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MAES
News
February 1, 2008
MAES Grant Writing Workshop Receives
Rave Reviews
"Outstanding seminar!"
"Very helpful and enjoyable."
"Excellent."
"Great job!" |
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"Dr.
Morrison provides a valuable service to the academic community.
Thank you."
These were just a few of the enthusiastic evaluations of
the MAES Preawards Office-sponsored "Write Winning
Grants" workshop held Dec. 17. The sold-out workshop
featured presenter David Morrison, of Grant Writers' Seminars
and Workshops, who addressed both the practical and conceptual
aspects of successful proposal writing.
"Dr. Morrison is an excellent presenter," said
John Baker, MAES associate director, who helped plan the
workshop. "He talked about things that professors need
to consider when writing grants but don't always do, as
well as the basics. While extremely appropriate for new
faculty members, it was also valuable for senior faculty
members. We [the MAES] were so pleased with the seminar
and participant feedback that we've scheduled another workshop
for Dec. 16, 2008. More details on registration will be
available at the beginning of fall term."
Morrison, who received a doctorate in molecular biology
and biophysics from Yale and served as associate director
of research at the University of Kansas Medical Center Cancer
Center and director of medical research at Saint Luke's
Hospital in Kansas City, is a member of multiple national
review panels and advisory groups and has a long history
of writing successful grant proposals. He discussed how
to write proposals aimed at reviewers and how to identify
the most appropriate granting agency. Workshop attendees
had the option of purchasing workbooks devoted to the grant
subtleties of specific federal agencies, such as the U.S.
Department of Agriculture or the National Institutes of
Health, for additional self-study.
"I learned so much," said Kelly Sporer, postdoctoral
researcher working in the lab of Gale Strasburg, chairperson
of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. "I
was struck by what Dr. Morrison called 'the importance of
being first,' as in the first person to get an idea out
to reviewers; no one remembers the second or third person
to cross the Atlantic by plane. I also found it very interesting
that the number of grant applications submitted to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and National Institutes of Health
increases every year as academic institutions expect their
faculty members to find more extramural funding. However,
the number of grants actually funded has decreased, increasing
the margin between grants submitted and grants funded."
"I thought the workshop was well done and provided
a lot of great insight into how to approach writing successful
grants," said Dan Grooms, MAES large animal clinical
sciences researcher. "I thought Dr. Morrison did a
great job of logically explaining how to mold a grant that
would be viewed favorably by reviewers. I certainly plan
to try his approach. One thing I realized -- and probably
already knew -- is that successful grant writing takes a
lot of work and effort and does not come naturally for many
of us."
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