Beating the odds to win a research funding call

Success rates for many calls are low, but a quality application will improve your chances

When analysing a funding call and deciding whether or not to apply, it’s always worth finding out the success rate in previous rounds. Some funders are better than others at publicising success rates. Some won’t share them at all, some will hide them away in annual reports, and others will publish a lot of details and data but in distant corners of their website. If you can’t find success rates easily, ask your friendly neighbourhood research development professional.

Changes to funding schemes can make comparisons with previous years less useful, and with multiple-stage schemes (outline, full and perhaps an interview), it’s probably the success rate at each stage that’s most interesting. But where calls don’t give success rates, there will usually be details of approximately how many awards will be made, or what kind of budget is available.