Securing grants is essential for advancing scientific research, but competition is fierce. New research reveals that the strategic use of promotional language can dramatically improve a proposal’s success. By analysing thousands of submissions, researchers discovered that incorporating such terms as “groundbreaking” and “innovative” substantially boosts the likelihood of obtaining funding, demonstrating the critical role of language in effectively communicating the value and potential impact of scientific ideas.
In scientific research, securing funding is crucial for transforming innovative ideas into groundbreaking discoveries. Globally, research and development spending surged to an estimated USD 2.4 trillion in 2021. In many countries, competition for funding is intense, with acceptance rates for prestigious grants often less than 20%. This increasing reliance on external funding underscores the importance of crafting compelling grant proposals. Recent research highlights an intriguing factor: the use of promotional language.
“Our study reveals that promotional language can significantly increase the likelihood of a grant being funded, highlighting the crucial role of communication in science,” explains Brian Uzzi, the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Leadership at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
“Effective communication is not just about presenting facts; it is about engaging the audience and conveying the significance and potential impact of the research. If reviewers cannot see or imagine the future value of a proposal, it goes nowhere. We identified 139 promotional words that can transform a grant proposal, significantly boosting its appeal and, surprisingly, its perceived innovation potential.”
A gap in understanding
Grant funding is the lifeblood of scientific research, providing the necessary resources to explore new ideas and push the boundaries of knowledge. However, the process of securing funding is highly competitive and often time consuming. Researchers spend much of their professional lives crafting grant proposals, a task that requires not only scientific acumen but also effective communication skills.
“Previous studies have highlighted the challenges faced by novel grant applications, which are often rejected in favour of more conventional ideas. This paradoxical situation, in which the very systems designed to promote innovation end up stifling it, has prompted researchers to explore new ways to enhance the evaluation process.”
One promising avenue is the semantic analysis of grant proposals, focusing on how language can influence funding decisions.
“Despite the importance of funding for science, knowledge about how scientists communicate the merits of their ideas to funders is only partly understood,” notes Brian Uzzi. “This gap in understanding led the research team to investigate the role of promotional language in grant proposals, examining whether certain words and phrases can make a proposal more compelling and, consequently, more likely to be funded.”
Analysing thousands of grant proposals
To explore the impact of promotional language, the researchers comprehensively analysed grant proposals submitted to three major funding agencies: the United States National Institutes of Health, the United States National Science Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. This extensive data set included tens of thousands of funded and unfunded proposals, enabling the relationship between language and funding success to be robustly examined.
“Our team used a validated lexicon of 139 promotional words, such as “unique”, “revolutionary” and “fundamental”, to assess the presence of promotional language in each proposal. By calculating the percentage of promotional words relative to the total word count, the researchers could quantify the degree of promotional language used in each grant application.”
The researchers then analysed the statistical relationship between a grant’s promotional language and its funding success, inherent innovativeness and future impact. The results of the study were striking. The analysis revealed a robust association between the use of promotional language and the likelihood of a grant being funded.
“Specifically, proposals with a higher percentage of promotional words had a significantly greater probability of securing funding. Increases in promotional language are significantly related to increases in the probability of a grant proposal being funded,” says Brian Uzzi. A one percentage point increase in the frequency of promotional words is associated with a 46% increase in the odds of a grant being funded.”
Further, the study found that promotional language not only influenced funding decisions but also reflected the intrinsic innovativeness of the proposals. Reviewers were more likely to consider grants with more promotional language to be innovative, suggesting that the language used in a proposal can help to convey the originality and significance of the research.
“Promotional language positively and significantly correlates with a grant’s innovativeness score,” Brian Uzzi explains. “This indicates that using promotional language can effectively communicate the merit of novel ideas.”
Historical insights and practical applications
Brian Uzzi shared two historical anecdotes that illustrate the importance of recognising the value of innovative ideas. The first was about the invention of the laser, which faced initial patent rejections because the examiners could not see any practical applications for it.
“If you cannot see its value or imagine its value in the future, it goes nowhere,” Brian Uzzi remarks. The second anecdote was about CRISPR, in which a manuscript submitted by Giedrius Gasiunas, Rofolphe Barrangou, Philippe Horvath and Virginijus Siksnys to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America was rejected, only for a similar article by Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna to later gain widespread acclaim and a Nobel Prize.
“These examples underscore the importance of effectively communicating the potential impact of innovative ideas. The other half of the problem is getting people to see that the innovation is valuable. That is an often-overlooked problem entirely in science,” Brian Uzzi says.
The balance between innovation skills and communication skills is crucial.
“It is not just a matter of using the words. You need to work it into your project. It needs to be something that comes from the heart,” Brian Uzzi explains.
Effective communication involves conveying the significance of one’s work without overselling it.
“If you oversell something in science, you can really get a very poor reputation. It is this balance between wanting to communicate and convey the merits of your ideas well and yet staying within the guardrails of the norms of science.”
Gender disparities and broader implications
This study also has broader implications for addressing gender disparities in science. He notes that men tend to use more promotional language than women, which could contribute to the gender gap in innovation.
“Another interesting finding was that men systematically use more promotional language than women. This could be a way to address the gender gap in innovation by highlighting the value of such language to women innovators,” Brian Uzzi suggests.
In a world inundated with information, having something that brightens your signal for others to see is very important. This helps to ensure that single innovative ideas register and are not overlooked.
“People often think that using promotional words is like selling yourself, but it is more about highlighting the significance of your work. It is not just packaging; the content needs to be there. This balance is crucial in science.”
Potential role of ChatGPT
The research team is also exploring the impact of promotional language in other contexts, such as patents and academic articles. Early findings indicate that promotional language has a similar positive effect on the acceptance of patents and the publication of academic articles. This is confirmed by the new research project.
“There is something very powerful about these words, and I think that really understanding what they are doing will take a few years of research,” Brian Uzzi remarks.
As Brian Uzzi’s team continues to investigate how language influences scientific communication, they are also examining the potential role of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT in enhancing grant proposals. Although artificial intelligence can assist in generating promotional language, Brian Uzzi cautions against relying too heavily on these tools without human oversight.
“Using artificial intelligence to enhance your writing can be beneficial, but you need to ensure that the promotional language genuinely reflects the innovation and significance of your work,” he advises. This balance is crucial to maintaining the integrity and impact of scientific communication.
Real-life perspectives
The power of words in scientific communication cannot be overstated. Brian Uzzi’s research highlights how promotional language can substantially influence the success of grant proposals, reflecting the importance of effective communication in advancing scientific innovation.
“By understanding and leveraging the role of language, researchers can better navigate the competitive landscape of funding, ensuring that their innovative ideas receive the recognition and support they deserve.”
"By incorporating enthusiastic language, researchers can increase the perceived value of their work, and it enhances their chances of success with the projects. For funding agencies, the results highlight the need to balance the evaluation of scientific merit with the recognition of effective communication.”
Advancing science and its contributions to society
Although assessing the intrinsic quality of a proposal is crucial, acknowledging the role of language can help to ensure that innovative ideas receive the support they deserve.
“Granting agencies have long urged that science be communicated in plain language,” notes Brian Uzzi. “Our findings suggest a need to understand the gap between science’s espoused norm of neutrality and the practical need for effectively communicating meritorious ideas and findings.”
Looking ahead, the study opens new avenues for research on how language affects scientific communication and innovation. Future studies could explore promotional language in other contexts, such as academic articles and patents, to determine whether similar patterns exist. Investigating how promotional language spreads through scientific networks and affects peer-review processes could offer deeper insights into the dynamics of scientific communication.
“Our work offers a novel demonstration of a growing research area by showing how data analytics, linguistic theory, natural language processing and machine learning technologies can provide intriguing approaches for advancing science and its contributions to society,” Brian Uzzi concludes.
