Services

Grants Proposal Authoring

A comprehensive service, whereby I take responsibility for generating the content necessary for a grant application, and (optionally) ensuring it is submitted. It is a collaborative process, however, and some client input is needed. The procedure is broadly as follows:

Initial discussions to identify opportunities.
Detailed (~1-hour) call to discuss the scope of a proposed project and alignment with available funding opportunities, enabling you to decide whether to progress with an application for a specific competition.

At this point we sign a contract, which includes an upfront payment, plus a further future payment contingent on success of the proposal. The proposal preparation process is as follows:

Kick-off call (~1 hour) to fully describe the proposed project, plus sharing further background materials as appropriate to enable me to start writing the bid.
Follow-up calls as necessary; typically, 2 or 3 additional calls are required to address questions that arise during the proposal drafting process and to refine proposal details. These typically focus on the target market and commercialisation strategy, project plan, and project costs.
Client review of materials, and further iterations of the draft to ensure it is of high quality.
Submission; we cross our fingers and wait.

In practice, this is an outline, and may vary from one proposal to another. Further, it is adaptable to your preferences as to how heavily involved you want to be in proposal preparation. Turnaround time is 2–6 weeks, depending on when deadlines fall and how busy I am.

For proposals with an interview stage, I provide additional support to help prepare the presentation materials. For Innovate UK competitions, there are two components to this: a response to the assessors’ comments, which I typically lead, and a presentation (usually 10 powerpoint slides), which you would lead, with me providing review/feedback as appropriate. Note that Innovate UK usually only gives you around a week to prepare, so it’s important to mark dates for invites to interview in the diary.

Grants Proposal Review

Provision of feedback on a written proposal. This consists of me reading through the proposal and providing written feedback on it, with constructive criticisms, followed by a debrief call (~90 minutes) to discuss the comments, and answer any questions that arise from the written feedback. The objective is to provide a comprehensive set of insights to improve a largely already written bid.

I know all too well the time pressures faced in preparing a proposal, and so turnaround times for reviews are 24 hours. However, this requires advance booking to guarantee availability.

Proposal reviews can optionally be extended to a second iteration.

Custom Grants Support

If you're looking for an intermediate level of support, whereby you create content, but require a greater level of support compared with proposal reviews, then please get in touch to arrange a custom support package specifically tailored to your needs.

This typically involves project scoping, ensuring the work program appears to be a coherent program of R&D that addresses a specific problem or technical challenge, and which aligns with the scope of the grant funding competition. This is followed by a number of iterations of support in generating content, such as project plans, and cost breakdowns, and appendix materials, as well as reviewing content and providing feedback and suggestions.

Supported Funding Opportunities

My main focus is on Innovate UK funding opportunities. This is because, compared with alternatives such as Horizons Europe and Eurostars, the application process is more straightforward and the competitions are less highly contested, which translates to higher chances of success. I also have positive experiences with SBRI and Research Council funding.

I have a track record of success in grants schemes including Smart, Innovation Loans, Faraday Battery Challenge, Emerging and Enabling Technologies, Biomedical Catalyst, Farming Innovation Programme, Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, Commercialising Quantum Technologies, Driving the Electric Revolution, Materials & Manufacturing, and Bridge AI (Collaborative AI Solutions to improve productivity in key sectors).

Please get in touch if you would like to know what funding opportunities might be appropriate.

Supported Technology areas

I am comfortable working in most technology areas that are broadly within applied physics and engineering sciences. I have authored successful proposals on behalf of grants clients operating in ML/AI, robotics & automation, semiconductors, quantum technologies, Li-ion batteries, medical devices, biotech, agritech, engineering biology, software systems, decarbonisation, materials, energy, telecoms, electrical engineering, transport systems, and fintech.

Please get in touch if you would like to enquire regarding your sector or technology area.