{"id":1627,"date":"2025-11-24T13:29:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T13:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/?p=1627"},"modified":"2025-11-24T13:29:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T13:29:23","slug":"tips-for-writing-research-funding-applications-for-early-career-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/2025\/11\/24\/tips-for-writing-research-funding-applications-for-early-career-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Writing Research Funding Applications for Early-Career Researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Writing research funding applications is a genre of its own\u2014something I have always emphasised especially to early-career researchers. Over the years, I have noticed some recurring patterns in applications, and I would now like to share a few of them. A word of warning: none of this is new.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research funding specialists at universities give out the same advice everywhere, and funders share similar tips in their own info sessions. Yet these messages do not always reach applicants, or they are forgotten in the rush of writing the application. Here are three key points I want to highlight:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Read\nthe call text carefully<\/strong>
\nMost questions that researchers bring to research funding specialists can be\nanswered simply by reading the call text\u2014especially when the call is long and\ndetailed. Sometimes the instructions are ambiguous, and then a specialist is\nneeded to interpret the text or even contact the funder to confirm the\ninterpretation. But in most cases, careful reading reveals who is eligible to\napply, what the funding is intended for, and which attachments are required.\nThe call may also specify thematic priorities or focus areas that must be\naddressed in the proposal. If the funder expects the project to involve\nindustry collaboration or produce applied results, the proposal must be adapted\naccordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.\nUnderstand what the project can fund<\/strong>
\nMany researchers are surprised to learn that certain calls require the project\nleader to hold the rank of docent or professor, or that the project leader\ncannot be funded full-time from the project. Foundation-funded projects can\nalso be challenging: foundations may pay grants directly to researchers, while\ntravel costs or purchases may still need to be routed through the university. A\nfunder might allow travel related to data collection but not conference travel.\nDepending on the funder and whether the money flows through the organisation,\noverheads may need to be included. Overheads help the institution cover general\nexpenses such as space costs, services, and the tools provided to researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Write\nyour application clearly<\/strong>
\nMany researchers write their research plan as if it were aimed solely at\nacademic peer reviewers. Demonstrating scholarly excellence is important, but\nin a funding application your primary task is to sell your research to the\nfunder<\/strong>. The evaluator may not be an expert in your specific field, so avoid\njargon. Make it clear what is novel about your research and why you\u2014or your\nresearch group\u2014are the best choice to carry it out. Reviewers also appreciate\nconcrete information about the project timeline, who will do what, and what the\nexpected outcomes are (publications, datasets, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope these tips are useful to you. It is always worth remembering that more experienced researchers often have valuable insights to share. And above all: if you can get an experienced colleague to read your research plan, you will certainly receive expert feedback!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have questions regarding research funding, please send email to research (at) hanken.fi.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing research funding applications is a genre of its own\u2014something I have always emphasised especially to early-career researchers. Over the years, I have noticed some recurring patterns in applications, and […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[153,154,10],"class_list":["post-1627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-application","tag-early-career-researcher","tag-research-funding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1628,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions\/1628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research-funding-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}