Reviewers want to know that the funding will be well aimed. The return can be a national or international benefit, or commercial potential. This is often the section that is most neglected in research applications, and a clear ‘value for money’ proposition will make your application stand out from others.

Some issues to consider follow, but these are only a small sample of the many potential outcomes of research:

• Benefits. These can be
  • academic, including advancing the knowledge base of the discipline, or developing new methodologies or technologies
  • economic, including the value of new products developed through the research; the value of new or expanded industry activity; or the economic and social costs saved in better treatments, better industry processes, reduced work hours or reduced workplace turnover
  • health related, including better outcomes for patients, reduced mortality or morbidity, avoidance of adverse outcomes, or improved health system procedures
  • social, including better educational outcomes, improved services for marginal communities, or improved cultural understanding and acceptance
  • environmental, including reduced use of energy, reduced use of raw materials, reduced waste or pollution, or better reuse of waste.
• Commercial potential. For grants with a commercial aspect, you will need to describe
  • the nature and value of the potential market (and possibly how this value was ascertained or modelled)
  • how intellectual property from the project will be owned and managed
  • the steps to market (including research milestones; prototype testing and scale-up; whether you will approach industry or venture capitalists, or establish your own company; and licensing arrangements)
  • expected royalty or other monetary return, with matching timelines.

Be as concrete and specific as possible in describing the return of the research: