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Scientific soft skills workshops: Writing proposals for fellowships and grants to acquire personal funding

Guidelines to submitting specific proposals, the steps, requirements and procedures, can be found on the relevant websites of funding bodies. But you still have to write the proposal – the very best proposal possible.

This workshop is designed to help young researchers (PhDs and postdocs) write their first proposal to continue their career as an independent scientist.

We deal with the content planning and general structuring of a proposal. As we move on to writing we consider how to address vital points, such as what the reviewers want to see (and where), how to sell your science and yourself as an outstanding candidate, and how to precisely address different required sections.

Ideally participants will have already taken part in a scientific writing for manuscripts workshop to optimally apply the acquired skills for concise, precise writing and targeted revision.

Alternatively both scientific writing workshops can be combined.

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Proposal writing workshop topics

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Getting started, considering the options

Brainstorming, gathering information

Eligibility, skills, competence and resources

How to sell your science; how to sell yourself

Host institution, important people

Choosing a topic: what is your storyline?

Elements of an effective project proposal: what reviewers want to see (and where)

Structure and layout: highlighting and locating information

Writing tips and tools to produce clear, concise, strong writing

Generating specific aims, then goals, hypotheses and gaps

The experimental approach: your competence, host lab advantages

Feasibility, potential pitfalls, alternative plans

Stressing innovation, significance and impacts

Hands-on writing and revision: working on participants’ own texts