Read This First - Organising a successful proposal

The aim of this page is to provide guidelines to staff and students on the key issues to be addressed when applying for research grants, postdoctoral fellowships and awards. The purpose is to create an awareness of what is required to write competitive applications to external funding agencies across all disciplines.

A Competitive Process

Whether you are applying for a research grant under a formal granting scheme, or seeking funds from industry for a research contract, it is important to realise that it is a competitive process. In the first case, your application will be considered in competition with other applications for a grant from a finite pool of funds. It is really no different if you are seeking contract funds. Although your proposal may not be competing directly with other research proposals, it will be competing against proposals for an alternative use of company or government funds.

It takes time to develop a research proposal properly. Try not to leave it to the last minute. Allow time to enable your colleagues to review and comment on it. Sometimes you may be so absorbed by the project itself that you fail to get the message across to others. The time to find out about a proposal's shortcomings is before you submit it, not when you are told that it was unsuccessful and you read the assessors' comments! Remember, too, that if you submit the proposal to the Research Grants Office on time, staff in the Office will view the application and provide feedback. However, colleagues in your discipline are the best people to consult about your research proposal.

If you fail to win a grant, that is not necessarily the end of the road. Try to accept the assessors' comments constructively, so that the next time you do succeed.

The Research Grants Office

The Research Grants Office is located on the first floor of the main Administration Building. It is the first point of contact between applicants, grantees and funding agencies. All applications, offers, other administrative matters, progress and final reports, etc should be directed through the Research Grants Office. The staff of the Research Grants Office is willing to discuss any matters relating to research grants, postdoctoral fellowships and awards. Please do not hesitate to call any of the staff if assistance or advice is required.

The Office is a section within Research Services, which in turn is part of the Registrar's Office. The Research Grants Office works closely with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), who is responsible for UWA research policy development and general oversight of the University’s research activities.

The Research Grants Office:

• assists researchers in finding out about funding schemes;
• assists with the preparation of applications, including advice on budget preparation and the presentation of applications;
• submits applications to funding agencies;
• enters applications onto the research grants management database, liaises with the Legal Services office to ensure that contract conditions are acceptable to researchers and UWA, arranges for grants and research contracts to be accepted on behalf of UWA, makes the necessary administrative arrangements for project grant numbers (PGs) to be opened by the office, enters the outcome of applications onto the research grants management database;
• co-ordinates communication between funding agencies, applicants and grantees;
• acts on behalf of the funding agencies and UWA to ensure that projects are undertaken in accordance with the grant conditions and University policy;
• administers research grants and postdoctoral fellowships awarded by external funding agencies;
• administers a number of internal funding opportunities
• Liaises with the Office and Industry and Innovation, Legal Services and other areas of the University.

When to lodge Proposals

The Research Grants Office normally sets a deadline around ten working days prior to an external funding agency's closing date. The purpose of the internal deadline is to enable Research Grants Office staff to review the administrative aspects of an application, including the eligibility of the applicant, the budget, the budget justification, the number of copies provided and other specific requirements of the funding agency. Applicants who submit their applications after the Research Grants Office's deadline may not have the benefit of such close scrutiny.

Where a scheme is university-based, such as the UWA Research Grants Scheme, the deadline set for the submission of applications to the Research Grants Office is the final deadline. Late applications are not accepted.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their application with colleagues before submitting it to the Research Grants Office. Some schools have established small groups to review the scientific and administrative aspects of applications before they are submitted. Applicants who have difficulty in obtaining academic advice about their applications should contact their Associate Dean of Research, who may be able to make the necessary arrangements.

Applications submitted to the Research Grants Office must include all the copies required by the funding agency, plus an extra copy for the University's records and an Application Cover Sheet (Gold Form).

Approval of Proposals

Most funding agencies require applications to be signed by the applicant, the Head of School, and a responsible officer of the University, who signs on behalf of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation). In addition, UWA requires the applicant and the Head of School concerned to sign an Application Cover Sheet (Gold Form). The cover sheet provides essential details for entry into the research grants management database. It also provides an assurance to the Research Grants Office that the Head of School approves and accepts the resource implications of the proposal.

The University requires Heads of School to certify that facilities will be made available to applicants for postdoctoral research fellowships if their applications are successful.

The Research Grants Office arranges for the application to be signed on behalf of the University of Western Australia before the application is submitted to the funding agency.

Acceptance of Offer

Although an offer will normally refer to a Chief Investigator and a specific project, the research is undertaken in the name of UWA, and UWA assumes legal responsibility.

Students and staff, including Heads of School, do not have authority to accept research grants or postdoctoral fellowships, or to accept conditions of award on behalf of the University. In many cases, funding agencies require Chief Investigators and Heads of School to sign the funding agency's acceptance of offer form, but those signatures alone do not constitute a formal acceptance of responsibility by the University. The funding agency's offer form and any agreement or contract must be sent to the Research Grants Office in all cases.

An Acceptance of Offer (Green Form) should be submitted to the Research Grants Office. The signed form provides the Research Grants Office with the authority to arrange for the funding agency's offer to be signed on the University's behalf. The form also serves three other purposes. Firstly, it is the Chief Investigator/Head of School's committment to adhere to the conditions of the award. Secondly, where there is collaboration between two or more schools, the Heads of School must reach agreement on how the grant is apportioned between the schools, so that the proportions are taken into account when the research component of the University's budget allocation to faculties is calculated. Thirdly, the form provides essential details for entry into the research grants management database.

When completing the green acceptance of offer form, Chief Investigators are required to state whether all clearances for matters such as animal welfare, human ethics and biosafety issues, etc have been obtained. If a clearance is still pending, the Chief Investigator will not be given access to the funds until s/he has notified the Research Grants Office that approval has been obtained

Financial Control

Each approved research grant is given a separate project grant number (PG) by research finance staff. All communication with funding agencies on financial matters must be directed through the Research Grants Office.

Ethics and Biosafety Clearances

Clearances for human and/or animal experimentation and for research involving genetic manipulation, potent carcinogens and teratogens and ionising radiation must be obtained before work commences on any grant. Application forms are available on the web in the Research Integrity section. All contact details can be accessed via the Research Integrity contact page. It is the applicant's responsibility to obtain approvals from the relevant committees prior to the commencement of the research, and for providing a copy direct to the funding agency in cases where the agency requires written evidence of approval. The copy should be provided either as part of the application material, or as otherwise specified by the funding agency.

Where written evidence of clearance is required by a funding agency that is not available at the time of application, the Chief Investigator is responsible for sending a copy to the Research Grants Office when it becomes available (unless other arrangements have been made with the relevant Executive Officer of the Committee). The Research Grants Office will then pass on the ethics clearance to the funding agency. If this occurs after a grant offer has been accepted subject to that approval being obtained, access to the research account can only be granted, once the Research Grants Office has been notified.

Intellectual Property, Publications and Confidentiality

An increasing proportion of research grants are linked to complex research agreements which place obligations on the University in relation to intellectual property, publications and confidentiality. Some funding agencies also require the University to enter into further agreements with other parties where research is collaborative, or will be subcontracted.

The University's Legal Services office is available to provide advice on research agreements and contracts. Staff and students should only sign confidentiality agreements which have been sanctioned by the Intellectual Property and Contracts Officer.

Need help?