragraph breaks and headings,
especially if you write in a small font Reduce the space between lines,
especially in you write in a small font Reduce the margins Do all of the above and whine in your
application that you don’t have enough space to explain your methodology
Office of Research, Trent University
Be annoying in your research record! Avoid paragraph breaks and hard
returns in your research record Mix up your submitted articles and
random thoughts with your refereed publications
Include articles more than 6 years old
Don’t bother to use any recognized method of referencing
Office of Research, Trent University
More ways to ensure you are annoying Say “there is NO research on my topic”
when you are NOT 100% sure Manage to work in a critique about last
year’s committee ( be sure to get your requested assess to do this too)
Get together a team of three researchers and submit basically the same grant three times (to the same committee)
Office of Research, Trent University
Still More…
Assume you are so prominent you can get by on your record and don’t bother much about the grant itself
Include a prominent researcher as a co-investigator but don’t give him/her a clearly defined role
Office of Research, Trent University
Be annoying in you budget Say you need a full time research director (not
encouraged by the way) as well as 3 or 4 full time Research Assistants to run your apparently straightforward study
Say computers cost $6000+ when we know that they don’t
Ask for $2000 travel at the end of the first year when it is doubtful that you will have anything to report until the end of the second year
Use lots of non-student personnel to minimize the impact of the council’s grant money
Office of Research, Trent University
Extenuating Circumstances There are people out there who have had
terrible experiences with cancer, children die, spouses die, as well as legitimate leaves (i.e. the birth of a child). These should be cited as career interruptions
Having to teach and sit on committees does not constitute extenuating circumstances (though noting in passing the higher number of hours of teaching in a small university is not always a bad thing)
Office of Research, Trent University
Committee Comments: The top 3 problems cited!
Incomplete literature review
Lack of theoretical rationale
Lack of specificity in the methodology