When we think about funding for proposed research, it is natural to focus almost entirely on the proposal. Proposals are discrete, have deadlines, and are subject to acceptance or rejection.

Yet, at Wise Investigator we encourage PIs to think in terms of a research funding process instead of a single document. This usually starts well before the proposal is written and continues after submission. I often describe it as starting with an online presence and ending when the funded work is performed and begins to have real-world impact.

In this series of newsletters, I will pull the lens back even further and look at the complete arc of research: from the moment an idea first appears to the moment something new exists because that work was done.

Considering the arc at this scale can be surprisingly clarifying. It helps you see where you are in the process, what kinds of work belong to each phase, and why effort sometimes feels misplaced. It also helps put proposals into context so they no longer carry more weight than they should.

I describe this arc as a four-phase process, with components labeled as:

The first phase is The Spark.

Spark is the origin of a line of research. The moment when something lights up as worth pursuing. That might be an intuition, a question that will not leave you alone, a logical next step from work you are already doing, or a problem that keeps resurfacing in your thinking.

This can be the most mysterious part of the process and I do not believe we need to demystify it. While there are analytical ways to identify gaps in the literature, most PIs rely on some combination of experience, curiosity, and inner awareness to decide what is worth working on. The Spark is not usually the phase where researchers need the most help. The important thing here is to recognize that this is where ideas begin and to respect the significance and value of that beginning.

We call the second phase The Container.

Container is where you give shape to the Spark. This is still largely solitary work. You are not trying to convince anyone yet. You are trying to understand the idea yourself.

In Container you ask whether the idea is workable. What would actually need to happen to test it? The kinds of samples, methods, or data that would be involved. What the scope should be and, just as importantly, what it should not be. This is also where the idea is placed within your broader research portfolio and career trajectory.

Container is about boundaries, structure and clarity. Skipping this phase may lead to proposals that are overstuffed, unfocused, or difficult to defend because the idea was never fully and competently formulated before being shared.

The third phase is The Extension.

Extension is where the work moves beyond you. This is the outward-facing phase. It includes meeting requests, proposals, feedback from reviewers and peers, and interaction with institutional systems.

With Extension, you are choosing a particular version of the idea and externalizing it. This involves persuasion, translation, and exposure. It also involves alignment, because the idea now must meet sponsor priorities, external standards, and timelines. Feedback is part of this phase, and rejection does not mean the Spark was wrong. It often means that something in the earlier Container needs strengthening.

The final phase is The Realization.

Realization is where the idea comes to exist in the physical world. Research is performed. Results are generated. Knowledge, tools, models, or technologies come into being. Students are trained. Publications and presentations are part of this phase, but they are not the whole of it. The deeper question here is what now exists because this work happened?

Over the next four weeks, I will focus on each of these phases in turn, with particular attention to how research funding relates to each. My hope is that by looking at the complete arc, you will find it easier to locate where you are strong, where you may be stuck, and where your attention will be most useful right now.

It takes patience and persistence to carry an idea from an initial Spark to Realization. There are many steps along the way, and it is easy to become bogged down in any one of them. Pulling the lens back can help you see the magnitude of what you are doing and give you clearer footing as you move forward.

Lately, I’ve been getting more and more inquiries from PIs and institutions about optimizing online presence for AI and, more broadly, increasing online visibility. In case you missed it (this video went out right before the winter holidays), I’m re-sharing a webinar I presented with Atom Grants on exactly this topic. If you haven’t watched it yet, it’s worth your time. There are a lot of small, easy steps you can take that add up to meaningful visibility gain. Spending just an hour or two on this process can make a real difference. Get started by watching the video below.

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 12-week program to get you there.

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