Why are Danish TV series such a big hit abroad? That was basically the research question posed by Anne Marit Waade and her research group, a question that the Danish Council for Independent Research | Culture and Communication found so interesting that they granted Anne Marit Waade DKK 6.1 million to find an answer with a four-year research project.

"I’ve been involved in five or six different major research applications, but this was the first time I was listed as the main applicant on a FKK project (The Danish Council for Independent Research | Culture and Communication, ed.). I had been the main applicant for a small network application for EU funding. I didn’t get the grant but I think that the experience gave me the courage to try to formulate my own research project," explains Waade.

She also says that she was thrown headlong into the role of main applicant for the project that she has now managed to secure funding for.

"The person who was supposed to be the main applicant was forced to withdraw. So I thought: ‘OK, let me try.’

Who will participate in the project?

Anne Marit Waade found it particularly challenging to decide who to invite to join the project in her capacity as project manager. Though she was certain of three of the participants from the beginning.

"Because they each have some knowledge that I need, but also because I knew that they would be responsible on behalf of the teams that I was planning to have them manage as part of the project," explains Waade.

Important to meet

The group who have been involved from the beginning have held two one-day meetings at which they met to work on the project description. The organisation into three teams also occurred relatively early on in the process. This has lightened Anne Marit Waage’s workload as project manager.

"I’ve been able to delegate to the team leaders. And they have been able to decide on the members of the various teams and which tasks they should have, as well as identifying the methodological challenges in their fields." She continues:

"That has been a good element in the project description and the application process. And I’m pretty certain that things will go well in the future as I’m not the only one keeping track of things."

Negotiation a new experience

Even though Anne Marit Waade felt reasonably well prepared to apply for participation in more research projects, there were also many aspects of the application process that she had no knowledge of in the role of main applicant. For example, having to negotiate with the department heads at other universities for co-financing in connection with the project.

"You don't know the budget until a lot of negotiations fall into place, also in relation to joint financing. So you keep revising right up to the deadline. I wouldn't have been able to manage it without support from the research support unit. But at long last we could see that we could afford a postdoc in addition to a PhD and a couple of junior employees. But that only became clear at the very end."

Fatcs: Three pieces of good advice for (main) applicants in the making

Based on her experience of the application process that resulted in a grant from the Danish Council for Independent Research | Culture and Communication, Anne Marit Waade has three pieces of good advice for colleagues who are considering taking the plunge as main applicants.

1. Get others to take a critical look at your application. Both those who are involved in the project but also other colleagues, in particular international colleagues.

2. Take the time to think carefully about who should be in the research group. And in this connection, consider how you can ensure that project participants feel co-ownership of the project from the beginning so there are more people to take responsibility for everything.

3. Consider what other grants you can apply for on the basis of your project. If, for example, we had not received funds from FKK (the Danish Council for Independent Research), we would still have had our visiting scholar. We got her by applying to the Aarhus University Research Foundation on the basis of our research project. So it is possible to establish a field of research even if you don’t receive the funds you were aiming for at the beginning. Think about it as a field and think of all the various ways to finance it. Also in smaller portions. Celebrate the day that an application ends up with a grant. And move on to the next application tomorrow.

Two quick Q&As from Anne Marit Waade about working on the application to the Danish Council for Independent Research

What has been the most satisfactory part of the application process?

"The collaboration with the senior researchers who will lead the three teams that make up the research group. I like these creative processes where we are a group engaged in discussions. Having international panel assess my idea, my arguments and my project has also been very satisfactory because it was done by researchers outside of our own little backyard. They have taken a critical look at what I’ve done and given it a positive assessment. And obviously the fact that I got the grant. 

What has been the most difficult part of the process for you?

I have thought a lot about who I could and couldn’t include in the project among my junior colleagues. For myself an important motivating factor in making the application was to be able to ensure not only recruitment but also employment for junior colleagues. And the pressure in the weeks leading up to the application deadline is hard. But I have a lovely tendency to forget how it was shortly afterwards.