What does one do if one receives a less prestigious offer while waiting for a decision on a more prestigious one? Alice (for argument's sake) is a postdoc in maths in an Australian University, but did her PhD in Europe. She is making two applications for funding. The first is to funding scheme A in her home country, the second is to funding scheme B in Australia. Scheme A is less prestigious and is worth less money than Scheme B. Alice's preferences are obvious: she prefers B to A, and A to whatever her next best option is.

Applications for Scheme A are due in November, the outcome is declared in April, the position begins in October. Applications for Scheme B are due in March, and the outcome is declared in November, the position begins in January. The application to Scheme A must be declared in the application to Scheme B. And, should Alice be accepted by Scheme A, she would have to notify Scheme B before they have made a decision on her application. 

Question: Suppose Alice is offered Scheme A, how does she indicate this to Scheme B without prejudicing the outcome? Assume that Alice is willing to resign from Scheme A, say after six months or a year. Assume further that Alice stands a reasonable chance in both schemes. There is no guidance online about how this situation is resolved by the funding body for Scheme B.

TL;DR: What does one do if one receives a less prestigious offer while waiting for a decision on a more prestigious one?
Alice should tell scheme B something like "I have won competition A, which shows that I am very well qualified for B."

I do not see how winning A can be all that bad for Alice unless A requires her to commit to stay for some period.  In any case, I think she should remember how fortunate she is to have A.