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Guest post Dr. med. Andrea Degen, EUrelations

The best way to write a successful grant application (grant writing) is still high-quality science. Success comes to those who can propose innovative, original and creative solutions. That’s why it is worthwhile to

1. engage with innovation and how it can be promoted. How do you come to innovative thinking starting with yourself and how can you lead entire teams to it? As consultants for science, we work with techniques such as brainstorming, creative processes or design thinking. The novelty must also show a high degree of practicability. A vision and a formulation of objectives that result from this create clarity and can significantly increase the significance and value of scientific work – and thus also the application for third-party funding.
   
2. There is a tremendous potential in the quality of communication. This starts with the clear distinction between grant and paper writing and also includes the way of presentation. Applications are becoming shorter and shorter. It takes practice to express oneself briefly and concisely. Good communication does not make good science. Poor communication, on the other hand, can considerably hinder even the best science.
   
3. Knowledge on project management helps to structure applications and convinces experts that the money raised will be handled conscientiously, well planned and organised. New, agile methods in research management bring additional points to the evaluation.

Specific knowledge on the allocation of funding, on the various instruments of the funding organisations and on what experts are responding to brings significant advantages. 75% of our clients (professors, PhD and PhD students) repeatedly apply to the same funding agencies before they join us. They only use the numerous possibilities after we systematically present these to them. The diversification of the grant portfolio (national, international, public, private, applied, basic-oriented) offers a lot of potential! It has a convincing effect on experts and peers. Fundraising has also developed both globally and locally. Those who keep themselves constantly informed profit the most.

One grant is no grant! Doctoral students are often happy to receive the first grant from their national funding organisation right away. The success rate is 3-45%, depending on the grant. You have to submit repeatedly, overlapping, in parallel and continuously in order to finance the costs of your own research with the greatest possible certainty. A successful funding application enables the researcher to continue his or her career in a self-determined way (with own funds raised). The situation is similar for founders of start-ups or spin-offs from universities. They are also dependent on overlapping, diversified financing.

Learn from successful grants from peers. Very few people ask to be allowed to read successful applications from their own environment. It is a highly effective form of learning and is rarely denied.

Rejected applications are the rule and are an integral part of even the most successful applicants. Re-entering the application after it has been improved, increasing the tolerance for frustration, seeing the application as an added value in order to think about projects in a structured way in advance, this is the art. It is a strategic game that rewards endurance and persistence. Therefore: Never, never, ever give up!

Most scientists need us just once. Usually this is at the beginning of their career or during the initial track-laying and implementation of their first major project. Researchers learn fast! At EUrelations, we are therefore obliged to keep presenting new and inspiring ideas to researchers in our advisory services. Counselling saves a lot of time and is helpful for orientation. We are 100% independent. The success of the researchers is the most important thing for us!