Thread by @profmarkreed

Tips I learned as a deputy chair of an interdisciplinary sub-panel for the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) scheme today (1 of 12) 👇

Create a clearly labelled section explaining why FLF will be transformational to your career (especially if you are on the margins of being an early career researcher)

The less early career you are, the stronger the track record you will need, if you want to be competitive (first author papers are particularly handy)

You will be less competitive if you already have significant funding as a PI or hold a UKRI early career fellowship, unless you're changing disciplines or sectors

Impact is one of four core criteria, so a weak pathway to impact may contribute evidence of “clear weaknesses/limitations” which could cap your score at 6 and reduce your chance of getting to interview

Don’t rely on links your institution has with stakeholders – own these links for yourself and make specific plans to engage with them

Over 90% of the pathways to impact I read included material on (pathways to) academic impact that should have been in academic beneficiaries. Don't waste good material on academic impact in a place reviewers won't be looking for it, and don't waste space you could use for impact

Strong institutional commitment makes applications more competitive (some even included PhD studentships paid by the institution), especially if the institution/group has a strong reputation in the area

You need to have credible expertise, but don’t have to be an expert in every aspect of your proposal – you can include Co-Is to plug small gaps and a training programme

A strong PI response to reviewers is your best chance of getting a score that matches the top reviews you receive

FLF is particularly well suited to interdisciplinary proposals that fall between Research Councils

Watch this week's @fasttrackimpact vlog for more of my thoughts on how to write competitive impact sections of grant proposals, read my full guide fasttrackimpact.com/single-post/20… or try out my Pathway to Impact Builder tool fasttrackimpact.com/pathway-to-imp…

@fasttrackimpact Things to avoid in your pathway to impact:
1 Academic impact
2 Pathways to academic impact
3 “The general public”
4 Communication without a purpose (who will benefit and how?)
5 Impact goals that are research outcomes or pathways, my institution does impact (but what about you?)