Preparing successful proposals: a new EPFL Doctoral School course
© 2021 EPFL
No matter the career stage, securing external funding is crucial for scientists to be able to explore new ideas and advance their careers. Proposal writing is both an art and a science, and as such, it can be taught and learned. The EPFL Research Office is thus launching a new Doctoral School transferrable skills course titled, “How to prepare successful grant proposals.”
During this course, meeting bi-weekly from 15 September and worth 1 ECTS credit, students will write a full, ready-to-submit funding proposal.
Primarily intended for advanced PhD candidates but also open to early-stage postdoctoral researchers, this course will teach participants where to look for appropriate fellowship and research funding opportunities, the ins and outs of the application process itself, and how to prepare a written proposal. Practicing writing is a key step in learning how to write, as is reading the work of others. Therefore, the main goal for students in the course will be to write a full proposal for a major postdoctoral fellowship or proof-of concept grant through an iterative process. Students will write and receive critical feedback on proposal excerpts before rewriting them based on these constructive criticisms and suggestions. They will also gain an understanding of how proposals are being assessed by funders and hone their proposal writing skills through peer review exercises.
The course will include seven two-hour sessions, held on Wednesdays from 9 to 11 am on a bi-weekly basis between 15 September and 8 December 2021. Each class will include a mini lecture and a peer review exercise done in small groups. The exercise will be based on written assignments related to the topics of each class. The course will begin with a general introduction to the funding landscape and topics such as time management while preparing an application, peer review, as well as research integrity and writing modes (week 1). Three classes will then be devoted to crafting the proposal itself, including developing a conceptual framework, defining the significance of the proposed research, and identifying objectives and hypotheses (week 2); imagining an impactful title, crafting a compelling abstract, and writing an effective introduction (week 3); and convincingly presenting the experimental design, methods, results, timeline, and, if applicable, the broader societal and environmental impacts of the research (week 4). Students will subsequently learn the do’s and don’ts for other components of an application, in particular the budget, CV, career plan, and, in the case of a fellowship, the choice of host institution (week 5). The penultimate class will focus on how to put together a fitting bibliography while also addressing increasingly important topics such as research ethics and data management (week 6). Finally, an expert panel of EPFL professors sitting on different grant review boards will share inside knowledge and tips with course participants (week 7).
Enrollment is limited, and budding EPFL researchers interested in attending should not wait to register for this course. Any questions can be directed to the EPFL Research Office through its generic email address.