Research proposals and grants
- Jessie Luna
- 3 days ago
- 1 min read
The best resource I've come across on research proposals is Michael Watts' brilliant essay: "In Search of the Holy Grail: Projects, Proposals and Research Design, But Mostly about Why Writing a Dissertation Proposal is So Difficult." Find it here:
For grant writing to support dissertation research, start doing your research early. Talk to advisors and do research to find potential sources of money.
Make lists with deadlines, and prepare well ahead of time. For the Fulbright, for example, I applied nearly 2 years before I actually went to the field
Apply even when you don’t feel “ready” – you’re never fully ready – and your research questions will inevitably change, so don’t let that stop you
Most grant applications are not wasted time. You hone your research questions. It’s practice for talking about, describing, and framing your research to people outside your specialty area.
Grant writing is an important skill to develop
To explore:
NSF DDRI (doctoral dissertation research improvement grants), SSRC (Social Science Research Council), Fulbright (for international research), specific pots of money available at universities, like the Grad School or various centers (at CSU: SOGES and the Africa Center, for example).
