Grant board feedback on outline proposals

We’ve collated some feedback and considerations from our Grant Advisory Board (GAB). Our Boards are made up of leading experts in research and people affected by dementia. They advise Alzheimer's Society on decisions relating to the funding and management of our research projects. 

We hope this content will help to prepare an outline proposal for our Annual Funding call. In this resource, we'll cover how best to:

• Tell us your research story
• Make a clear link to dementia and people living with dementia
• Explain your methods
• Demonstrate feasibility in your plans and your team
• Show us your planned career progression
• Working with populations/demographics
• Double check your application

Tell us your research story

The best outline proposals have a clear narrative that is well structured and well written.

This applies to both the scientific summary and the lay summary. Our applicant guidance has advice on how to approach writing the lay summary. Including a glossary for some key terms can help your writing flow.

Our board members and volunteers are extremely familiar with the field of dementia, make use of more space to outline your proposal, and less explaining the basics of dementia.

Your research aims should connect to your hypotheses and experiments. This helps the Board follow your plans and understand what you hope to achieve if your project is funded.

Make a clear link to dementia and people living with dementia

People affected by dementia are at the core of everything we do. Ensure you clearly emphasise how your work contributes to the dementia field. 

If the disease you study has dementia as one of its syndromes, be specific about how your proposal addresses dementia. Check if you’ve explained why your studies are important for dementia research and how it will impact people living with dementia. 

Demonstrate where your proposed research sits and fits within the dementia research landscape, how it links to similar research, as well as the wider picture. 

Explain your methods

Even though the outline proposal is short, it is vital your methods are clear so the Grant Advisory Board can understand fully what you are proposing. 

Appropriate justified methods, with explanations of the tools to be used, also demonstrate your expertise in the subject matter. 

Each aim should have clear endpoints and measurable outcomes. Include information about the expected outcomes from your study in your outline and show that you have considered alternatives if these are not met.

Demonstrate feasibility in your plans and your team

Be realistic about what you claim the project will achieve and don’t overstate the impact.

Ensure your aims are feasible in the timescale anticipated, with the funds being requested, and the scientific or investigative techniques proposed.

We want to encourage researchers from other fields to apply, so ensuring you are connecting with experienced dementia researchers will significantly improve your chances.

If you are not from the dementia research field, or have limited experience, your supervisory team or collaborators must include dementia specialists.

The make-up of your research team needs to adequately support the research you are proposing to undertake.

Show us your planned career progression

If you’re applying for one of our Fellowships or career development grants, you also need to submit a Research and Career Development summary.

Remember, for these awards we’re funding you! This is your chance to showcase yourself, what sets you apart, what your strengths are.

We want to know where you want to be going in your career, and how our funding can help you get there.

Working with populations or demographics

If your study proposes working with, and for, a particular demographic of the population, make sure that you have consulted representatives of said demographic in the planning stages and their input is considered throughout the course of the study. Clearly demonstrate your expertise and why you and your team are well-placed to serve that population.

The same applies if your study proposes focusing on a group of professionals, such as clinical staff, healthcare workers, or the social care workforce.

If you are proposing changes to practices, ensure you have consulted and included the necessary professionals and organisations that such a change could impact.

Double check your application

Don’t forget the basics! Typos, incorrect references and broken links can make it harder to assess your proposal.

Check against the application guidance to make sure you’ve covered everything asked.

As a rule of thumb, we recommend the language in the summary should be understandable to a 14-year-old to be considered ‘lay’. There are many online tools that can be used to determine the reading age of a piece of text.

We highly recommend asking someone to critique your outline for you, they may pick up on something you have missed.