ROUGHDRAFT II If all the folklore about people who write proposals were collected in one text, a paragraph from that text might read something like this: A proposal writer is a creature found in every climate under the sun, although it/he/she can hardly be thought of as conspicuous, since it/he/she does not work in public, but rather in private offices, library towers and remote bogs in the countryside. Research has shown that the proposal writer becomes particularly scarce when the "crunch of a deadline" is near and his activities often extend 'into the deep hours of the night. Yet it is not so much for his physical characteristics or even for his peculiar writing habits that the proposal writer is best known, but instead for the mysterious gifts of tongue and political cunning which make it/him/her such a success at the grantsmanship game. t a time when more people are relying upon grants from foundations, and when foundations are able to expect ompeting applications for their funds, the grantsmanship game is being demystified by public workshops,conf d publications such as this one. Roughdraft II will work for anyone who is learning how to play the funding game, also for people who are fortunate enough to have good ideas and good friends to implement them. · aspects of the funding process can be described in familiar ways, as consecutive "steps" or "paths." But the ·ding process, like most other processes, can be described as linea~ only in hindsight. In retrospect, a scientist may his research as a series of evolving ideas, while at the time he was trying to do his best with th~ material at hand. It is important to remember that the funding process employs certain gamesmanship tactics, and, like a game, it is bject to the laws of chicanery and fate. But while a game ends with a winner and a loser, success in the funding ~ ..lorocess means the applicant and the funding agency go down theyellow brick road together.
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