STEMskiller: Skill Set Map for Mentors of Early Career Researchers

RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP: Academic reading and writing

[Grant proposals]

Grant application writing: why important/purpose, types (cross-border, national, regional), examples

Definition:

Governments at various levels (regional, national, international), as well as other stakeholders such as non-profit foundations, fund public research using taxpayer money. Writing grant applications in an effort to receive such funding is a skill required by most research institutions for permanent research staff and principal investigators (PIs). 

Useful resources on Grant application writing:

Emory Department of Medicine. (2016). How to Apply for Funding/Grants. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1td1yLDDcbc

Helpful overview of how research is supported by grants and tips for applying, applicable to all disciplines.

European Research Council. (2021). ERC Classes: Step by Step to the ERC Application Process. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtv6FnsXqnXAYRk6HCErwMxwML0ZKoMcy

Videos series walking researchers through all stages of the proposal writing process. Includes getting started, parts 1 and 2, how proposals are evaluated, preparing for interviews, and a video on the Proof of Concept grant.

Küpper, V. (2013). How to write a successful Marie Curie proposal. KOWIhttp://www.euhochschulnetz-sachsen-anhalt.de/eu_hsnetz_media/Veranstaltungen/2013V/VK_MC_INDIV_Karriereplanung_Halle_EN-p-526.pdf

Considerations, first steps, tips for proposal writing, and other guidance.

Smith, J.L., Stoop, C., Young, M., Belou, R., Held, S. (2017). Grant-Writing bootcamp: An intervention to enhance the research capacity of academic women in STEM. BioScience, 67(7), 638–645. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix050

Discusses the creation of a bootcamp designed to foster grant-writing competencies. Applicable to all disciplines and genders as a sample competence-building initiative:

Project TRACS (Transformation through Relatedness, Autonomy, and Competence Support). Project TRACS has focused on transforming the academic culture to cultivate the recruitment, retention, and advancement of STEM women faculty and, in the end, to foster excellence in all faculty through three initiatives. The Enhancing Work–Life initiative generates new programs, such as a family advocate and dual-career assistance program, and builds on existing programs, such as providing more flexible solutions for work–life integration through modified duties and stopping the promotion-and-tenure-clock policies. The Enhancing Cultural Attunement initiative promotes respectful communication, sensitivity to the dynamics of relationships within a particular culture, and respect for the values and beliefs of cultures through a Broadening the Faculty Search toolkit, through an equity advocate program, and by engaging the university community in implicit bias education. Finally, the Enhancing Research Capacity and Opportunity initiative institutionalizes systematic research support for women faculty in STEM fields through hiring a grant-submission training coordinator who leads grant-proposal-writing workshops, provides individual proposal assistance, and connects new grant seekers to a mentoring network of successful grantees. It is through this last initiative that the grant-writing bootcamp was created (p. 638).

Tags: PSR CE; IAL IntL; CompS

Peer Review: None

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Author: Stephanie Krueger

Peer Reviewer(s): None

Last Updated: April 25, 2022

 

Editor: Stephanie Krueger Last modified: 25.4. 2022 10:04