• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Professor Is In

Guidance for all things PhD: Graduate School, Job Market and Careers

  • Home
  • Immediate Support
    • The Art of the Academic Cover Letter
    • The Art of the Article
    • Unstuck: The Art of Productivity
    • Consultations and More
    • Quick Reviews
    • Webinar Recordings
    • Upcoming Live Webinars
    • Free Productivity Webinars
    • Gift Certificates
  • Individual Help
    • Document Editing
      • Testimonials
    • Interview Prep
      • Interview Testimonials
    • One on One Career Consults
    • University Workshops
    • Graduate School Application Assistance
  • Beyond Tenure Track
    • It’s OK to Quit
    • Moving On Coaching Help
    • Our Moving On Team
    • Testimonials from Post-ac Clients
  • The Blog
  • The Podcast
  • Merch!

Two Pet Peeves From the World of Grants

By Karen Kelsky | October 4, 2013

Two pet peeves from the world of grants:

A grant proposal must not contain the phrase “I need to,” as in “for my revisions of the manuscript I need to pay closer attention to feminist critiques and read more deeply in the women’s studies literature.”  This type of language is the ultimate in grad student-insecurity-speak (You can just hear the conversation in some advisor’s office), and has no place in an effective proposal.  Any plan of work in a grant proposal will simply describe in factual and general terms the work itself, without insecure justifications or references to real or imagined gaps and/or failures and/or weaknesses that “need to be” (according to some unspecified authority) addressed.

Do NOT end a grant proposal with “thank you for your consideration.”  A proposal requires formal, descriptive language throughout that covers the project and its significance, the proposed research and timeline (and budget if required), and a conclusion,  following principles that are described in the post, The Foolproof Grant Template.  It does not, ever, end with an interjection.  It’s not a letter, for heaven’s sake.

Similar Posts:

  • Strategizing Your CV for the Job Market
  • Dr. Karen’s Foolproof Grant Template
  • Why Are There No Elephants? A Common Grant-Writing Error
  • The European Project-Based Postdoc
  • Should I Send Out a Book Proposal Before the Manuscript is Completely Finished?

Filed Under: How to Get Grants and Fellowships, Stop.Acting.Like.A.Grad.Student, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shoba Arun says

    July 7, 2016 at 12:23 am

    Hi I would like help with reviewing and editing a 14 page grant proposal

    Reply
    • Karen says

      July 7, 2016 at 4:56 pm

      Sure! Just email me at gettenure@gmail.com to learn how and get on the calendar.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Buy My Book!

4.8 stars on Amazon!

The_Professor_Is_In.indd

AOCLlogoFast, Individualized, Affordable

A 10-module, self-guided course, all-online, available anytime 24/7, that walks you step by step through the planning, info-gathering, writing, and editing of your academic job cover letter.

Read More Here

Recent Posts

  • Ivory Towers in The Rearview Mirror: Kate Krueger
  • The Zoom Teaching Demo: Eight Guideposts
  • #Dispatches – What Will You Do When The Pandemic Is Truly Over?
  • Ivory Towers in The Rearview Mirror: Lindsay Barone
  • You Belong

Categories

  • #MeTooPhD
  • #Resistance
  • Academic Job Search
    • Administrator positions
    • How To Choose and Manage Recommenders
    • How to Interview
    • How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters
    • How To Write CVs
    • Landing Your Tenure Track Job
    • Major Job Market Mistakes
    • Negotiating Offers
  • Adjunct Issues
  • Advising Advice
  • Alt-Ac Job Search
    • Careers Outside
  • Alt-University Critique
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Christian Colleges
  • Coronavirus
  • COVID19
    • Adapting
  • Dispatches
  • Goodbye Ivory Towers
  • Graduate Student Concerns
    • Bad Advisors and Good Mentors
  • How To Do Conferences
  • How to Get Grants and Fellowships
  • International Perspectives
  • Internet and Social Media
  • Intersectional Analyses
  • Makeup
  • Marginalized Voices
  • Mental Illness and Academia
  • Ph.D. Poverty
  • Podcast
  • Post-Ac Free-Lancing and Small Business
  • Postdoc Issues
  • Productivity
    • Book Proposals and Contracts
    • Publishing Issues
    • Writing
  • Promote Yourself!
  • Quitting–An Excellent Option
  • Racism in the Academy
  • Rearview Mirror
  • Resumes & Postac Docs
  • Sexual Harassment in the Academy
  • Shame
  • Stop.Acting.Like.A.Grad.Student
  • Strategizing Your Success in Academia
  • Teaching and Research Statements
  • Teaching Demos
  • Teaching Portfolios
  • Tenure–How To Get It
    • How To Build Your Tenure File
    • Surviving Assistant Professorhood
  • The Campus Visit
  • Unstuck
  • Webinars
  • What Not To Wear
  • Women of Color in Academia
  • Work/Life Balance in Academia
  • Yes, You Can: Women in Academia
  • Your Second and Third Jobs

Footer

About Us

  • Who Is Dr. Karen?
  • Who Is On the TPII Team?
  • In The News
  • Contact Me
  • FAQs
    • Why Trust Me?

Community

  • #MeTooPhD
  • Peer Editing
  • PhD Debt Survey
  • Support Fund

Copyright © 2021 The Professor Is In·