How to win a research grant

Thanks

So basically as well as whatever their academic field of study, academics also have to be sales pyschologists. OK, you know the story where a guy goes to a rubbish restaurant and they ask 'are you leaving a tip'? and he says, 'Yes, my tip is to retrain your waiters and get a new chef' - so here's a 7th tip for research grants. Try and change the system so academics don't waste all that time on what has been called 'insanely low' levels of success regarding grants? How about funded research that doesn't depend on spending 1,000s of hours chasing elusive grants, so those hours could be spent actually doing the flippin' research instead???

How important is the level and type of institutional mate on grant applications?

It is quite clear to me after thirty years, and reading this , that repeatedly applying for larger grants is a pathway to nowhere. It my field in social sci it is expected: but I never get past the 'internal starter grant' stage. I have not got the bigger ones, prefer to do the research myself rather than palm it off to funded students and RAs which is what happens when you have a bigger budget. I have wasted hundreds of hours putting in fruitless applications that have come to nothing, and frustrated the co applicants too who often need these grants to secure employment or better employment. After thirty years in the game it is time to realise that work done on the cheap, or unfunded, is still good research - less wastage, less need to pump up a proposal with ambitious targets and outputs, etc. This work has resulted in really good books and articles and is equally valid compared against the sometimes underwhelming outputs resulting from European Fellowships, and British and Australian equivalents, that are well paid and also remove scholars from the teaching pool for long periods. These might have a role for incredibly time-dependent and intensive research, like coronavirus research, or where equipment or facilities are needed, but I think we should actually reward scholars for doing good research that is unfunded. It shows bravery and perseverance, and is often very good research. In our science faculty in a large world top 50 research university, research makes no positive contribution to the budget, either - it costs money.