During his tenure as director of DARPA, George Heilmeier developed a set of questions to help reviewers evaluate proposed research—criteria that get at the heart of what a strong grant proposal should address. Today, the “Heilmeier Catechism" is integrated into review criteria for most other funding agencies. So, be sure to address each of these eight questions in your next grant proposal!

What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.

Be able to clearly explain your research goals, objectives, and activities in such a way that those outside your field can understand. Be clear, and don't assume your readers will understand technical language.

How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?

Are there gaps in the current state of the field? Is there a pressing need for a new approach? Does your research address a problem important to a broader context? Set up this background to explain why your work is important right now.

What is new in your approach, and why do you think it will be successful?

What is innovative about your research? How will it fill the gaps in the field? What improvements does your project have over previous work? Create a vision for your reviewers of how your research will fill unmet needs.

Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?

What is transformative about your project? Why is your research important to those in your field, outside your field, and/or the wider community? Who will be impacted and how? Imagine the world if your research is successful.

What are the risks?

Explain the limitations of your proposed work and how you will overcome them. Anticipate your reviewers’ critiques and discuss strategies to deal with obstacles to success.

How much will it cost?

Be realistic in your budget and justification about how much your project will cost and how you plan to use the money requested.

How long will it take?

How will your project progress during the funding period? Is your project too ambitious? Are there phases? Plan out a research timeline of your activities, evaluations, and deliverables to demonstrate how you plan to use the funding period.

What are the mid-term and final “exams” to check for success?

Explain to your reviewer how you will know that you have been successful (summative assessments), but also include progress checks (formative assessments) along the way to make sure your work is progressing according to plan.

Bottom Line

Funding agencies vary in the details and wording of their review criteria, but using Heilmeier’s Catechism to guide your writing will result in a much stronger proposal. Be clear and specific as you address these questions in your grant—make it easy for your reviewers to see you've met these critical grant proposal criteria.