Grant writing as an activity-based instrument for developing leadership skills

Abstract

Abstract: This article substantiates the use of grant writing as an activity-based instrument for developing leadership skills among master’s and doctoral learners in Education. The starting point is that university practice often reduces grant writing to application drafting techniques, whereas real funding competitions primarily depend on managerial decisions and the team’s publicly articulated commitments across the full project cycle. The study aims to conceptualize grant writing as a sequence of actions from problem identification to results communication and reporting, and to specify which leadership skills are activated at each stage. The methodology combines a conceptual analysis of relevant research and policy frameworks related to team science, project management, science communication, and research data management with theoretical modelling in the form of a stage-to-skill mapping matrix that links grant cycle phases to observable leadership actions. The results show that leadership in grant writing is situational and role-dependent and can be operationalized through concrete actions: analytical problem framing and goal setting; team formation and role alignment; stakeholder negotiation and transparent documentation of agreements; budgeting as prioritization of resources; risk planning and evidence-oriented evaluation; ethical decision-making in data practices; and communication of results as a form of public accountability. The discussion highlights the pedagogical value of the cyclical approach because it shifts learning and assessment from “text quality” toward the quality of decisions, feasibility, and ethical integrity. The practical implication is that higher education programs can design grant-writing modules where leadership development is assessed through stage-specific outputs and decisions rather than solely through the final application narrative.