Research grants: why?
 
Research grants are usually very prestigious. To be involved with writing one means to be working on personal future and career. Be critical. Research grants are usually very demanding. They require full commitment and the desire to do some challenging investigations. So if you got involved into the research grant writing only as a bet from an after-party beer drinking, do not even bother. Sign up for research grants in a condition of total sobriety. Works applied for any research grant are usually works of promising young scholars. These people need some appreciation and help in their professional growth. And what they get after obtaining a research grant is some seed corn funding for their projects. This means getting basic or special equipment, consumable materials, services, access to databases, etc.
 
Research grants: requirements?
 
Usually research grants have a lot of strict requirements. Of course, there are plenty of options. You can look for available research grants online and choose any one that is the best for you. Still, most of them require you to be the resident of a certain country. A lot in research grant writing depends on the degree you have. It is not like research grants boil down to only university students. Many of them take school students and even retired scientists into consideration. Among other research grant requirement there is one that is pretty standard, and it calls for your total participation, not for participation of your supervisor. This means that most of the work has to be done specifically by you, for you are the one initiating the project and being in charge of it.
 
Research grants: how?
 
Here is the deal: I offer you a research grant in exchange for some valuable experience from you. This is how the organizers of different research grants judge the works. Your project has to be innovative. It has to offer something new and be outstanding, exclusive, maybe somewhat shocking. Just don’t apply if you wish to investigate, whether your Biology teacher is from Mars. They all are. Focus on something more specific, unresearched, get a consultation from your teacher, supervisor, or your diary, after all. Under these circumstances you will definitely win one of those research grants. Just make sure you do not spend it on candies.