About these articles
We curated this list of articles to provide additional resources on work-life balance, grant preparation, proposal development, and more! It is being updated all the time, so be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with our latest Tuesday Tips, shared articles, agency updates, workshops, and more!
Topics
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- Tuesday Tips - Twice per month, our team publishes grant writing tips to help with everything from grant readiness and brainstorming, to putting the finishing touches on a final draft. These tips can also be found in our News section.
- Career Development - These articles are written specifically for early career faculty, but can be of use to researchers at any career stage!
- Grant Components - Looking for advice on developing specific aspects of your grant? Here are some useful articles to help!
- Grantsmanship - These articles contain great advice for all grant writers!
- Formatting and Visuals - If you're looking for tips on specific aspects of proposal formatting, visuals and design to improve the presentation of your grant, check out these articles.
- Work-Life Balance - Academia doesn't always make for an easy work-life balance. Here are some articles to help!
Writing in Academia - These articles focus on writing and editing tips, and helping with motivation and strategies when struggling with writing in academia.
Tuesday Tips
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Start Early! (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Make Your Ideas Easy to Find! (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Incorporating DEI into your grant proposal and research practices (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Contact a Program Officer! (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: How (and why!) to use visuals in your grant proposal (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Flex those writing muscles! (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Reviewing The Review Criteria (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Evaluating Your Research (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Heilmeier Catechism (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Proposal Brainstorming (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Finishing tips for the win! (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Connect the dots for your reviewers (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: What makes a good grant figure? (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Funding beyond project grants (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Reading an RFP (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Think SMART when writing objectives (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Easing Reviewer Fatigue (PDS team, 2024)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Determining Project Scope (PDS team, 2025)
- 💡 Grant Writing Tip: Finding Funding (PDS team, 2025)
Career Development
- A Primer for Prepping for Tenure Review (Inside Higher Education, 2024)
- An NSF CAREER Checklist (Scholar Foundations, 2024)
- Dos and do-overs: reflections on life as an early career researcher (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Good daily work habits for early career researchers (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- How To Become a Better Principal Investigator (Cayuse Blog)
- How to demonstrate the real-world impact of your research (Nature, 2024)
- How to train early-career scientists to weather failure (Nature, 2023)
- It can be different: managing time, tasks and well-being in academia (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Lessons learned from writing my first grant proposal (Medium, 2018)
- NSF 101: Four tips for applying to NSF’s CAREER program (NSF Science Matters, 2020)
- Part 1: Embrace the New Year: A Journey of Fresh Ideas, Goals, and Grant Writing Success (Exousia Group Blog, 2024)
- Writing Your First Grant (Faculty Focus, 2022)
Grant Components
- A Literature Review is Not A Thing, It’s Something You Do (Medium, 2022)
- A Model for Drafting Specific Aims (Medium, 2023)
- Designing broader impacts for durable influence (Science For Everyone Blog, 2024)
- Drafting compelling letters of support for research grant funding (University Affairs, 2023)
- Figure and Chart Design (Medium, 2022)
- Funding Supplements for NSF-Funded and NIH-Funded Investigators (ASU, 2024)
- Grant Writing: How to Build Credibility with Your Budget Narrative (Grants.gov Community Blog, 2019)
- How to budget your grant proposal (Science, 2017)
- How to Create a Budget for a Grant Proposal (Smarter Select Blog, 2024)
- How to describe your plans (Write Better Proposals, 2023)
- How to incorporate equity, diversity, and inclusion in your grant applications (University Affairs, 2023)
- How to Make Good Figures for Scientific Papers (Simplified Science Publishing)
- How to make public engagement work for early career academics (Times Higher Education, 2024)
- How to write about research methods (University Affairs, 2021)
- How research-based news articles (like this one) accelerate research impact (EduResearch Matters, 2024)
- I’d Rather Eat Sand – NSF Proposals – Broader Impacts (ScienceDocs)
- Mentoring Best Practices: Building Meaningful Connections (NRMN, 2024)
- NSF 101: Five tips for your Broader Impacts statement (NSF Science Matters, 2021)
- NSF 101: The Mentoring plan (NSF Science Matters, 2023 - w/2024 update)
- On Grant-Writing: Just What Are Your Project’s ‘Specific Aims’? (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2021)
- Quick-yet-polished timelines for grant applications (University Affairs, 2023)
- Steps to take to encourage more support for public engagement in research (Times Higher Education, 2024)
- Ten simple rules for designing graphical abstracts (PLOS Computational Biology, 2024)
- The NIH Biographical Sketch: Variations on a Theme (Medium, 2024)
- The Prickly Impact Statement (The Research Whisperer, 2021)
- Top 10 Tips for Crafting an Effective Grant Timeline (Grant Goddess)
- Understanding Indirect Costs: A Brief Overview (University Affairs, 2024)
- Want NSF funding? You’ll need to submit a grad student mentoring plan (Science, 2024)
- What steps to take when funding starts to run out (Nature Portfolio, 2024)
- Where to use a hook? (Write Better Proposals Blog, 2022)
- Why are Budget Justifications Important? (University of Texas, Dallas, 2015)
- Writing about yourself (The Research Whisperer, 2023)
Grantsmanship
- 3 Quick tips to instantly improve your grant proposal (Nicole LaJeunesse Blog, 2024)
- 5 Grant Submission Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make (and How to Avoid Them) (Grant Engine, 2024)
- 5 Steps to Find the Right Research Grant for your Project (Boster Blog, 2023
- 7 Tips to Level Up Your Grant Writing Game (Arts Midwest, 2024)
- 10 Strategies for Successfully Pursuing Research Grants (Inside Higher Ed, 2022)
- 10 Tips for Successful Grant Writing (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2018)
- 10 Tips on Grant Writing From a Seasoned Reviewer (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2021)
- A funding adviser’s guide to writing a great grant application (Nature, 2023)
- A guide to writing grant proposals (Times Higher Education, 2022)
- A Pre-Submission Checklist, Plus an Action Steps Worksheet (Scholar Foundations, 2023)
- All together now: how to write an interdisciplinary research proposal (Times Higher Education, 2022)
- Balancing realism and ambition in research grant writing (Serena Cogoni Blog, 2024)
- Be Consistent (Scholar Foundations, 2022)
- Collaborative grant writing: distributing tasks for success (Serena Cogoni Blog, 2024)
- Collaborative Research: Best Practices and Pitfalls (eCorrector, 2023)
- Common Mistakes to Avoid When Applying for Government Grants (Medium, 2024)
- Converging paths: the art and science of writing grants and papers (Serena Cogoni Blog, 2024)
- Crafting a compelling narrative: editing strategies for your research grant (Serena Cogoni Blog, 2024)
- Crafting a Strong Hypothesis (Medium, 2023)
- Does hooking a reviewer’s emotions work for any discipline? (Write Better Proposals, 2025)
- Eight Cs of grant writing (Write Better Proposals, 2021)
- Essential Tips for Collaborative Grant-Writing with Community Partners (UCD Public Scholarship & Engagement, 2024)
- Fail Big: 100 Rejections (Scholar Foundations, 2023)
- Five tips for building healthy academic collaborations (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Four Essential Steps to Prepare for the Upcoming Grant Season (Grant Goddess, 2024)
- Get feedback on your draft application (The Research Whisperer, 2023)
- Getting Started (The Research Whisperer, 2024)
- Grant Proposal Rejection: Reasons for Rejection and How to Handle It (Research.Life Blog, 2023)
- Grant Searching Made Easy: Mastering Keywords on Grants.gov (Grants.gov Community Blog, 2024)
- Grant Writing Tips From Faculty Reviewers (Better At The Bench Blog, 2020)
- How Do You Build a Community? (Scholar Foundations, 2024)
- How many grants should you write at a time? (Scholar Foundations, 2024)
- How screenwriting can help your grant writing (Nature, 2023)
- How to gain a competitive edge in grant writing (Nature, 2022)
- How to integrate storytelling into your next research grant application (University Affaires, 2024)
- How to write clear objectives for your research grant proposal (University Affairs, 2022)
- How To Write SMART Objectives In Your Grants (Professional Grant Writers Blog, 2021)
- How to write a winning research proposal (Lennart Nacke, Ph.D., Blog, 2024)
- How to Write Winning Grant LOIs (with examples) (Medium, 2017)
- Igniting your research career: six simple steps to take during quiet periods (Serena Cogoni Blog, 2023)
- Love and money: why the search for funding is like romance (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Making ambitious research look feasible (University Affairs, 2021)
- Managing research teams (The Research Whisperer, 2023)
- Nine secrets to writing successful grant proposals (Julie Stauffer on LinkedIn, 2022)
- NSF 101: 5 tips on how to work with an NSF program officer (NSF Science Matters, 2021)
- Rethinking the Clipboard: Why Your Grant Proposals Need More Than Copy-Paste (Grant Goddess Blog)
- Scoring your funding proposal (The Research Whisperer, 2023)
- Secrets to writing a winning grant (Nature, 2019)
- Set sail on the choppy waters of grant proposals with the 3 Gs approach (Times Higher Education, 2024)
- Seven questions to ask before pursuing a new grant (Nature, 2022)
- Show, don't tell (Write Better Proposals Blog, 2020)
- Spin: Not a four-letter word (Write Better Proposals Blog, 2022)
- So what? Who cares? The skill of talking about impact (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Start with a question (Write Better Proposals Blog, 2023)
- Strategic Planning for an Academic Career (Practical Ph.D., 2024)
- Ten simple rules to leverage large language models for getting grants (PloS Computational Biology, 2024)
- The art of grant writing: write, rewrite and write again (University Affairs, 2023)
- The Dos And Don’ts of Reusing a Grant Proposal (GrantWriterTeam blog, 2022)
- The Heilmeier Catechism’s Ongoing Legacy (Medium, 2023)
- The Persuasive Power of the Word "Because" (Redwood Ink)
- The Power of Data in Grant Proposals: Turning Numbers into Narratives (Grant Goddess Blog)
- Time, Effort, and the Elusive Perfect Proposal: What Really Counts (Grant Engine, 2024)
- Tips for effectively communicating your research’s impact (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Tips for Writing More Fundable Grants (Inside Higher Ed, 2024)
- Using Evaluation Criteria to Prepare a Stronger Grant Proposal (Peak Proposals Blog, 2024)
- What are some common downfalls in grant applications? (Professional Grant Writers Blog, 2024)
- What Are the Stakes? (Scholar Foundations Blog, 2022)
- What Objectives Do You Want to Accomplish With Your Grant Proposal? (Grant News, 2024)
- Who is your reviewer? (Write Better Proposals, 2022)
- Why Your Research Matters: How to Craft a Strong Rationale for Your Grant Proposal (Boster Blog, 2023)
- Will reviewers get why your work matters? (Scholar Foundations, 2023)
- Writing About Need so Funders Will Get It (Grant Professionals Association Blog, 2024)
- Writing for peer reviewers from outside your field: lessons from non-fiction (University Affairs, 2024)
Formatting and Visuals
- 5 Simple Design Principles for a Grant Proposal Figure Makeover (Medium, 2022)
- A Start To Developing a Logic Model (Informal Science, 2016)
- Follow Friendly Formats for PDF Attachments (NIH Extramural Nexus, 2024)
- Funding and Chart Design (Medium, 2022)
- How Accessibility Standards Can Empower Better Chart Visual Design (Smashing Magazine, 2024)
- Quick, yet polished visuals for grant applications (University Affairs, 2023)
- Scientific figures that pop: resources for the artistically challenged (Nature, 2024)
Work-Life Balance
- 3 Ways to Improve Your Summer Writing Practice (Inside Higher Ed, 2024)
- Balancing Academic Research and Teaching (jobs.ac.uk, 2021)
- Cultivating Life-Giving Habits for Career Wellness (Times Higher Education, 2024)
- Five ways to beat the procrastination monster (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Four ways to achieve a better work-life balance in academia (Times Higher Education, 2024)
- How to Manage Academic Work-Life Balance (Top Hat, 2023)
- How to manage your time as a researcher (Nature, 2022)
- How to Reduce your Word Count (Medium, 2020)
- Let’s prioritise self-care for the benefit of everyone (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- On the road to achieving work–life balance in academia (Clinical and Translational Science, 2023)
- Protect your emotional well-being for a happier writing experience (Times Higher Education, 2024)
- Ten simple rules to improve academic work–life balance (PLoS Computational Biology, 2021)
- Grant-writing rituals (Nature, 2023)
Writing, Editing, and Communication in Academia
- A quick shave for your grant proposal: cutting your word count in page-limited texts (University Affairs, 2024)
- Craft Compelling Aims with Strong Verbs (Redwood Ink)
- Five ways to beat the procrastination monster (Times Higher Education, 2023)
- Half-Life Your Message: A Quick, Flexible Tool for Message Discovery (Science Communication, 2018)
- Most scientists don’t enjoy writing grants. Here’s how to change that (Nature, 2023)
- Science Grant Writing Tip: Delete those -ly ending adverbs! (Andrew Burgess, Ph.D. Blog, 2024)
- Ten tips to reduce text to meet character and page limits (Write Better Proposals Blog, 2022)
- There’s no best way to write something (Scientist Sees Squirrels Blog, 2024)
- Tips for Proofreading Your Next Grant Application (Grants.gov Community Blog, 2020)
- The Secret to Good Writing (Medium, 2022)
- Twelve scientist-endorsed tips to get over writer’s block (Nature, 2024)
- Virtually writing together: creating community while supporting individual endeavour (Times Higher Education, 2023)