Why should academics involve research development staff in preparing funding applications? Because they can offer an invaluable alternative perspective, says Funding Insight columnist Adam Golberg.
You are the academic expert, in the process of applying for funding to make a major advance in your field. I am not. I am a research development manager. I might have a PhD or MPhil in a cognate or entirely different field, or nothing postgraduate at all. How can I possibly help you?
The answer lies in this difference of experience and perspective. Sure, we may look at the same things, but different levels of knowledge, understanding—as well as different background assumptions—mean we find very different meanings in them. We all look at the world through lenses tinted by our own experiences and expectations, and if we did not, we would struggle to make sense of it.