Develop Proposals

Developing the proposal represents the second phase of the research project life cycle. A primary goal for developing a proposal is to win a grant. This requires sound knowledge and intellectual capacity to boost the overall presentation and competitiveness of all proposals to be submitted by staff of the institution.Essentially, developing a proposal covers technical details of the proposal, the budget, budget justification (and other specific details), in compliance with the guidelines (and other requirements) of the granting agency.

Best practices for success in developing proposals include the following:

• Full understanding of the details in the Call for Proposal document(s). This is fundamental to success!
• Some of the details in the Call for Proposal may include
  • Specific thematic area(s) covered,
  • Eligibility (of country, institution, Faculties, Departments, persons or disciplines)
  • Scope
  • Timelines
  • Budgets, funding limit, etc.
• Strict adherence to these specifications is a key component of successful proposal development
• Pay attention to ethics and compliance issues, including the use of human and animal subjects in experimentation, and all other compliance requirements, including data ownership and sharing, intellectual property and research commercialization issues, conflict of interest (and conflict of commitment), research integrity, responsible conduct of research, etc.

 2.2 Some Resources for Grants and Proposal Development

• Grants 101 (www.grants.gov/learngrants/grants-101.html)
• Proposal Writer’s Guide (orsp.umichiedu/proposal-writers-guide-overview)
• Hannover Research Group (hannoverresearch.com)
• Grants Terminologies (www.grants.gov/learngrants/grants-terminology.html)
• Researcher Development Framework (https://www.vitae.ac.uk /researchers-professional-development/about-the-vitae-researcher-development-framework)

2.3 Cost-sharing

Cost sharing is the financial or non-financial support contributed by an institution to a sponsored project. While cost sharing remains the responsibility of the unit or team proposing the research, it could also come from other sources or units domiciled in the university, or from third parties affiliated with the University. Note that a general practice is to provide or include cost sharing details only when it is required by the sponsor.

Cost sharing could be specific, and quantified. Examples of these include (a) 10-15% of a faculty member’s time, (b) some estimated one million naira worth of research supplies (for example), (c) cost of workshop venues, among other examples. The examples above represent a mandatory or voluntary committed cost sharing. In contrast, there is the voluntary unquantified cost sharing, which implies providing unquantified resources to the project by the institution. Examples include unquantified Faculty time (e.g. hours/week) or the provision of research supplies that are not quantified. Cost sharing carries a hallmark of integrity and responsibility. Whatever cost share obligation in a proposal must be adhered to.

 2.4 Biosketch

A Biosketch (a compact version of a Curriculum Vitae) is usually requested by most funding agencies. While some agencies (e.g. National Institutes of Health [NIH] and the National Science Foundation [NSF] provide standard formats for these biosketches, many others do not. Where such formats are provided, it is advised that the applicant uses such formats.

 2.5 Frequently Required Proposal Data and Documents

1. Institutional  Tax ID number
2. Institutional Fact Sheet
3. Institutional Documents