Make an Appointment with a Competitive Funding Writing Consultant

Support for Preparing a Competitive Award Application

Are you a graduate student seeking funding for research or field study? Schedule a Competitive Funding Writing Consultation to use our Competitive Funding Opportunities database. Receive a curated list of potential opportunities, then get expert individual feedback on your application documents from CCE's Competitive Funding writing consultants.

A bold title states, Get Competitive at CCE. The CCE logo is at the center of a 4-part cycle. At the top left, a database icon beside the text, 'Find opportunities: Use the CCE Competitive Funding database to find your scholarship, fellowship, or grant. At the top right, an illustration of two women in conversation with the words, 'Get personalized help: Meet with a CCE Competitive Funding writing consultant to get feedback on your application.' At the bottom right, a calendar icon with the text, "Learn more: Attend a CCE seminar for expert tips on grants. Visit CCE's Scheduled Events page to register for a seminar.' At the bottom right, a smartphone icon with the text, 'Stay in the loop: Follow the CCE on social media and check out our website for news about upcoming opportunities.'

The Competitive Funding writing consultants help graduate student and postdoc award applicants in the following ways:

National award focused expectations
  • Understand funding agency expectations and requirements
  • Highlight applicants' qualities and abilities to meet the expectations  of the opportunity-funding organization
  • Frame applicants' research, professional, and/or career interests to align with the program mission
  • Present a compelling case for the proposed research or project
  • Integrate relevant details about applicants' lives and experiences to develop an application that stands out and gets noticed
  • Address the specific requirements of applications, such as targeted (short-answer) questions and length limits
  • Emphasize applicants' strengths; re-frame their limitations and weaknesses in a positive light
  • Communicate with mentors and others in their network to arrange for letters of recommendation and other support materials

Cross-disciplinary genre expectations
  • Develop content or subject matter in ways that meet the expectations of the funding review committee
  • Outline, organize, and coordinate application materials
  • Articulate the significance of research topics to the field
  • Describe research methods in a clear and credible way
  • Frame, position, and weigh propositions in a coherent discussion
  • Articulate the value and contribution of their education, research, and career goals to the field
  • Critically evaluate and refine their application writing according to academic expectations
  • Understand the organization, communicative goals, and writing strategies of funding application genres (e.g., scholarships, fellowships, and grants)

Scholarly communication conventions
  • Differentiate among types of competitive applications (e.g., scholarships, fellowships, and grants)
  • Understand the scope, aims, audience, and quality of awards and identify appropriate funding opportunities
  • Understand ethical issues in scholarly writing
  • Understand application requirements and the selection process

Academic and professional development
  • Identify academic writing conventions using scholarly resources
  • Locate literature relevant to applicants’ research focus using library search engines and resources
  • Effectively use writing technologies (e.g., electronic collections of texts, search engines for linguistic data)