How can you write a grant proposal that encourages collaboration across departments and institutions?

Sometimes, it is also essential to see the possibility of different interests and bring them together to build a potential new area or domain. I belonged to the Wireless Networks Domain and worked on optimizing network performance. I collaborated with the mathematics department to find some new solutions for the optimization. I have also worked with medical professionals to develop Body Area Networks protocols. So, seeing a non-common interest with a big picture and bringing a new need is good.

Emphasise why and how the collective effort of the specific departments or institutions will be beneficial, compared to individual effort and how each department's/ institution's strengths complement each other, and enhance this potential partnership? For example, on a number of european Erasmus+ projects I managed, each partner specialised in a different area, e.g. dissemination, curriculum development, matter experts etc, creating a strong consortium which produced high-quality outcomes.

Understanding possible barriers to collaboration or participating in different aspects of a project that might be unique from partner to partner is as important as finding common interests. A lot of times, we have many interests but are limited in what we can provide to a collaboration because of institutional or other barriers. For example, I work in the broader impacts sphere (education and engagement). Many tenure-track faculty are limited in how much they can collaborate on BI projects because it is considered service, which only accounts for a small percentage of their overall load. They are no rewarded for their participation. So being creative about how to overcome or go around barriers becomes especially important.

Identify common interests and needs together with your collaborators and be clear about collaborators expertise. Highlight the value of collaboration and established a workplan and budget. Set up a team

Writing a grant proposal that encourages collaboration across departments and institutions requires careful planning and effective communication. The following are required: 1. Executive Summary 2. Introduction 3. Project Objectives 4. Background and Context 5. Target Audience 6. Collaboration Plan 7. Budget 8. Timeline 9. Evaluation and Metrics 10. Risk Assessment 11. Institutional Support 12. Capacity Building 13. Sustainability 14. Review and Refinement: Have the proposal reviewed by different departments and institutions. Remember to tailor your proposal to the specific requirements of the grant application and to emphasize the unique strengths and contributions each department or institution brings to the collaboration.

In my experience, the best communication is in a relaxed environment, face-to-face meetings with coffee, a friendly approach to potential partners, and brainstorming ideas.

Face-to-face interaction is best. I’m a fan of regular meetings during the planning stage so everyone hears the same things at the same time with a chance to ask questions and give feedback. But don’t have meetings just to have meetings. Hold them only if they are needed to accomplish group tasks.

You need to consult with the individuals you trust the most while drafting the proposal. Let a couple of people you trust to read and give you feedback. Listening to the other voices always makes a lot of sense.

Faced to face meetings are the best way to communicate. Zoom is okay too. But to be honest sometimes an email will suffice. The key is to not to waste people’s time.

I collaborated on several multidisciplinary educational opportunities where I taught. These opportunities fostered excitement about the opportunity of presenting best practices in these different disciplines. We were able to contribute how, through the creation and writing of these grants, contributed to students and faculty development across campus. It furthered the interest in one's area of expertise and encouraged questions where we gained deeper insight into our respective fields. Setting deadlines and adhering to them resulted in successful grant completion and monies awarded. Grant writing collaboratively can open opportunities to better teaching and learning practices across disciplinary boundaries.

One thing I found beneficial in budget development is good research of potential costs and a narrative budget that reflects project outcomes.

Budgets can be tricky, especially If your project spans several grants or has any governmental funding attached to it. Always involve finance in the creation of budgets. I always put together the group wish list and then ask finance what else is needed before I write the grant narrative and budget narrative.

Budgeting requires some skills other than scientific ones. So it is better to consult someone who is informed about budgeting items.

Yes to all of the points. The one thing I have found helpful is to budget the project length for multiple years or at least one year longer than originally planned. This way you account for the unexpected.

Pour établir une demande de subvention promouvant la collaboration entre départements et établissements, il est essentiel de mettre en place une stratégie efficace. Tout d'abord, il convient d'utiliser des outils tels que des réunions interdépartementales régulières pour favoriser la communication et la coordination entre les différentes parties prenantes. Ensuite, il est judicieux de recourir à des méthodes de travail collaboratif, comme la réalisation de projets pilotes conjoints, pour démontrer l'impact positif de la collaboration sur l'atteinte des objectifs communs.

Don’t only think of partners like your institution. Think public-private partnerships or partnerships with non-educational nonprofits too. Often partners like these bring new resources as well as perspectives to the table.

It's good to get a complementary skill set and expertise to bring value to collaboration. Also, it should be open to collaborate with non-identified corners.

Your proposal should convince the reader about its potential use value that can make a change and impact. So boldly talk about the change you want to make.

It’s also helpful to show how you have been successful with some of the project but how the partnership can help complete the project.

pay attention to what the call says in detail. make the list of words that often pop op in the call. Objectives of the call should be clearly understood as well as the impact.

Always follow the rules of the funder. Always As a grant reviewer the most common mistakes are sloppy ones like misspellings and mistakes in math or where the rules were not adhered to. Funding is very competitive. Follow the rules if you want a chance to even get into the competition.

1. The subject of the research must have broad appeal and applicability 2. It must have a multi-disciplnary need. 3. Besides having financial benefits to the institutions there must be rewards that are visable to the individual researchers (besides funding) e.g., cutting edge research, the chance to gain new knowledge and skilss through inter-institution cooperation, the idea of discovering something new, a feeling of relevancy to their respective field, etc. 4 A well written proposal that clearly defines each institution’s respective responsibilities and areas of cooperation and communication..

Following the funder's criteria is essential for a successful grant proposal. Also, it is crucial to have enough time before the deadline for any corrections and improvements to the grant proposal.

Of course, a grant proposal must be written in the given format. If we don't follow the set format, we may deviate from the main topic or lack persuasion that's the key element in a grant-winning proposal.

Soft and behavioral skills are more necessary than technical skills to make collaboration successful. -Listening Skill -Respecting each other culture and background -Genuine and Proactive to help to team members -Human Management

This question in itself serves as another indictment of the baseless metrics used by funders to evaluate grant proposals. In a rational system, the question would be: does answering this important research question actually require collaboration across institutions that needs to be supported, or would such collaboration introduce excessive coordination costs that might undermine or impede the progress of the research? Ah sorry, the smoldering ashes of the ol' "interdisciplinary" fad look hot enough yet, surely we can rekindle the bonfire! Then Zoom and Slack forevermore!

Being honest about the limitations of what is possible with the first ask of funding. Let your funders know that more than one round of funding maybe needed and even then you may not be able to complete everything in the proposal. Don’t sugar coat possible outcomes just to get funding. It’s best to not burn that bridge.

Grant writing, like most other professional development opportunities at colleges and universities, takes time to develop. Many of the contributors provide important insight into developing the kind of grant that will be successful. Knowing one's area of expertise and their individual contributions to the field in precise and concise language, and not language laden with and in one's area of expertise, will result oftentimes in a successful monetary grant award.