Funding and Stakeholder Involvement

Abstract

This chapter clarifies the concept of research sponsorship and provides general advice for seeking and applying for research grants. Funding bodies and other research sponsors represent an important group of stakeholders, and their involvement and roles in research projects are discussed here as well as in Chap. 30 (Dissemination to Stakeholders). Sponsors and research institutions carry ethical obligations that are directly relevant not only to society but also to the researchers applying for funding. Some of these obligations are discussed here. After identifying funding bodies and sponsors, submitting a grant application typically initiates a variable and competitive review process; knowledge of a funding body’s review process is useful in constructing successful grant applications. An ongoing process after the receipt of funding – grant management – is critical to achieving the grant’s specific aims and to completing studies within resource constraints, and practical advice on grant management is accordingly provided.

Donors don’t give to institutions. They invest in ideas and people in whom they believe.

G.T. Smith