Learning from rejection

Everybody gets rejections. Even eminent researchers frequently have grant applications turned down. This is always discouraging but it doesn’t mean that your ideas are no good, or that you have been unfairly singled out. It is important to pick yourself up and move on. You may well be able to find another funding body who will be willing to fund your proposal.

There are a number of ‘tricks of the trade’ which you can learn to improve your chance of success.

First of all, make sure that  you meet all the application criteria. There are limitations on who can apply for research funding, and it is important that you are aware of these before you apply. Do not waste time and effort preparing a proposal for a funder who will ultimately not accept your application.

Find out all you can about the funding body. In particular, what proportion of grant proposals do they turn down? The application process is getting more competitive each year. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, for instance, only funded one-third of the research proposals it received from ‘responsive mode’ applications in 2010-11. This figure is typical across the Research Councils. Grants submitted in ‘targeted mode’, in response to calls for proposals on specific themes, fare slightly better, so there is sense in tailoring your research proposal if you can make it fit one of your chosen funders’ areas of special interest.

Find out in detail how the decision making process works. Is there a specialist committee who decides on applications? Are they sent out for peer review? There is a degree of ‘playing the system’ involved here. An application that is tailored towards the committee’s interests, or that allows you to recommend possible peer reviewers, can be made to work to your advantage.

Do you get feedback on your proposal? Applications which are turned down after peer review may receive comments from the reviewers. Look at these in detail and consider the reviewers’ recommendations; they may well help you to improve the application so that it is successful the second time around.