1. Winning ARC and Other Grants Ann Harding Presentation to the ‘How to prepare a successful ARC proposal’ seminar, University of Canberra, 27 November 2006 National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM), University of Canberra

2. 2 Start with a catchy title n ‘Opportunity and Vulnerability: Wellbeing Among Australia’s Adults and Children at a Small Area Level’ Rather than n ‘Development of a Spatial Microsimulation Household Database’ n Try to make title understandable to those who are not from your subject area of expertise

3. 3 Big picture objectives that most would agree are important n Try to show how your smaller project fits into a bigger picture that most reviewers would accept as an important issue for Australia Emphasise how it meets National Research Priorities n How your project relates to larger societal objectives Eg. how your research on very detailed eco widgets is relevant to saving our environment for future generations Or how the consumption and debt patterns of baby boomers are vitally important for looking at future balance of taxes and outlays between generations

4. 4 Well and clearly written n It MUST be understandable to those with no technical expertise in your subject area Get friends to read it who can write well and give you advice Not too many technical equations, technical explanations etc n It MUST be clearly written No typos, no spelling errors, no sentences that go for whole paragraphs n It should build a compelling case for why your research is important

5. 5 Collaborate n For Discovery applications, if you are an early career researcher, try to find a professor that you can partner with n For Linkage, think about what you want to research and then hold brainstorming session about which external organisations might be interested A well placed supporter within the external org’n can be critical Try to interest them through how it fits with their strategic goals – think about what they get out of it Try to find someone in UC who knows someone senior in the target organisation who can help get you through the door

6. 6 Referees reports n Start your rejoinder by emphasising the positive things the referees said about your proposal Referee 1 notes that this is an ‘innovative and significant’ proposal and this is echoed by Referee 2, who believes the project will ‘result in important national benefits’. n Tackle the most important negative things they said in the 2 nd half of the rejoinder

7. 7 Don’t be discouraged by failure n The refereeing process is not a perfect one! n Don’t take it personally n Repackage it and try again