Category Archives: Funding

Pre-mortems: Tell me why your current grant application or research project will fail

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Adam

I came across a really interesting idea the other day week via the Freakonomics podcast – the idea of a project “pre-mortem” or “prospective hindsight”  They interviewed Gary Klein who described it as follows: KLEIN:  I need you to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Application advice, Funding, Funding Policy, University culture | 4 Comments

Adam Golberg announces new post about Ministers inserting themselves into research grant announcements

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Adam

Here’s something I’ve been wondering recently.  Is it just me, or have major research council funding announcements started to be made by government ministers, rather than by the, er, research councils? Here’s a couple of examples that caught my eye … Continue reading →

Posted in British Academy, ESRC, Funding, Funding Policy, Research Impact, University culture | 4 Comments

Six writing habits I reckon you ought to avoid in grant applications…..

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Adam

There are lots of mistakes to avoid in writing grant applications, and I’ve written a bit about some of them in some previous posts (see “advice on grant applications” link above).  This one is more about writing habits.  I read … Continue reading →

Posted in Application advice, Career Young Researchers, ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, University culture | 4 Comments

ESRC success rates by discipline for 2012-13

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Adam

Update: 2013/14 figures here. With all of the fanfare of a cat-burglar slipping in through a first floor window in back office of a diamond museum, the ESRC has published its Vital Statistics for 2012-13, including the success rates by … Continue reading →

Posted in ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, University culture | 1 Comment

Meanwhile, over at the ESRC…

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Adam

There have been a few noteworthy developments at the ESRC over the summer months which I think are probably worth drawing together into a single blog post for those (like me) who’ve made the tactical error of choosing to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Career Young Researchers, ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, University culture | Comments Off on Meanwhile, over at the ESRC…

Is there a danger that research funding calls are getting too narrow?

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Adam

The ESRC have recently added a little more detail to a previous announcement about a pending call for European-Chinese joint research projects on Green Economy and Population Change.  Specifically, they’re after projects which address the following themes: Green Economy The … Continue reading →

Posted in ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, Research Costs, Research Impact | 2 Comments

Demand mismanagement: a practical guide

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Adam

I’ve written an article on Demand (Mis)management for Research Professional. While most of the site’s content is behind a paywall, they’ve been kind enough to make my article open access.  Which saves me the trouble of cutting and pasting it … Continue reading →

Posted in Application advice, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, Open Access, University culture | Comments Off on Demand mismanagement: a practical guide

ESRC “demand management” measures working….. and why rises and falls in institutions’ levels of research funding are not news

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Adam

There was an interesting snippet of information in an article in this week’s Times Higher about the latest research council success rates.  [A] spokeswoman for the ESRC said that since the research council had begun requiring institutions from June 2011 … Continue reading →

Posted in ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Research Costs, University culture | Comments Off on ESRC “demand management” measures working….. and why rises and falls in institutions’ levels of research funding are not news

ESRC success rates by discipline: what on earth is going on?

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Adam

Update – read this post for the 2012/13 stats for success rates by discipline The ESRC have recently published a set of ‘vital statistics‘ which are “a detailed breakdown of research funding for the 2011/12 financial year” (see page 22).  … Continue reading →

Posted in ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, Public Sector, Research Costs, Research Impact, University culture | 8 Comments

Book review: The Research Funding Toolkit (Part 1)

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Adam

The existence of a market for The Research Funding Toolkit, by Jacqueline Aldridge and Andrew Derrington, is yet more evidence of how difficult it is to get research funding in the current climate.  Although the primary target audience is an … Continue reading →

Posted in Application advice, Funding | Comments Off on Book review: The Research Funding Toolkit (Part 1)