Writing a good grant proposal Writing a good grant proposal Simon Peyton Jones and Alan Bundy Writing a good research grant proposal is not easy. This document is an attempt to collect together a number of suggestions about what makes a good proposal. The first and most obvious thing to do is to read the advice offered by your funding agency. It is this case which will persuade, or fail to persuade, your funding body of the value of your proposal.
Proposals range very widely indeed in their quality.
You can improve your chances enormously simply by ruthlessly writing and rewriting. This document is entirely about improving your case for support. But the programme manager, and most members of the panel that judges your proposal against others, won't be expert. You must, must, must write your proposal for their benefit too. Remember that programme managers and panel members see tens or hundreds of cases for support, so you have one minute or less to grab your reader's attention.