How to apply for the KT Boost Fund 2024
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Renard
Renate Sachse
Bernhard Renard is head of the KT Boost selection committee. Renate Sachse got the grant in 2022. These are their best tips.
»Understand what the Boost Fund is all about«
Renate Sachse: In contrast to other funding schemes, the Boost Fund does not only fund projects but people with a specific project. The selection committee is interested in you, your motivation, research, vision, and how you want to implement this within a specific project. Present yourself and your story together with your project in your application. Think of how your project idea fits into your academic career’s greater picture.
Bernhard Renard: Take the “Boost” aspect seriously and think about what this grant can do. This grant is not meant to prolong a never-ending postdoc by another two years of grant-funded suffering. This grant is intended to help you reach a novel career stage. What that is can be very different for everyone. Be specific about what the “Boost” means for you and do not leave it for the reviewers to guess. If you manage to convey to the selection committee, that you are at a career stage where this funding could make a difference, this is what sets some applications apart from others.
GSO tips: Eligibility criteria
The Application Guide & FAQ and Program Information available for download inform on the eligibility criteria for the KT Boost Fund. During the webinar, we had a few additional questions on eligibility:
Is medicine within the scope of the programme? The Boost Fund supports researchers in the natural sciences, mathematics, and computer science. While we welcome interdisciplinary projects, the core of your research should fall within these fields. Medical research is eligible only from a natural science perspective – applied or clinical research involving patients is not within our scope.
Is there an age limit? No. Whether you have just completed your PhD or you are a more experienced postdoc, you are welcome to apply. However, if you are at a more advanced career stage, we encourage you to clearly articulate how this funding will provide a significant “Boost” to your research and career trajectory.
Do you need prior data to be eligible? No, the Boost Fund is designed to get the data you need to apply for bigger grants.
»Understand what reviewers look out for«
- You can do something out of the regular and define how you want to see your career boosted: Is it switching fields or finding your niche? Is it establishing a cooperation? Is it starting to mentor students?
- Your special situation is considered: Help the reviewers and the committee understand who you are and where you want to go from here. Be honest about your current position and future aspirations – we want to understand the unique impact this funding could have on your career.
- Some funded projects are stronger on innovation; others are stronger on the Boost. Play out your strengths: If you have a truly innovative idea, go with the innovation. If you need a specific career boost, and the project is not innovative to the highest extent but helps you tell a story for your future career, this could have an impact, even though it might not be a Nature paper with thousands of citations, then focus on that.
GSO tip: No quotas – but a peer factor
We often get asked if there is a quota for biology, computer science, mathematics, chemistry and so on. Or for gender, country of origin etc. There are no quotas.
But if you look at the fellows on the website, you see the potential that they form a really good peer group. The Boost Fund is also designed to build a peer network to support each other. It can be an advantage to have fellows of different postdoctoral career stages and disciplines, working at different institutions. Everybody can bring in their strengths. And we often get the feedback that this is actually working out.
»Be ambitious, but also realistic« – Crafting the research and budget plan
Bernhard Renard: We are looking for novel, interdisciplinary approaches with realistic goals that can be achieved within a 1-2 year timeframe. Don’t oversell too much. This is just 120,000 euros. If you are promising us the next Nobel Prize and if you get it, that is great. But it is not realistic. Instead, have a vision to which the Boost Fund contributes, but stay realistic with what you can achieve. Feasibility means, does it make sense that you can pull off these experiments in the time frame you have? Do you have enough man or woman power to do all the things that you are proposing?
Before starting to draft your budget plan, consider what Renate Sachse asked herself when she prepared her budget plan: What do I need to successfully work on this proposed project? And what do I need so that this project boosts my career?
In Renate’s case, she wanted to take a step beyond her current research discipline, adding another research focus and new methods. So what she needed was expertise, and she added workshops to her budget plan. She also planned a focused phase of a few months where she didn´t have to work on other projects. She applied for funding for student assistants so that her project would continuously be worked on even in times when she was busy with other projects or with teaching. Last but not least, she used some funds for a research stay abroad which she saw as important in boosting her academic career. In planning stays abroad, Renate recommends checking with the host(s) if you can come once you get the funding before applying.
GSO tips: Funding for salary – for yourself and your staff
How can you use the funding for your position and salary? Ideally, either as a bridge or as a supplement. We want to see that you are in a supportive environment and that it is not just about creating a new position or extending your contract somehow. It might be hard to justify the Boost if you are using the whole funding just for your salary. The funding should give you the chance to do the research that you want to do, which might be different from your PI or lab. After all, the Fund is designed to support your earlier independence.
Hiring PhD students: The Boost Fund offers flexibility in how you allocate your budget, which may include bringing in additional team members to support you in your research. While the Boost Fund encourages mentorship and leadership experiences, it is crucial to ensure that any PhD student’s involvement is thoughtfully planned. We cannot support that a doctoral student’s project would be left incomplete at the end of the two-year funding period. If you wish to include a PhD student in your project, you must demonstrate a clear and viable plan for their continued support and thesis completion beyond the Boost Fund’s timeframe. This might involve securing additional funding or structuring the PhD work in a way that aligns with the two-year grant period. Remember, our goal is to foster positive research environments and support the career development of all involved, including any junior researchers you may bring to your team.
»Why feedback on your application is important – and by whom«
Reanate Sachse: You have the idea for the project. You are writing the proposal and preparing all the documents – so you are the expert and everything makes sense to you. But this does not mean that others who are not familiar with your project will understand what you mean.
That’s where mentors and peers come into play:
Ask some of your peers whose work is close to what you do. Also, ask someone who is not as close to reading your application, because reviewers look at many different applications and will read yours only once. They have to understand right away what you want to do and why.
Bernhard Renard: We have a lot of last-minute culture in academia. But good feedback needs time. And to critically read your proposal, it is better to have a day or even a couple of days in between to take a break. So try to have a draft to get feedback on early on – don’t rush it last minute. This might work for a paper sometimes, but for a grant proposal there is a different layer of complexity and it is helpful to start early and take your time. As a reviewer, you notice how much feedback there is in a proposal and how much self-reflection.
Last words: TOP 3 tips for grant writing
