Had a prominent administrator admonish me after writing a successful proposal as a Principal Investigator (PI). The administrator actually said you "...don't know how to write proposal..." and "...you haven't had the training to write a proposal...". First, it my opinion that is obviously not true. A funded successfully PI research proposal from my understanding of years in academia is that a PI grant is the holy grail (so to speak) of the trade of being a researcher. What I think was meant by these comments is that perhaps the local policy is insufficient to recognize exceptional outcomes, that the 'culture' practice and or thought is constrained in some fashion (possibly toxic), and that the needs for adaptive and progressive support of contributing colleagues is needed. Think this is an awesome topic for discussion in the realm of marginalized researchers and top-down leadership approaches that could be considered bullying.
Don't argue, justify, defend or explain yourself to these guys. Tell them you didn't ask for their opinion and continue doing your best :)
Lots of people have lots of opinions, but unless this administrator is in line to review you for tenure and promotion, you can safely ignore their opinion.
In my experience, almost no gets "training" in how to write research proposals. If you are lucky, you get it via an apprenticeship with a more senior researcher. If not, then it can take a great deal of work to figure out how successful funding works. So, congratulations on your achievement, and "don't let the bastards grind you down."
It's going back years now, but I seem to remember getting help from people in a local group of researchers who seemed to 'take me under their wing'.
I used to love the meetings; nice like-minded people who were keen to pass on their knowledge.
It folded up after it had really helped me but bring back nice memories.
Securing funding for a research proposal doesn't necessarily reflect your proposal writing skills. Factors like research idea quality, alignment with priorities, and competition influence funding decisions. Even experienced researchers may face rejection before success, and improving proposal-writing skills is an ongoing process. For further needs refer to this linkhttps://researchbrains.com/guidelines-for-writing-research-funding-proposal/
Found this article from Nature (not necessarily related to my initial question but provides for some perspective): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03871-0?utm_campaign=nature-careers-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_edition=202312110500&utm_source=newsletter
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