- Browse templates |
- Grant proposal timeline
Grant proposal timeline template
This grant proposal timeline template covers a sample three-year research project: five work packages, ethics approval, numbered milestones and deliverables, and funder reports. Edit the chart and export it for your proposal.
- 6 groups
- 44 tasks
- 4 milestones and 7 deliverables
- 51 dependencies
- 36 months
- Updated November 2, 2026
Ganttile publishes this template. The study, roles and durations are sample data for an invented three-year research grant.
What should a grant work plan show?
Show the work, its lead, its timing and its deliverables. Read the call text and application template first to establish whether the funder wants a chart, a milestones table or both.
How do you turn work packages into a Gantt chart for a grant proposal?
Use a group for each work package and bars for its tasks. This university-and-partner study collects two waves of data and develops a practitioner toolkit.
| Group | Months | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| WP1 Management and ethics | 1 to 6 | Kick-off, handbook, risk register, ethics application, two committee reviews and data management plan. |
| WP2 Data collection | 1 to 21 | Design, instruments, site access, pilot, two collection waves and anonymised dataset. |
| WP3 Analysis | 9 to 30 | Analysis plan, wave 1 analysis, interim findings, combined analysis and final report. |
| WP4 Practitioner toolkit | 19 to 33 | Draft toolkit, practitioner workshops and revisions using final findings. |
| WP5 Dissemination | 1 to 36 | Dissemination plan, website, two papers, conference talk, policy brief and closing event. |
| Reporting to the funder | 12 to 36 | Two annual reports, midterm review, final report and financial statement. |
Roles appear at the start of task names because Ganttile has no assignment field.
Should you use month numbers or dates?
Use project months in the proposal: M1 is the first month and M36 the last. The chart uses calendar dates, so each milestone and deliverable carries its month in its name. Move the plan when the start date is fixed.
How are milestones and deliverables shown?
Both use numbered diamonds. Milestones mark progress checks; deliverables identify what goes to the funder.
- Milestones: ethics approval (M6), wave 1 dataset (M12), midterm review (M24) and final report (M36).
- Deliverables: from the dissemination plan (M3) and data management plan (M6) to the toolkit (M33) and policy brief (M36).
Dependencies link ethics approval to the pilot, the wave 1 dataset to wave 2, interim findings to the toolkit and first paper, and the midterm review to toolkit workshops. Turn on Auto schedule under Settings and extend the ethics wait to explore the effect.
Where does funder reporting go?
Keep reporting in its own group. The sample includes year 1 and year 2 reports, with the second forming the midterm review pack, and three months for the final report and financial statement.
How do you put the chart in a proposal?
Export a PDF or PNG for the work plan or annex. Collapse groups for a one-page view.
- Adapt: rename work packages and resize bars.
- Renumber: update month labels manually after moving milestones.
- Share: invite co-applicants through the linked Breeze account, free, or send a PDF.
Use a browser-based Gantt maker alongside a funder's own table. Choose a shorter study plan for research under a year, or a clinical study schedule for a medical study.
Common questions
Can I use it as a grant writing timeline?
The chart plans the funded project, not the weeks spent writing the application. For the writing, make a short chart counted back from the call deadline, and put your research office's internal deadlines in as milestones before the funder's own.
Can I get the timeline into Word or Excel?
Yes. Export the chart as a PNG image or a PDF and insert it into the Word document. The Excel export is the task table: names, dates and durations, without the bars, which is a quick start for a milestones and deliverables table.
What if my grant runs for two years, not three?
Shorten or delete the later work first, usually the second data collection wave and the toolkit testing, then move the milestones. The month numbers are part of each name, so rename them by hand after moving a milestone.
Breeze
Timen
