To schedule at your campus or in your region, contact:

Lisa Wiedemer, CRA       
814-865-6014                          
[email protected]                     

The following workshops can be provided at your campus or via distance learning. Room and time requirements are included in the workshop descriptions. For more information, see below:

 

Meet Your Research Administrator! (An Online Workshop for New Faculty)

Noon, Tuesday, Sept. 10

Noon, Wednesday, Sept. 11

Via Zoom

This workshop is intended to introduce Penn State’s research administration structure and policies to new faculty in a casual setting. Connection information will be provided closer to the workshop dates. The same session is offered twice to better accommodate faculty schedules.

 

Grants: How do I Get One (and Why Would I Want it?)

Designed primarily for faculty in their first or second years, this workshop is open to anyone. We’ll go over the “who, what, where, when, why and how” of grantseeking at a campus, explaining the benefits of research grants, services offered by the college’s Grant Relations manager, and some tips for getting started.  

Details: Runs approximately 45 minutes, not including questions. Audience size is unlimited; technical needs include a PowerPoint-compatible projector and internet access.

 

Finding Funders—Exploring “Funding Institutional”:

Get an introduction to Funding Institutional, the subscription database accessible to Penn State faculty and staff.  Funding Institutional replaces SciVal, the database tool formerly used by University researchers. Funding Institutional is an international database featuring 11,000 sponsors offering 24,000 active opportunities. Workshop participants will learn:

  • About FI profiles and how to use them to the best advantage
  • How to do funding searches in FI

Participants will also have an opportunity to conduct funding searches while the workshop instructor is present to provide advice and guidance.

Details: Requires a computer lab (preferably with instructor’s station), and it is preferred (but not mandatory) that attendance be limited to 10 or 12 to permit more individual attention. This workshop takes approximately 90 minutes. It is beneficial but not necessary for participants to have proposal possibilities in mind when attending this workshop.

 

Grantwriting: The ABCs and 123s

NEW THIS YEAR. For those ready to take the plunge into proposal writing. While few grant opportunities are alike, there are certain commonalities among most. Participants will discuss the elements of a standard grant proposal, including organization, common sections and budgets. This workshop is intended for those with little or no experience in writing grant proposals and will cover the basics.

Details: Takes approximately one hour; audience size is unlimited.

 

Proposal Rap Sessions

Before it was music, to “rap” meant to gather informally and talk about topics of mutual interest and concern.  We’re bringing the concept into the 21st century with Proposal Rap Sessions, where faculty and staff can come together to discuss their proposal ideas and get input and feedback from the group. These constructive, facilitated conversations between people of different disciplines and backgrounds can spark ideas on funding sources, collaborators, research topics and more. 

Details: Each session will last approximately one hour with the option to go longer, depending on the number of participants and the productivity of the discussions.

 

Mock Proposal Review

This workshop is different from the others offered. We ask participants to supply a draft of their proposal and the funder’s guidelines at least two weeks before the workshop. Copies are distributed to all workshop participants for a peer review, similar to those performed for journal articles.

During the workshop, we will discuss summary, objectives, methods, budget and language of each proposal, concentrating on the following:

  • Was it understandable?
  • Did it relate to the guidelines, responding to all points covered?
  • Was the summary short, to the point, but covering all major aspects of proposal?
  • Were objectives measurable?
  • Were methods qualitative/quantitative?
  • Did budget relate directly to objectives/methods?
  • Was the budget accurate?

Details: Because of the nature of this workshop, no special equipment or room is needed; however, it is strongly recommend participation be limited to five. Workshop length is flexible, but, depending on the number of participants and complexity of proposals, from 120 to 180 minutes will probably be needed to provide an in-depth review and discussion of each proposal.