How to Write a Grant Proposal — Stage 1: Ideation

We often hear about the success stories of projects that have secured funding, but we rarely get a glimpse into the immense effort that goes into achieving that goal. Behind every funded project is a long process of planning, strategizing, and writing a compelling grant proposal. This hidden work is often one of the most critical, yet underappreciated, aspects of academic research. In addition, we frequently hear researchers passionately discuss their ideas, many of which have the potential to be groundbreaking and transformative. These ideas often spark interest and excitement, as they hold the promise of advancing knowledge or solving pressing problems. However, moving from an interesting idea to a fully supported project requires more than just creativity—it requires funding to make it happen.

But what does it take to turn an early-stage research idea into a fully realized project that earns the financial endorsement necessary for its execution? This process involves developing the idea into a strong proposal, aligning it with the priorities of funding agencies, and navigating the competitive grant landscape. The journey from concept to funding approval is often long, challenging, and requires strategic planning, persistence, and a good understanding of the funding ecosystem.

We have identified three key stages in the grant process: Ideation, Writing, and Refinement. In this post, we will focus on the first stage—Ideation—while the next two stages will be discussed in future posts.

The first stage of ideation often begins with an interest or curiosity, such as uncovering a new pattern in a species’ behavior, or finding a new algorithm to solve a current problem. Sometimes it builds on an existing project, like exploring the effects of a current health intervention on a specific population, or expanding the scope of an AI system to multiple languages. And other times, it can be driven by a more immediate need, like securing continued funding for an ongoing large study or supporting a current student.

The next step is identifying funding calls that align with the idea. There are many strategies to find the right opportunities, which often encompass looking into many different funding sources, or leveraging your network to find funding opportunities. We will also cover grant search strategies in detail in a future post.

Every idea has different angles, and often there are hidden aspects that aren’t immediately obvious. This is where brainstorming comes into play. By thoroughly exploring the initial seed of an idea, we can identify what it would take to bring it to life, while also pinpointing any potential weak points. For many ideas, it takes a “village” to get it to a successful implementation – these are the collaborators that bring different types of expertise, often complementary, to address different angles of this new project. We typically choose collaborators we already know, but sometimes we may need new expertise, which we can find by asking around, by searching online, or using our institution’s “expert database,” if available.

At Initium, our mission is to provide support through every step of the grant-writing process. We are particularly excited about our AI-powered brainstorming tool and comprehensive grant search feature. If you’re interested in exploring how AI can assist you in the early stages of proposal writing, feel free to try it out!