How I raised funds for my Doctoral Research

For the third time in a row, I secured a living stipend for my Doctoral Research from Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in Finland. This brings the total number of grants I’ve received to four with a success rate in grant applications of 57 %.

I know personally how much risk appetite is required to start a Doctoral Research without any funding. And I know exactly how it feels to deal with the uncertainty of getting a stipend for one year at a time.

Now I’ve raised nearly 77,000 euros for my Doctoral Research and I’ve learned some things about fundraising. Of course, I've only raised money from Finnish foundations, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But since we rarely receive any feedback on grant applications, I wanted to start an open conversation about fundraising by sharing what I’ve learned so far.

It’s hard to say what works and what doesn’t, and getting started can be intimidating. I don’t think it has to be that hard for everyone, so if you’re just starting out, here are my two cents. As the exceptional critical thinker you are, take these with a pinch of salt - and I’d love to hear any tips you might have accrued, too.

Do something that matters - now

Make sure your topic is needed. If you are looking to spend someone else’s dime on understanding a phenomenon, you have to justify it. Is the topic essential for the world, a country, a community? What real-life impact can the research have and is there a demand for your work? Just like a startup considers their market, ask yourself: On a scale from “Nice-to-have” to “Must-have”, where does your topic fall?

Example: I’m personally motivated by solutions and knowledge that build towards real-life applications. Given my background, it’s natural that my research topic relates to startup ecosystems in southern Africa, and to understanding the impact startup culture can have on the birth of technology entrepreneurship. The topic links to megatrends like urbanization, socio-economic changes in sub-Saharan Africa, and the dire issue of youth unemployment. And there’s definitely a gap in the research about it.

Make sure the topic is timely. Why is it relevant to build knowledge about your topic right now? Why does your research matter at this moment? What are the larger trends in your country or your field of study to which your topic could be linked?

Photo credit: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Example: My home country Finland had been working on a strategy for how the government creates partnerships and collaborates with African countries, and it was launched in my first year in the PhD Program. This strategy brought about more coverage from various parts of Africa in the Finnish media. I assume that the public discussion fuelled interest for my research topic. In fact, when I reached out to Hans Bang Stiftelsen about the travel stipend they had granted me, their representative shared that the board had been inspired by my application and that they had been very happy to receive it.

Look for funders who share the vision. Make a list of funders that are aligned with your topic and your research area. List the deadlines so you can be prepared for them well in advance. If you use project management tools like Trello or Asana, you can set these up as tasks with reminders. It’s a jungle out there, but scanning potential organisations and foundations even once will open your eyes to the opportunities. For Finnish foundations, the Aurora database is helpful. It’s tempting to list all of them as relevant, but being strategic is more efficient. Preparing a tailored application takes time, and you’d rather increase your odds by picking those that fit your vision.

Example: When I was about to start the PhD program, FEE had a call for applications listing ‘Entrepreneurship, Scaling and Growth’ as a focus area (perhaps related to its demand and timeliness). They even listed my topic as an example question! I wasn’t even enrolled officially at the University yet when my Dad shared the funding opportunity. He just happened to spot the ad in the local newspaper, so I woke up the opportunity only six days before the deadline. Thanks to the quick support from my Institute Director Professor Mikko Koria, I was able to get a letter of approval and recommendation to support my application. Applying for the first time under such time pressure was incredibly stressful, so I made sure to create the database after that.

Get your pitch down

Learn how to pitch. The art of communicating effectively, in brief, using compelling and selling language can be applied in diverse ways. From a startup’s pitch at an accelerator’s Demo Day to corporates seeking partnerships or a board’s buy-in for projects to even your bio on a dating app, pitching is a versatile and incredibly useful skill to develop. Similarly to a startup pitching, you need to demonstrate the problem (research gap), your solution (your research approach), your strategy (theory & methodology) and convince you have the right team (why are you the right person to complete this research). You can start by working on how to Pitch your Talent or apply the lessons in How to pitch a Startup for your research topic. You can dive deeper with other free resources found online like Pitching for Life or read books about it (e.g. this Finnish book by Elsa Ervasti).

Example: No joke, I got the first grant I ever applied for. I believe it was because of my background in coaching startups in pitching. Of course, academic foundations appreciate standard academic language, but in my application, I sprinkled some business-lingo and pitch rhetoric on top. Did I get the grant in spite of it or because of it? Hard to say, but my bet is that it actually strengthened my application. Without being exposed yet to academic posters, I structured my One Pager as I would a pitch.

Pay attention to detail

Read the instructions - and follow them. Ok, it feels obvious. But when you’re under pressure, it’s easy to miss something. Read carefully the Call for Application text, make sure to stick to the guidelines on the allowed number of pages, tailor the documents to the call and accurately name the documents. This is the stuff that funders most likely use to disqualify you from the running. Cover your bases.

Example: I once applied for a grant using another winning grant’s research proposal, and being in a rush I forgot to review it in detail. As part of the tailoring of the research proposal, I had mentioned the funders name a couple of times in the document, and I accidentally mentioned another funder in the document. Classic!

Consider visuality. Whether it’s a budget, a proposal or a one-pager, make sure your application documents are easy to read and well designed. There are plenty of templates out there, and using something like Canva can help a non-professional to design your documents to stand out.

Example: I used Canva to design the one-pager. I definitely still catch plenty of things I could improve on (it’s very text-heavy still), but at least I tried to make it visual.

Want to download my one-pager?

Edit, proof-read and get feedback

Don’t rely on yourself. Take a self-compassionate approach to prepare the documents. Tell yourself that the first version doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s simply the first draft. Honour your topic and your process, and allow yourself to read, re-read, edit, tweak. Investing in programs like Grammarly’s Premium version can level up your writing. Identify people in your network who could bring value to your writing process. Try and silence your self-criticism and perfectionism as much as you can, and share the document with them for feedback. People who agree to help will genuinely want you to succeed, and they’ll give you the necessary constructive feedback.

Example: I reached out to my mentor Aape Pohjavirta for guidance on the topic, the why and its relevance to the world. I was lucky to know Veera Virmasalo, a Doctoral Researcher, who reminded me of some basics in academic writing in a kind and warm way. Finally, I shared the research proposal with Lauri Hooli, a Post-Doc in my network, who scrutinized my application document after I had already submitted it, but his feedback helped me tremendously when I applied for my next grant.

Shoot your shot

Busy? Tired? Don’t think you’ll get it? Do it anyway. Don’t exclude yourself from an opportunity - let the funders have the choice of supporting your research. It’s only human to think that we might not be good enough for the grant. However, the process of applying for grants is useful for your overall progress. The more you apply, the better you get at it. Your thinking around your research will develop over time and grant applications can work as a tracker for this development. Think you need a lot more time than you have? Just give it a go anyway, and submit. You never know.

Example: When I discovered the grant opportunity with Hans Bang Stiftelsen, they didn’t share example amounts of funds to apply for. Previous grants were quite a lot less than what my travel budget was, and I thought it was completely out of my reach, but I thought there’s no harm in trying. Some smaller funders actually struggle attracting good applications and they might end up not being able to spend the complete burse due to that. So just try. When I applied for the grant from FEE for the first time in 2019, I discovered the opportunity on a Sunday before a full week of work ahead. The only time I could prepare was before 8:30 am and after 6 pm. It was an intense week, and I thought there was no way I’d ever get it as it was my first time doing anything like that, but Virmasalo encouraged me to shoot my shot.

And I did.

And I got it. Four times.