Grant Writing Crash Course

Faculty Partnering with Faculty to Develop Successful Proposals

Program Description


  • Grant Writing
    Crash Course
  • Registration and
    Contact Information
  • Schedule
    Example
  • Participant
    Comments
  • How Do We
    Score?
  • Photo
    Gallery
  • Internal
    Page

(Fireplace, Deer Valley Lodges)

Using a unique and proven method to learn how to write a fundable proposal, the Grant Writing Crash Course provides one-on-one mentoring by successful University of Utah Faculty Grant Writers. Participants complete a series of short exercises prior to the Crash Course, drafting text that will be refined and assembled under the guidance of faculty mentors into critical sections of their proposal. Several essential topics are covered in focused brief lectures and discussions, including the strategies and mechanics of effective proposal writing, how to sell your project (and yourself as Principal Investigator) to a sponsoring agency, the criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your proposal, pitfalls to avoid in grant writing, how to develop aims and justifications, the ins and outs of major funding agencies, and the political, social, and psychological aspects of “grantsmanship.” Focused, intensive work sessions provide participants with amply uninterrupted time to craft and recraft their thinking, writing, and presentation based on real-time constructive feedback from faculty mentors, enhancing their proposals and increasing the likelihood of their success.

The "Grant Writing Crash Course" is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and led by Dr. Gary C. Schoenwolf, Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy. It is held at the Deer Valley Lodges.

Course Registration and Contact Information

To register for the “Grant Writing Crash Course,” or for more information about the costs and dates, please contact:

Tony Onofrietti
Director of Research Education
801-585-3492
tony.onofrietti@hsc.utah.edu

Attendance is highly limited. Registration fees include two nights lodging at the Deer Valley Resort, use of recreational facilities, and most meals. A spouse/partner and up to two children are welcome to accompany the participant (additional charge if more than two children attend). If you do not have seed or personal funding available for the registration fee, we encourage you to discuss other options with your Department Chair or Research Dean.

The "Grant Writing Crash Course" is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and led by Dr. Gary C. Schoenwolf, Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy.


If you have questions about course content or how the course can help you get funded, please contact the course leader:

Gary C. Schoenwolf, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
University of Utah School of Medicine
schoenwolf@neuro.utah.edu

For the full-range of research training offered by the RATS program, please go to: www.education.research.utah.edu

Grant Writing Crash Course
Schedule Example

Day 1: Friday

8:00-8:30am

Participants set up their workspace in the Spruce Room: All should be ready to start the workshop by 9:00am

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

9:00-10:00am

Introduction to Crash Course and Participants

Gary C. Schoenwolf

10:00-10:30am

Meetings between Principal Investigators and Group 1 Primary Mentors to discuss/revise Exercises 1-7

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

10:30-11:00am

Meetings between Principal Investigators and Group 2 Primary Mentors to discuss/revise Exercises 1-7

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

11:00-11:15am

BREAK

 

11:15-Noon

Lecture 1: Grantsmanship and “Elevator Pitches”: Selling Yourself (as Principal Investigator) and Your Grant Proposal

Gary C. Schoenwolf

Noon-1:00pm

LUNCH

All (including families)

1:00-1:30pm

Principal Investigators Prepare for Elevator Pitches
Review Exercise 7

Principal Investigators (Faculty Mentors on break)

1:30-2:45pm

Principal Investigators deliver Elevator Pitches: 2 minute presentations + 2 minute impressions

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

2:45-3:00pm

BREAK

 

3:00-4:15pm Lecture 2: Understanding the Purpose and Importance of Specific Aims Gary C. Schoenwolf
4:15-4:30pm BREAK  
4:30-6:30pm

Drafting and Critiquing the Specific Aims/Project Summary Sandwich Exercise 8: Work with Team Friday Mentors

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors
7:00pm- DINNER: Socializing/Networking All (including families)

 

Day 2: Saturday

7:00-8:00am

BREAKFAST

All (Extended availability for families of attendees until 9am)

8:00-10:30am

Drafting and Critiquing the Specific Aims/Project Summary Sandwich
Exercise 8: Work with Team Saturday Mentors

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

10:30-10:45am

BREAK; Brief Mid-Course Assessment Meeting (Faculty Mentors only)

 

10:45-Noon

Lecture 3/Discussion: What Reviewers Look For in a Grant Proposal

Gary C. Schoenwolf and Faculty Mentors

Noon-1:30pm

LUNCH

All (including families)

1:30-2:15pm

Lecture 4: Making Sure the Stars Align—Matching Aims/Intellectual Merits with Your Proposed Experiments

Gary C. Schoenwolf

2:15-5:15pm

Completing Your Specific Aims/Project Summary
Choose/use your own faculty mentors

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

5:15-5:30pm

BREAK

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

5:30-6:15pm

Mock Study Section Assignments and Instructions

Gary C. Schoenwolf

6:15pm-

FREE EVENING FOR DINNER ON YOUR OWN
Socializing/Networking
Prepare for Mock Study Section

All

 

Day 3: Sunday

Group Sessions

7:00-8:00am

Breakfast

All (Extended availability for families of attendees until 9am)

12:00-12:30pm

BREAK (refreshments of workshop attendees)

Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors

1:30pm

Evaluation Forms/Affirmation of Commitments and Departure

All

2:00pm

Vacate rooms and check-out by 2:00pm

All

 

Special Interest Sessions

8:00-9:30am

Break-out session 1: NIH

Gary C. Schoenwolf

*11:00-Noon

Break-out session 2: NSF

JoAnn S. Lighty, Ph.D.,
Professor and Chair,
Department of Chemical Engineering

*11:00-Noon

Break-out session 3: Foundations

Peter L. Kraus, MSc (LIS), Associate Librarian, J. Willard Marriott Library, Research & Learning Services

*Concurrent Sessions


Mock Study Sections: 10 minutes maximum per proposal

9:30-11:00am

Mock Study Section 1: Proposals 1-9

Discussion: Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors; Chair: TBN

12:30-1:30pm

Mock Study Section 2: Proposals 10-15

Discussion: Principal Investigators and Faculty Mentors; Chair: TBN

Here’s What Your Colleagues are Saying about the Grant Writing Crash Course:

  • “Overall (a) wonderful experience."

  • “Chunks of time like this are essential to us as new writers. Could I stay another day?”

  • “What I did (in the Crash Course) was highly transformative.”

  • “I loved and valued the writing in seclusion and the immediate faculty feedback.”

  • “Great mix of didactic and writing time.”

  • “I felt the reviewers and critiques helped me progressively improve my proposal throughout the weekend.”

  • “Would love another day.”

  • “Mock study section was very illuminating.”

  • “My proposal is stronger and I would recommend the GWCC. It was great.”

  • “This was an unexpectedly enormous benefit to my professional development and understanding of important writing issues for grant submission.”

  • “I have learned about writing, and really a lot about mentoring.”

  • “I finished with a new NSF specific aim page ready to go.”

  • “The course met all of my personal objectives.”

  • “I feel I understand much more clearly how the review process works. This demystification builds confidence.”

  • “This course provided a great foundation for grant writing.”

  • “It (the GWCC) allowed us to gather and network with both grant writers and faculty.”

  • “Great balance between lecture and writing and socializing. Actually fun!”

  • “My aims page became much, much better.”

  • “I have gained a lot of valuable insight into the grant writing process and as a researcher whose main funding comes from subcontracts and private business contracts, it broke down the grant process into manageable tasks and helped remove the daunting nature of it.”

  • “I think this is an invaluable process.”

  • “I received a number of good ideas on how to write concisely and sell the proposal.”

  • "I learned how to structure the proposal to sell key ideas.”

  • "This is a wonderful opportunity for grant writers and faculty.”

  • “I would recommend this course to all young investigators at the U. It gave me an incredible and useful insight on how to write a grant proposal for reviewers and not yourself.”

  • “This was a superb course, probably the best I have ever taken in terms of my effort put in and my benefit received.”

  • “Faculty mentor feedback was great! Getting different perspectives in a non-threatening manner was important.”

  • “I was very impressed with my (grant’s) improvement in 2 days.”

And, in responses to: What was your favorite part of the Grant Writing Crash Course?

  • “Feedback from the expert faculty.”

  • “Discussing with faculty. Mock review.”

  • “Faculty feedback about various versions of my proposal, with sufficient time available to do the necessary redrafting.”

  • “The mentorship sessions.”

  • “Real time feedback from seasoned writers (was) the most valuable.”

  • “One-on-one feedback from faculty mentors.”

  • “The large number of skilled, helpful faculty made the experience exceed my already high expectations.”

  • “Superb advice from individual mentors.”

How do we (The Grant Writing Crash Course) score?

Scale = 1 (poor) - 5 (excellent)

  • Course Lectures: 4.3
  • Course Activities: 4.5
  • Course Accommodations: 4.9

Overall, this puts the GWCC at the 9th percentile: probably funded even by current tough federal grant standards!

The Location

Deer Valley Lodges

Inside the Lodges

The view from our work room

After a hard day's work, time to enjoy the grandkids

 

Learning

Intricacies of the NSF

Learning the secrets of the NSF

Writing and critiquing proposals

Learning about the logic of hypothesis testing

Mock study section in action

Maintaining focus and concentration

Foundations break-out session

Tony, the man who makes it all happen perfectly!

 

Faculty mentor-grant writer one-on-one discussions

 

More Learning

Learning how the RATs program can help

The group at work

Learning about research misconduct

The grant writers at the end of the workshop

The faculty members at the end of the workshop

 

Networking, socializing, and enjoying lots of food and snacks!

Family lunch

Snacks

Snacks

Lots of food!

Lots of food!

Lots of food!

Lots of food!

Deserts!

Time to enjoy desert

And to socialize

And to network

Learning to write grants can be fun!

 

Fun!

Fun!

Fun!

Internal Content