• Do effective academics toss aside papers that aren’t published with the first submission? Don’t expect to get funded the first time either. You only get funded if you submit! #QuitWhining #TryTryTryAgain #Persist

Few grant writers are funded their first time out, and even experienced proposal submitters regularly get rejections.  Is the problem with the idea, or with how you’ve presented it?  If you really believe in your idea, talk through the rejection with the funder or your colleagues to see what you can do to make the proposal more competitive.  If a particular funder doesn’t resonate with the idea, perhaps another will.  If the problem was the presentation, you may do better to stick with the first funder.  “Practice makes perfect” applies to grant-writing as much as sports or other talents.  A rejection can be discouraging after all your effort, but you have met other challenges?  Most academic papers at a minimum require a “revise and resubmit” and you likely have had to try multiple journals to publish some papers.  Grant proposals are the same type of challenge (though the competition in some cases is greater).