Tips on Awards Submissions

Carleton Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering PhD student Aliasgar Morbi, co-founder of GaitTronics, received a one-year $50,000 Martin Walmsley Fellowship from the Ontario Centre of Excellence (OCE) for his device, GaitEnable, a unique robotic patient-handling technology. GaitEnable reduces the number of staff required to mobilize a patient, prevents patient falls and reduces caregiver injuries. In addition to Morbi, the company is composed of Carleton PhD student, Richard Beranek and Prof. Mojtaba Ahmadi.

You can read more about Morbi’s research and award on our Grad Student website.

Morbi has these suggestions to other grad students who want to improve their chances of having a successful award submission:

“You need to spend an enormous amount of time on researching, understanding and clearly articulating the problem you’re trying to solve. If you can identify who is affected by the problem, how many people are affected, how much they are affected by it, etc., and can associate concrete dollar values to these things, then, your application and most importantly your business will be in a significantly stronger position. This kind of analysis is critical in understanding what solution you should consider providing and how you could position it with respect to your competitors.”

“More generally, build relationships with the personnel working at various granting agencies. Speak to them directly about how you intend to put together your proposal and get them to review it (if possible).”

“Remember that some of the key things that the reviewing committee is looking for may not be listed in the application instructions.”

Here are some additional tips on writing successful award applications.

1. Pay attention to the award program’s objectives, criteria and guidelines. Follow all the rules including margins, line spacing and page limits.

2. Your application needs to answer the following questions in your application:

• What issue will your research examine?

• Why does your research matter?

• What is already known about this area of research?

• Why is this a different approach?

• How will your research advance knowledge in the field?

• Why are you qualified to carry out this research?

3. Make your submission visually pleasing. Use headlines, paragraphs etc.

4. Write in a clear and concise manner for a general audience. The awards committee may not have a specialized knowledge of your particular research area. Avoid jargon and technical language. Doublecheck your grammar and spelling.

5. Ask your supervisor and colleagues to review your proposal providing critical feedback.

6. Ask your referees if they are able to provide specific details responding to the award’s criteria and specific examples of your personal strengths and attributes. Leadership is an important quality for them to talk about. Also, provide your letter writers with an up-to-date CV so they are aware of all your activities.

7. Spend time on the application. Make sure it is complete.