Transcript TIPS ON HOW TO FILL IN AN APPLICATION Advice to Potential Applicants Taken from presentation written by SSHRC Research Officer L.

TIPS ON HOW TO FILL IN AN
APPLICATION
Advice to Potential Applicants
Taken from presentation written by
SSHRC Research Officer L. Messier
Office of Research, Trent
University
Preparation & Overall Presentation
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Do not submit a premature proposal
Ensure that the necessary ground-work has
been done (i.e. extensive literature review,
verification of the availability of resources,
etc.)
Invest time in the preparation of your
proposal…committees can spot a hastily
prepared proposal
Make sure that all parts are well organized
and laid out logically, without repetition
Office of Research, Trent
University
Preparation & Overall Presentation con’t
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Ensure that there are no errors in spelling,
grammar or fact
Present a well written and carefully crafted
proposal using the limited space to maximum
advantage
Use clear, unambiguous language. Avoid
jargon and trendy terms
Ask a trusted colleague for feedback on your
draft
Office of Research, Trent
University
Presentation of your research program
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Present your proposal in such a way as to
convey confidence and convince your peers
that the likelihood of scholarly outcomes is
high
Avoid appearing too tentative
Present a challenging research topic that
sparks the interest and engages the
imagination of the peer reviewers
Your excitement about your research should
be evident in your proposal
Office of Research, Trent
University
Presentation of your research program
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Establish clearly the need for this research
Demonstrate its importance and originality, by
explaining gaps in existing literature
Prepare your proposal with the assessors and
committee in mind. Anticipate possible
questions or objections they may raise
Try to strike a balance between ambition and
realism. Set challenging yet realistic goals
(i.e. in terms of chronology, themes, sources
covered)
Office of Research, Trent
University
Presentation of your research program
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Be as specific as possible about the
parameters of the research
The committee should have a good idea
of where this research will lead…no
fishing expeditions
Demonstrate how this new research
builds upon your past work and
accomplishments
Office of Research, Trent
University
Statement of objectives and
theoretical framework
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Present your objectives and key research
questions in a clear and precise manner
Articulate clearly the theoretical or conceptual
framework guiding the research
Do not neglect the literature review
Situate your research within the context of
the literature and current debates in the field
Office of Research, Trent
University
Statement of objectives and
theoretical framework
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Present differences in viewpoint in a
positive and constructive manner
Define all key terms or concepts
Underlying assumptions should be
made explicit and justified
Append a list of all references cited
Office of Research, Trent
University
Methodology
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Explain and justify your choice of
methodology
There should be an evident synergy
between your objectives and the
chosen methodology
Office of Research, Trent
University
Presenting your C.V.
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In presenting your c.v., follow the
instructions on the application form
Provide complete citations of published
work
Organize your publications in a clear
and logical manner (i.e. group refereed
publications together)
Office of Research, Trent
University
Presenting your C.V.
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Make sure you include page numbers for
everything you list
Avoid inflating the c.v. (i.e. double entries
that are not explicit, claiming book reviews
are articles, claiming all conference
presentations as “refereed”)
Demonstrate your productivity from previous
grants (especially past SSHRC grants)
Office of Research, Trent
University
Budget and Students
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Present a reasonable and fully justified
budget
Note the university per diem, etc.
Use students creatively
Explain the role of students and the
anticipated benefits to student training
Office of Research, Trent
University
Budget and Students
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Give some detail to this; do not just say they
will benefit from your mentoring or example
There is supposedly no discrimination against
universities without grad programs in the
area of the applicant
Think about where you might obtain grad
research aid from a nearby university, use
honours students or make use of grad
students from Trent’s interdisciplinary
programs
Office of Research, Trent
University
The Team
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In a team application, the role and
contribution of each member should be
elaborated
If you are re-submitting an application,
try to make improvements over the
previous one, incorporating if
appropriate the feedback from
assessors/committee
Office of Research, Trent
University
The Team
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You can include a response to previous
reviewers…Keep this constructive as possible
(don’t get into debates with past reviewers)
*New Scholars: Don’t submit a project that
sounds the same as a recent thesis or postdoctoral fellowship project. This should be
“new” research, even if it is building on
something you have already done
Office of Research, Trent
University
Ways to ensure you will annoy
the committee!
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Write in a small font- even it if is allowable
Avoid paragraph breaks and headings,
especially if you write in a small font
Reduce the space between lines, especially in
you write in a small font
Reduce the margins
Do all of the above and whine in your
application that you don’t have enough space
to explain your methodology
Office of Research, Trent
University
Be annoying in your research
record!
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Avoid paragraph breaks and hard
returns in your research record
Mix up your submitted articles and
random thoughts with your refereed
publications
Include articles more than 6 years old
Don’t bother to use any recognized
method of referencing
Office of Research, Trent
University
More ways to ensure you are
annoying
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Say “there is NO research on my topic” when
you are NOT 100% sure
Manage to work in a critique about last year’s
committee ( be sure to get your requested
assess to do this too)
Get together a team of three researchers and
submit basically the same grant three times
(to the same committee)
Office of Research, Trent
University
Still More…
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Assume you are so prominent you can
get by on your record and don’t bother
much about the grant itself
Include a prominent researcher as a coinvestigator but don’t give him/her a
clearly defined role
Office of Research, Trent
University
Be annoying in you budget
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Say you need a full time research director (not
encouraged by the way) as well as 3 or 4 full time
Research Assistants to run your apparently
straightforward study
Say computers cost $6000+ when we know that they
don’t
Ask for $2000 travel at the end of the first year when
it is doubtful that you will have anything to report
until the end of the second year
Use lots of non-student personnel to minimize the
impact of the council’s grant money
Office of Research, Trent
University
Extenuating Circumstances
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There are people out there who have had
terrible experiences with cancer, children die,
spouses die, as well as legitimate leaves (i.e.
the birth of a child). These should be cited as
career interruptions
Having to teach and sit on committees does
not constitute extenuating circumstances
(though noting in passing the higher number
of hours of teaching in a small university is
not always a bad thing)
Office of Research, Trent
University
Committee Comments:
The top 3 problems cited!
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Incomplete literature review
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Lack of theoretical rationale
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Lack of specificity in the methodology
Office of Research, Trent
University