Patience, perserverence and resilience

Key points from the data:

• Stories of success in winning grants are often characterised by journeys punctuated with setbacks and failure.
• Applicants should approach the development of a grant application in the same way they approach other scholarly academic undertakings, for example, writing a journal article.
• Be prepared to map out a medium- to long-term plan.  

The grant application experiences of Bill (D-size institution), Gerry (D), Lucy (C) and Mikko (A) emphasise the importance and place of patience and resilience in the grant application process. All staff interviewed in this project had experienced success in winning national learning and teaching grants with the exception of Chris (C) whose first and only application so far had been unsuccessful. Nevertheless, those who had experienced success also had to come to grips with disappointment. Gerry's (D) advice was for applicants to have 'patience, having the fortitude and drive to pursue a multi-year plan'.

Bill's journey (D) was one of success punctuated by failure. He had submitted two applications to OLT (then the Carrick Institute) in 2007 which were successful. Towards the end of those projects he submitted another application which was unsuccessful. A year later he submitted yet another Innovation and Development grant application which was also unsuccessful. Then, in 2011, he submitted a subsequent Innovation and Development grant application which was successful. Mikko (A), too, had 'applied for a number of OLT grants ... with a mixture of success and failure'.

In the section titled Internal review feedback Lucy's (C) frustration with the internal review process at her institution was apparent. She said, 'We spent two years really working hard and learning a great deal about how to work across universities and across disciplines' yet she felt as though she and her team were held back by the internal review processes at her institution. Her thoughts related below are a testament to her patience, resilience and belief that perseverance and hard work will ultimately pay dividends:

Be resilient, don't take 'No' for answer, don't feel like you're a failure because (the internal processes at your institution) won't let you through, just keep plodding along. You know, it's like revisions for a journal article, we all are familiar with that, you know.  Revise and resubmits, they kill you, you know, it's horrible. Don't be dejected by that. Just keep saying, 'The product will be better in the end' … develop a thick skin, and believe in your own work … be tenacious, be resilient, look at other sites, work with the OLT, be prepared to stand up for your work.

This is really good advice!