Are the deadlines on the chart real?

No, they are examples. Take the dates from the funding call and from your institution's research office.

Is there a template for the research design figure in the proposal?

Yes. The library has proposal and research design diagram templates for several disciplines.

I only have two weeks. How do I plan?

Drop the external pre-review, write the sections in parallel with different authors, and keep two days at the end for a full read-through.

Grant application timeline Gantt chart template

Previewed in the “Ink Teal” theme; you can switch themes in the editor

When to use it

Use it to plan backward once a funding call is announced, to assign work at a team meeting, or to remind partners what they owe you and when. Writing and attachments run in parallel, and the chart shows that letters of support and pre-review are the items most likely to slip, so they start early.

Make it yours

Change the two deadlines first, then adjust the tasks before them.
Section names differ by funder; rename the writing tasks to match the application form.
Add an owner after each task so roles and timing are on one chart.

Mermaid code

grant-application-gantt.mmd

gantt
    title Grant application timeline
    dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
    axisFormat %b %d
    todayMarker off
    section Preparation
    Read the call and guidelines :a1, 2027-01-04, 3d
    Refine idea and review literature :a2, after a1, 14d
    Assemble team and assign roles :a3, after a1, 7d
    section Proposal writing
    Significance and background :b1, after a2, 10d
    Aims and approach :b2, after b1, 10d
    Preliminary work and feasibility :b3, after b2, 5d
    section Budget and attachments
    Budget and justification :c1, after b2, 4d
    Letters of support and biosketches :c2, after a3, 20d
    section Review and revision
    Team read-through :d1, after b3, 3d
    External pre-review :d2, after d1, 5d
    Revise from feedback :d3, after d2, 5d
    section Submission
    Internal deadline :milestone, e1, 2027-03-05, 0d
    Sponsor deadline :milestone, e2, 2027-03-15, 0d

Ask an AI for one with this structure

Send the prompt below to ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the whole reply into the editor; the code inside is detected automatically.

prompt.txt

Draw a grant application timeline with Mermaid gantt syntax. Use dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD and add todayMarker off. Create five sections: Preparation, Proposal writing, Budget and attachments, Review and revision, and Submission. Link tasks with after, and use milestones in Submission for the internal deadline and the sponsor deadline. Output only the mermaid code block.

FAQ

Are the deadlines on the chart real?: No, they are examples. Take the dates from the funding call and from your institution's research office.
Is there a template for the research design figure in the proposal?: Yes. The library has proposal and research design diagram templates for several disciplines.
I only have two weeks. How do I plan?: Drop the external pre-review, write the sections in parallel with different authors, and keep two days at the end for a full read-through.

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Updated 2026-11-11