Government grants are complex. High-quality, competitive grants can take from several weeks to several months to write. Common documents required for government grants may include the following:

1. Letter of intent (LOI) due several weeks before the proposal due date.
2. Project Summary (1 page) that includes a short description, intellectual merit, and broader impacts of your research (for NSF) or an overview of your proposal.
3. Project Description (NSF: 15 pages, NIH: up to 25, other agencies, read the RFP).
4. References cited page.
5. IRB forms if you are using human subjects.
6. Biographical sketches formatted for government requirements. These are generally 2 pages and are different than CVs.
7. Letters of support or letters of collaboration.
8. Current and pending external funding forms.
9. Timelines for research.
10. Complex budgets.
11. College, departmental, and university level signatures.