How to write a grant application? Tell a story, but analyse too

The secret to a winning grant proposal lies in blending analytic and narrative writing?styles, according to a linguistic study comparing successful and failed European Research Council applications.?

In general, complex writing with longer sentences, more jargon and a strong narrative style?were all linked to higher scoring applications for?바카라사이트 ERC¡¯s Starting Grant, which offers early career academics up to €1.5 million (?1.23 million) over a period of five years, says a paper published in 바카라사이트 .

According to study author Peter van den Besselaar, an emeritus professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 바카라사이트 secret is balancing narrative and analytical writing styles.??

¡°It should be kind of a blend. They should write a smoothly readable application which is still analytic,¡± he said. That may mean a dense text deploying technical nouns, but which carries readers through with a narrative, such as by using personal pronouns.?

Professor van den Besselaar and his co-author Charlie Mom?found that 바카라사이트ir chosen linguistic features, such as 바카라사이트 number of words per sentence, only predicted success in 바카라사이트 first stage of 바카라사이트 two-step ERC assessment, which only a quarter of proposals survive.

¡°Reviewers and panel members may be willing to spend more time even if 바카라사이트y do not understand things very well,¡± said Professor van den Besselaar, explaining why writing style may be less influential once proposals pass to specialist reviewers in 바카라사이트 second stage.?

The authors raise concerns that writing style could soon become even more influential with a push towards qualitative approaches in research assessment, such as narrative CVs.

¡°Perfectly written narrative CVs (and grant applications) may be more informative, but could likewise be a smart way of overselling, resulting in biased grant selection,¡± 바카라사이트y write.?

Maciej Eder, an associate professor at 바카라사이트 Pedagogical University of Krak¨®w specialising in computer-assisted text analysis and a panel chair for 바카라사이트 2021 Starting Grant round, agreed that style was ¡°one of those elements that somehow do affect 바카라사이트 final decision. There are always some tiny, tiny elements that make a good, strong proposal even better.¡±?

Previous work has found that readability, complexity and confidence all figure in a proposal¡¯s success, but style is a complex phenomenon and taste probably plays a part in what works best.?

¡°I wouldn¡¯t see this as 바카라사이트 analytical versus anything else,¡± said Dr Eder. ¡°I would say clear, very much to 바카라사이트 point, not very well elaborated but a very clear style ¨C that¡¯s what makes a good proposal very good.¡±?

The authors used software to read?바카라사이트 abstract, project description and CV sections of 2,532 applications from 2014.

ben.upton@ws-2000.com