Resources
Proposal playbooks in plain language
These pages are for the parts of funding work that look simple until they are on the clock: fit, partner logic, budgets, impact, and timing.
Playbooks
Useful before the draft gets expensive
Short guides that help teams avoid losing days on application mechanics that can be settled early.
How to read a funder page before you write anything
Most teams start too early on writing and too late on fit. The strongest proposals usually come from reading the call page as a set of instructions about risk, scope, and reviewer expectations.
Building a cross-border consortium that does not feel bolted on
The best international bids do not just spread the work across countries. They make the cross-border design feel scientifically necessary.
Writing a budget that reviewers can follow on first read
Reviewers do not need every cost explained twice. They do need a budget that matches the scientific plan and makes spending look intentional rather than inflated.
Choosing between a fellowship, a project grant, and a challenge call
A lot of frustration disappears once the team admits the project is the wrong shape for the call it keeps targeting.
Keeping a funding pipeline between awards
A stable funding pipeline comes from staggering mechanisms, time horizons, and proposal types so that the lab or project team is not living inside a single decision date.
What funders mean when they ask for impact now
The word impact is only useful once you know whether the funder is asking for policy relevance, commercial adoption, clinical change, field infrastructure, or something else entirely.