SMART R&D grants opened for another year from this month but with a new condition – a mandatory requirement to include a project plan Gantt chart in the application.
Why is this?
The main reason is that TSB, the awarding body, needs to see how your project maps out over its timeframe – so they can evaluate and monitor your project. Assessors can see – does the plan make sense? What’s the project complexity? Are the resources and activities appropriate? Do the timescales look achievable? And if you’re successful… Monitoring Officers can see how best to monitor your project.
Frankly – it makes absolute sense to plan an R&D grant project. You have an opportunity to get free funds for your R&D initiative that will reduce risks in the project. What better way is there to identify all the activities than by planning out the project in detail? This ensures you capture all the project costs up-front whatever might happen – so you don’t end up running out of money if the unexpected occurs.
Never has the old saying: “Failing to plan is planning to fail…” been so true! If you fail to include a project plan in your R&D grant application – you won’t get your SMART R&D award!
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