There is a lot of overlap in the information required by different funding agencies. Assessors will need to know what you are proposing to do, why it matters, how you will do it, who stands to benefit, how much the work will cost, and whether you are capable of conducting the proposed research successfully. So whatever the funding agency you are applying to, the main components of your overall argument will be similar. You may insert material in different places, and in a different order, but it will still be designed to convince the assessors and reviewers of your overall argument, persuading them that your proposal is worth funding.

You could complete the following check for each component of the material entailed in submitting a research grant proposal to your chosen funding agency. Go through each section, in turn, of the application form (or guidance if there is no form) and any other material required as part of your submission. For each component, identify whether you can use it as part of the conclusion or the warranting for the conclusion of your overall argument for funding.

The conclusion will comprise your claims about the anticipated outputs and the impacts of your proposed research on the target beneficiaries. The warranting will comprise everything else in your submission. It is designed to convince the assessors or reviewers that your research focus is important and that what you are proposing to do stands a very good chance of achieving your projected outputs and impacts.

 Funding Agency (eg Leverhulme Trust)

Summary of material required for submitting a research proposal (eg application form, principal applicant’s CV)

Component of application material	Element of logic (warranting or conclusion) and its contribution to the argument
application form - title of proposal	warranting – summarises research topic through choice of keywords

 

The electronic version of this form for downloading has space for many more components.

(To download and use this document – click on the word document here)