Preparing a grant application is a major undertaking. Irrespective of the sector you work in, be it academia or industry, securing grant funding is time-consuming and competitive.

You must submit a strong proposal, otherwise, you run the risk of your application being rejected for funding. Most funding streams provide comprehensive assessor feedback.  

Taking the time to learn from setbacks and assessor comments can increase the likelihood of securing funds going forward. But wouldn’t you prefer to receive that feedback and insight at the writing stage, rather than upon receipt of a rejection letter?

Have you considered sharing your draft applications with colleagues or friends? A fresh pair of eyes can help to sense check your work, ensure consistency and that your message can be conveyed to non-specialists. Better still, have you considered outsourcing this service to a professional critical friend?

If you already have bid writing expertise within your organisation, a critical friend review could provide a cost-effective way to strengthen your grant application. Sometimes when you’re so engrossed in an application you can lose sight of the competition scope and information sought by the assessors.  

A critical friend will challenge you by asking difficult questions, introduce a fresh perspective and ensure that your responses are fully aligned to the question brief and scoresheet. Weaknesses and omissions are identified and corrected before the submission deadline, rather than being flagged up by assessors.

We provide impartial, honest and constructive feedback; supporting clients to optimise the structure and content of their applications. Our approach is based upon over a decade of experience of writing UK and European R&D proposals (not to mention the assessor comments that we’ve collated on our journey…).

‍Could your next grant application benefit from Inventya’s unique insight?

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