Developing an application

Contact your Associate Dean (Research) or Institute Academic Director to discuss your project and due dates. Find out what support is available. This could be leverage funding to support your project, administrative support or finding you a mentor.

You should also consider the following:

• Confirm the project meets eligibility requirements for the proposed grant.
• Ensure your application meets the definition of research.
• Ensure the grant you want to apply for is appropriate for your stage of career.
• Seek feedback from a senior researcher, research mentor, discipline expert, and the community to discuss the feasibility of your project.
• Discuss how your proposal aligns with the Charles Sturt University Research Narrative, or research priorities of your Research Institute or Faculty.
• Identify or generate community support for your project. Understand community priorities, potential impacts, and incorporate these into your research plan.
• Gather a team of collaborators. These can be either internal, or from other research institutions and/or community-based organisations. Look at who is conducting similar research or who has complimentary research – can you work together? Can you demonstrate the strength of the research team and appropriate track record?
• Talk to people who have previously won these awards or check the funding organisations web page to read past outcomes - What are its goals, values and direction? Think about how your research can contribute to that, and why is it important?

Log into MyResearch and create a Research Project Request (RPR) Form. All Charles Sturt University researchers listed on the grant application should be included in the RPR Form.

Note: do not upload a draft application and budget to the RPR Form at this stage – they should only be uploaded once finalised (see below section ‘Finalise your RPR Form’).

If you require any assistance creating an RPR Form, please contact the Grant Development Team at research-preaward@csu.edu.au.

FOR and SEO Codes

Charles Sturt University uses FOR and SEO Codes in various institutional reporting to demonstrate the University's research capacity. For research grants data collection, FOR and SEO codes are collected via the RPR Form at the time an application is submitted to an external funding organisation.

Draft your application early. Applications should address funding body guidelines and criteria. Consider project feasibility and how clearly your project demonstrates what needs to be done in this area/industry/location and why it needs to be done; how and when the research will be undertaken and who will do it.

Access grant writing support and resources:

• Consult with a senior researcher, mentor, discipline expert or line manager;
• Seek grant writing support from the Grant Development Team;
• Log into the Grant Writing Toolkit (Interact2) for grant-related resources and examples;
• Use a project logic template to identify the resources and activities required in the project (see examples by AIFS and UWM)

Budget

Your budget should be realistic and as accurate as possible. Researchers are encouraged to use the Budget Approval Form to help build your budget. You can access the current salary rates, oncosts and travel rates via the Budget Approval Form User Guide.

You should discuss the application with the Grant Development Team and check if the Research Infrastructure Levy applies to the project. Your application budget should:

• Reflect budget requests that are essential to conduct the research
• Ensure the full cost of the research project is within the application budget;
• Ensure the return on investment for Charles Sturt University is worthwhile; and
• Outline any leverage funding commitments to this project.

The lead Charles Sturt University researcher must ensure they have obtained written confirmation from collaborators of all in-kind time commitments, resources and funding support from external project collaborators.

Intellectual Property

• Determine if the funding guidelines have restrictions on the use of Intellectual property;
• Determine what rights to Intellectual Property Charles Sturt University will have within the application; and
• Discuss your issues with the Grant Development Team.

Funding Body Terms and Conditions

• Determine if the funding application requires Charles Sturt University acceptance of agreement terms and conditions within the application; and
• Confirm with the Grant Development Team that any terms and conditions are acceptable to Charles Sturt University.

You are encouraged to seek feedback on your draft application. Consider your Associate Dean (Research) or Institute Academic Director, discipline experts in your School/Institute, or a mentor who can provide an academic review of the proposal. This person may be able to provide an experienced review of your application.

Ensure your research plan is actionable and ethics has been addressed.

Ensure a Chares Sturt University budget template (BAF) is completed and is consistent with details in the proposal and RPR Form. Ensure all funding commitments are confirmed: this includes University and partner/industry commitments (where applicable).

Arrange/complete all supporting documents, including support letters.

Finalise your application, budget and any other associated documents.

Upload your final application and documents to your RPR Form in MyResearch. Submit the RPR Form for approval.

Documents required:

• Application
• Budget/BAF
• Guidelines
• Any other supporting documents that will be submitted to the funding body

If you require any assistance with your RPR Form, please contact the Grant Development Team at research-preaward@csu.edu.au.

Research Services require the RPR Form at least 10 days prior to the funding body closing date – this enables final checks and delegated approval requested.

If submitting the RPR Form less than 10 days before the closing date, contact the  Grant Development Team to discuss your requirements and submission timelines.

Once the application is approved for submission you (lead CI) will be advised.

If you have any queries regarding approval to submit, please contact the Grant Development Team at research-preaward@csu.edu.au.