How much time do I need to write, revise, and re-write a proposal?
This is difficult to answer until you have written a few proposals but rest assured that, like a home remodeling job, it will take at least twice as long as you expect. Here are two ways to look at it (1) For a major research proposal such as an R01 grant for NIH, six months before the due date is not too early to start. If you need to generate and evaluate preliminary data, you may need to begin much sooner. (2) Figure on at least 120 hours of writing for a typical NIH R01 grant, after you have formulated your ideas and done the background reading. Recognize that you cannot write it straight through. You must give a draft time to rest, so you can come back fresh, and you also must give your in-house reviewers (you do have them, don’t you?) time to read their copies and get them back to you.
