The Research Center for Politics and Government (PolGov) of the Department of Government Politics held an Internal Capacity Building with the theme “How To Write a Good Research Proposal” on Thursday (8/6/2023). Internal Capacity Building is a routine agenda held by PolGov which aims to develop the capacity of PolGov researchers and lecturers within the UGM Department of Government Politics. In particular, this event aims to develop the capacity of lecturers and researchers in compiling outstanding research proposals so that they can qualify for national and international research grant programs.
ICB was carried out in a hybrid manner by involving PolGov researchers and several lecturers from DPP Fisipol UGM. As a guest speaker, ICB presented Edward Aspinall, Professor of Politics at the Australian National University (AUN). ICB was hosted by one of the PolGov researchers, namely Faiz Kasyfilham.
Focusing on research grants, Edward Aspinall described several significant steps so that research proposals could pass selection and receive grants. According to Aspinall, four steps must be take to produce a competitive research proposal.
In the first step, the research team must carefully read each research guideline and criteria so that the research structure and design by these provisions.
Second, the research team must understand the character of the assessors from the donor agency. By doing so, proposals can be adapted to the interests of the donor assessor team. In addition, research proposals must be able to attract the attention of assessors by making a proposal opening “sentence” that is interesting, short, and substantive.
Third, research grant proposals must have internal consistency and ensure that research grant proposals have a clear internal structure.
Fourth, research grant proposals must be realistic even if they look ambitious. The researcher must be able to convince the assessor that the method used is good enough and has been previously tested. In addition, the proposal needs to demonstrate the presence of a competent team with a positive previous track record.
In conclusion, Aspinall stressed that preparing research grant proposals takes a long time. Aspinall likens writing a research proposal to writing a journal. Therefore, a competitive research proposal is a proposal that is prepared seriously and unhurriedly.
