The University of Utah

(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