This week we look at Myth #2: Funding begins with the proposal.

This is relevant this month because many faculty are looking ahead to summer, viewing that as the time when they will finally sit down and write proposals.

However, proposal writing is not the beginning of the funding process. It is actually a relatively late stage. But misunderstanding this causes pre-proposal work to start too late, so PIs struggle to pull together a competitive submission.

A wiser process looks different.

Funding starts with learning about sponsors: who they are, what they care about, and what their priorities are. A website is one place from which to begin, but it is not enough. You also need dialogue, observation and a certain amount of detective work.

Next comes outreach, a process in itself. It may take multiple attempts to reach the right person. Once the conversations begin, you start assessing fit, not only from what you have read but also from how those inside the organization are talking about the work. Written materials (e.g., a solicitation) often can be interpreted in different ways and may not reflect the most current thinking about strategy and priorities.

This is also the point at which you begin to get early feedback. That feedback may come from a variety of sources. Ideally, you have not done too much writing yet, and that is exactly the point. Instead, you are now shaping the concept. You are also gathering practical information about the timing, deadlines and what kind of runway you have.

All of this should happen before proposal writing.

April is when you need to be in conversations that will help you write more effectively over the summer. Otherwise, when summer arrives, you may not be fully ready to write.

This theme came through clearly in our interviews with former program officers and program managers:

The former Army program manager described a process that could involve months of back-and-forth before a proposal was even encouraged. The former NSF program director recommended starting about six months early, beginning with a concept paper. And both DARPA interviewees emphasized the importance of early engagement.

At Wise Investigator we see this often with incoming clients interested in DARPA opportunities: They feel they should wait for the Young Faculty Award announcement and use that to learn if there may be a fit to their research. But that approach is not what we recommend, nor was it recommended by former DARPA program managers. You want to engage early. As one interviewee put it: “Never wait to engage DARPA.”

Many faculty believe they are behind on writing when in fact they are behind on something else. Perhaps on finding the right home for the idea, on making contact with someone at the sponsor, on clarifying fit or adjusting the project to better match the aims of the program. Or giving the sponsor enough time to digest your work, provide you with meaningful feedback and in so doing become familiar with both the project and the person behind it.

If you wait until the proposal feels urgent, you may already be too late for some of the most important parts of this process.

This takes us back, briefly, to Myth #1, which was that a strong idea is sufficient to secure funding. There the gap was between a technically strong idea and a fundable one. Here, the gap is different. It is between when PIs think the funding effort begins and when and how it actually does.

This is less about the quality of an idea and more about timing, sequence and expected runway that precede and improve proposal submission.

Next week we will cover Myth #3: Program officers are gatekeepers rather than collaborators.

Did you catch all these interviews on our YouTube channel? If not, check out this playlist!

This playlist brings together four interviews with former program officers and program managers from Army, DARPA, and NSF. Across these conversations, they share candid, behind-the-scenes insight into how funding decisions actually get made, what strong proposals have in common, and how faculty can approach sponsor outreach more strategically. If you are serious about improving your chances of getting funded, these interviews will help you understand not just how to write a proposal, but how to think like the people evaluating and shaping research portfolios.

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

Check out our storefront where you can access our free Unlocking DOD Funding for University Researchers course and other resources, including for faculty applicants.

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