From Idea to Award: Navigating the Funding Application Process

At some point during your degree, you may need to apply for funding to help cover the costs of university fees, lab work, publication, field work, living expenses, or conference travel. Writing funding applications becomes a fundamental part of being an academic and so the sooner you start writing them the better. Funding application writing is often very different to writing for proposals, theses, dissertations, or publications, and writing competitive applications requires practice, patience and often some help. Funding applications are time-consuming and stressful, and rejection can be discouraging. You should prepare yourself for unsuccessful applications and very little, if any, feedback from funding bodies. As a general rule, you should try and apply to multiple funders for everything to enhance your chances of success, or at least feedback. Working on your application with your supervisor or faculty that have a track record of successful funding will increase your chances of success. Here are some practical tips for approaching and writing funding applications.

Identifying relevant funders

It is important to make yourself aware of the different funding bodies related to your studies. The range of potential funders is often broader than you would think. I have found it extremely helpful to identify funders by:

• Speaking to researchers and students

• Attending talks and reading the acknowledgement slides

• Speaking to your department or school’s administration or financial aid office

• Professional organisations

• Mailing lists

• Using social media and the internet as a tool

Fig 1: Bacara Spruit and Emma Cleminson doing a SAASS Presentation at ArchSoc Northern Branch showing the funders and sponsors involved in the 2024 SDW (Photo Credit: Noah Ruzow)

Understand the purpose of the funding

The type of funding application you write will depend on your funding needs. This needs to be identified to avoid being automatically rejected for not aligning with the funder’s goals, eligibility criteria, or application type (Table 1).

Most funders provide additional information or guidelines to assist with the application and allow the applicant to assess their eligibility, acknowledge the funders mission statement, and check what expenses will be covered by the funder. Eligibility is extremely important, and it is a good idea to note this when reading the application criteria.

For example:

• Academic level (i.e., PhD, Masters, etc)

• Affirmative action policies (i.e., sex, race, socioeconomic status)

• Nationality or residency

• Institutional affiliation

• Academic performance

• Field of study/discipline

• Project or research relevance

• Language proficiency

• Work or study commitments (full vs part-time)

Fig 2: Lab work completed as part of a research grant. This grant was specifically applied for to meet the needs of this work (Photo credit: Bacara Spruit)

Approaching your application

It is important that you start your funding applications early and that you inform your supervisor or academic advisor about your timeline and any requirements you may need from them, such as a recommendation letter. Make sure that you are aware of the funding deadline and that you give yourself and your supervisor enough time to write, edit, revise, and collate all the necessary documents.

Create a document checklist and make sure that you stick to the funder’s recommendations. Ensure that you have included the page or word limits in your checklist.

Funders will check that you follow these requirements!

If you don’t follow the guidelines exactly then your application may be rejected without being sent to review. Funding bodies are often looking for reasons to reduce the pool of applications sent to reviewers so don’t give them any excuses! It is a good idea to seek out support during this process. You can speak to your supervisor or previous grantees to get a better idea of what is expected in each application. Your supervisor may know someone successful with your specific target grant and could provide you first-hand advice.

It is also a good idea to read additional or supporting documents for each application to ensure that your application aligns with the funder’s missions and goals. This is critical when a science communication, outreach, or engagement component is included. These documents can sometimes help you realise the bigger picture contributions of your project and highlight your role in promoting science engagement in your current activities. Often, a funding body will provide guidelines as to how they assess applications. Read this document extremely carefully so that you weight each section appropriately. For example, if they allocate 40% of the weight of the assessment to methods, then focus very heavily on this section. Different kinds of funders and funding calls will weight their sections differently. For example, if you are applying for a grant from a funder that is heavily invested in science communication, then you will need to place more emphasis on this.

Table 1: Identifying different types of funding applications.

Your Need	Funding	Typically Covers	Ideal For	Examples
Conducting a research project	Research Grant	Fieldwork, analysis, equipment (limited), stipends, travel, and associated expenses	Postgraduate and ECR	Leakey Research Grant, ArchSoc, IFAS, L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science South Africa National Young Talents Programme
Studying or academic training	Scholarship / Fellowship	Tuition, living expenses, research allowances, travel	Postgraduate and ECR	NRF Postgraduate Scholarships, Leakey Baldwin Fellowship, Wadsworth African Fellowship, GENUS, PAST, Mandela Rhodes Foundation, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, Merit awards
Attending a conference or workshop	Travel / Conference Grant	Flights, accommodation, registration, per diems	Postgraduate and ECR	Conference Travel Grants, PAST, NRF
Doing fieldwork or pilot projects	Fieldwork / Project Grant	Local transport, accommodation, assistants, permits	Postgraduate and ECR	Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, Leakey Foundation
Cross-border academic collaboration	Mobility / Exchange Grant	Travel, accommodation, subsistence	Research/study exchanges	Erasmus Mundus, NRF DAAD, IFAS, Fulbright, Rhodes Scholarship, Chevening Scholarship
Publishing or engagement	Publication / Dissemination Grant	Open access fees, editing, layout, printing	Postgraduate and ECR	NRF, Institutional funds, PAST

Some tips for crafting a strong application

More is not always best. Make sure you keep your application focused and on topic. This is critical, especially for smaller or project-specific applications such as short lab, museum, or fieldwork activities that form part of a bigger project. Focus on the details of the work at hand and tie it into the bigger picture (i.e., introduction & conclusion).

Application

• Clear research questions and objectives

• Background and significance of the study (i.e., rationale)

• Research design (i.e., methods)

  • Try to make this accessible and easy to understand, as not all funders will be intimately involved in your research methods. This is often a summary of your methods, which already makes it more accessible

• Expected outcomes and impact (i.e., publications, impact on the research field or the region)

  
  

Budget

• Be realistic and transparent

  • Do not inflate your budget or provide unrealistic amounts. Look at how much the funder provides on average and work with those values. Often, you will need to apply to more than one funder to cover all costs

• Apply to or plan to apply to other funders

  • Be transparent about other funding sources

• Show that you have spread the risk of your funding efforts or that you have existing support that will assist you in completing the work.

• Justify each expense, providing details on how this expense is essential to the completion of the project

  • You will sometimes also need to provide a contingency plan

    
    

Timeline

• Include a clear schedule or timeline of the project

Supporting documents

• Up-to-date CV

  • When given a page limit, make sure you stick to it

  • Tailor each CV for individual applications, making sure to highlight experiences, education, or funding related to the funders or project's goals

• Letters of support

  • Ask early!

  • Check if these need to be sent in by you or the supervisor

Tips

• Hand in on time, if not early

• Follow the guidelines exactly

• Be clear, concise and avoid jargon

• Demonstrate feasibility by showing that the project can be completed in the given timeline

• Use active voice and persuasive language (show confidence)

• Think about the funders mission and goals and cater your application very closely to those goals. You must convince them that it is in their interests to give you money, and in doing so, they will satisfy their own goals

Now that your application is complete, you need to make sure you review and revise it. A well-edited funding application is essential. You can also reach out to your peers or supervisor for feedback. Finally, if a rubric or criteria is provided, use it as a checklist to make sure you have included everything.

Tips outside of the funding application

Build your CV and experience during your studies, while academic performance is important, it is sometimes these activities that set you apart from other applicants.

Use rejection and feedback to build a better application and sort out any issues you may have missed in the first application.

Be involved in your department and events hosted by funding bodies or professional societies. Networking is one way to open doors because it allows you to hear about more opportunities and meet with funders and researchers.

Fig 3: Fieldwork in Mzimba, Malawi. Engaging in fieldwork outside of your current project can help forge networks and build your CV (Photo credit: Alice Zhang)

No funding amount is too small. You must build a reputation with funders and show that your project should be funded. Reach out and apply for smaller grants to build your funding skills and your funding CV.

Funders are often looking for people to showcase their work. Be proactive in this way. If they support you, then take the initiative to communicate your results and progress with them. Share your story and research with them; they have invested in your journey and want to tell people about it. Help them to help you. Like all relationships, funders require gentle and consistent cultivation to show them you are invested in the long-term success of the field and their funding program.

Fig 4: Lab work completed at Iziko Museum Cape Town. This moment was used as an opportunity to acknowledge the funder (IFAS) in a creative way (Photo credit: Amanda Spruit)

Conclusion

Successful funding applications take time, focus, and careful planning. Start early, follow the guidelines closely, and seek guidance and assistance when you can. Not every application will succeed, but each one gets you closer to your goal.

By Bacara Spruit

Edited by Prof D. Stratford

Originally published in the GAES News Bulletin, University of the Witwatersrand