Bloomsbury Research Development

I help ambitious researchers turn complex ideas into funded proposals. I'm not a writing service or a template — I'm a thinking partner who helps you sharpen your argument, tighten your project architecture, and make your case harder to reject.

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Most proposals don't fail because they're badly written. They fail because the contribution is unclear, the argument doesn't hold, or the case for why this project deserves funding over other good ideas hasn't been made. That's what I fix.

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I've supported more than 350 grant applications, with around £50 million awarded across some of the most competitive schemes in the world — ERC Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grants, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships, Horizon Europe, and British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships. I have particular expertise in ERC applications, from early-stage idea development through to interview coaching.

When we work together, I diagnose the intellectual spine of your proposal — where the logic holds and where it breaks. I pressure-test the connection between your research questions, methodology, and work packages until the project feels structurally inevitable. And I help you build the sell, especially in the opening pages, often by drawing on ideas from outside your discipline.

I work with PIs and senior researchers at leading universities who have strong ideas and want a sharp external perspective. This isn't for you if you want ghostwriting, copyediting, or someone to fill in a template. I don't generate the research idea — I help you make yours perform.

Previously, I was Research Manager at the University of Oxford's DPIR, and I have also worked as Research Excellence Manager and Research Development Officer at SOAS, and as a researcher at King's College London.

If you're serious about getting your proposal funded, get in touch with me at simon@bloomsburyresearchdevelopment.com