Home > Seminars > Seminar Feedback

Seminar Feedback

“Very helpful! The speaker is very knowledgeable and experienced on the subject. He really helped clearly lay out what is expected and desired in a grant. It gives me a model and mental template for what to include in a grant which will provide me with a structured way to get started. Also, it is helpful to know what order it works well to write the sections, to help me in making a writing plan. It gives me clarity and confidence in approaching grant writing as a new professor without experience in this area.”

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota

“The seminar was excellent! Five out of five stars. The speaker was knowledgeable and engaging, the handouts are super helpful, and the amount of time for the workshop felt just right for the material being presented. We are so often pulled in so many directions at work, so it was nice to dedicate an entire day to 101 grantsmanship. I particularly liked the emphasis on how we need to commit to the process if we are to increase successful results.”

Administrative Coordinator (Staff), TAMU-CC

“[The presenter] is very knowledgeable and provided valuable insight on key points (what to do and what not to do) to keep in mind when submitting grant proposals.”

Associate Professor, Design and Merchandising, Oklahoma State University

“The seminar was excellent! I actually attended one of your seminars about a year ago, relevant for the NIH proposals. It really helped me improve my grant writing a lot! I still found it useful to attend this workshop again (and especially the CAREER-focused one).”

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota

“SUPER helpful! I have submitted several NIH grants and learned new tips. [The speaker] was clear and presented well. He answered questions fully, which added to the experience. Overall, this was excellent!”

Professor, University of Houston

“The seminar was comprehensive and very easy to stay engaged and follow along. [The presenter] was informative and easy to understand. I appreciated his use of repetition and pauses that made taking notes much easier. I would and will highly recommend this seminar to my colleagues.”

Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic Rochester

“I was impressed by the level of concrete detail and value, as well as the sophistication of the overall presentation and of the detailed guidance for writing style. I feel much better prepared to take on a grant project as a result.”

Contract faculty, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota

“[The speaker] was an excellent presenter, clearly had a long and deep base of knowledge to field questions and concerns of varying clarity. How he was able to maintain such an upbeat and ‘on’ manner of teaching for the full 8+ hours was a mystery. He was as engaged and responsive at the end of the day as he was in the opening moments.”

Research Nurse, ANTHC, Anchorage

“Excellent presentation! [The presenter] was an engaging and very knowledgeable speaker. I enjoyed the insights he shared that complemented his slides, and which felt like distinct and sparkling pearls of helpful tips. I really felt inspired to commit more to my research work, and to build my consistency in the habits of a winning grant writer.”

Family Medicine Resident, Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Mankato, Minnesota

“I found the information useful at the introductory and somewhat experienced level without being too overwhelming. In fact, every time we went to a new section, I kept thinking, “Writing a grant is really like writing a journal submission!” I had come in with the belief that getting a grant for my research would be nearly impossible (like publishing in top business journals), but by the end of the day, I felt confident that if I persisted, I would be able to fund my research at some level with grants.”

Assistant Professor, Management, Kansas State University

“This is the best assembled grant writing workshop that I have ever attended. I’m actually sitting on my work laptop working on a Specific Aims page right now based on the talk today. I will strongly encourage both basic science and clinical faculty to attend the next offering. Thank you again!”

Assistant Professor, Marshall University School of Pharmacy

“The presentation was excellent, informative, and with relevant examples of grant writing. The provided handouts with background information were very helpful.”

Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical and Translational Sciences, Marshall University

“I was engaged by the presenter throughout the presentation. It was really interesting, and I heard lots of new information. Really useful and I hope I get this kind of opportunity more frequently.”

Postdoc, MIDAS/NERS, University of Michigan

“Very informative workshop. Writing grants can be an intimidating task. This workshop gave me a great foundation/ outline to follow. I’m looking forward to getting a specific aims page together to share with colleagues with hope to get the ball rolling on funding my ideas!”

Post Doc Research Associate, PhD, Biological Sciences, UNL

“I’ve regularly attended these workshops. Very helpful. Learn new pearls each time. References are a great resource during the grant writing process. Got my most recent R01 after the 2020 workshop.”

Professor of Surgery, BWH

“Exemplary handouts/materials, and slides. Detailed enough to be useful but also general enough to be pertinent to all. Also – engaging presenter.”

Postdoc fellow, College of Pharmacy, Univ of Houston

“Very eye-opening and critical information presented. Things we take for granted when writing grants that ultimately could impact reviews.”

Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center

“This workshop really paid off for me before through funding success. I learned a lot more this time. Bring [the presenter] back every year!!”

Assistant Professor at UNL

“The practical approach was highly insightful. The examples were clear, and I now have concrete tools to apply for grants at organizations beyond NIH.”

School of Journalism, Michigan State University

“This workshop was highly beneficial to my current scenario. I learned more than expected and could use this information regularly as well as yearly refresher workshops. Leaving this day feeling empowered to improve my grant submission.”

Assistant professor in Biochemistry and Microbiology department, OSU CHS

“Excellent seminar, whether attendees were new to the federal grant sphere or veterans. Although I have used these workbooks for years, I still learned a tremendous amount throughout the day. I also found myself tweaking small proposal aspects (of proposals I am writing) as we went, which was tremendously helpful.”

Assistant Professor, College of Science, Clemson University

“The seminar was very informative, emphasizing important details and showing nuances of grant preparation and evaluation processes. Importantly, new NIH rules were highlighted. The lecturer is highly professional and knowledgeable. I think the seminar was helpful for both junior and senior researchers.”

Research Associate, Basic Neuroscience Division, McLean Hospital

“This seminar was super practical and informative. The level of detail makes the grant proposal process feel more manageable. This is particularly true as it relates to the examples and breakdowns of the various paragraphs and what should be included in them.”

Professor, Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville

“I am so glad I was able to attend this workshop ahead of my K08 submission. I feel better prepared to tackle the application process. The workshop covers essentially all sections of the grant proposal in detail with specific examples.”

Instructor, Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber

“This was an excellent course and one of the most useful 8 hours of my academic career to date. [The presenter] is an excellent orator and demystified the process of an NIH grant application.”

Psychiatry Resident, MGH/McLean Hospital

“This was fabulous and addressed gaps in my understanding of this process. Still intimidating, but these resources make it approachable. It has also improved my ability to review society grants, which I have done regularly, and I fully expect it will enhance peer review skills as well.”

Assistant Professor of Urology, University of Michigan

“The multiple examples across disciplines and funding agencies were very helpful, as well as having both the slides and the handbook to refer to.”

Clinical Associate Professor, VCS, Oklahoma State University

“Outstanding seminar and workshop! The content was very informative and helpful. [The presenter] was an engaging and intelligent presenter. I learned a lot of important new grant writing techniques.”

Research Assistant Scientist, Department of Urology, University of Florida

“I thought the seminar was fantastic and I learned a lot. The workbook looks like it will be an extremely helpful resource when it comes to grant preparation. [The presenter] is an excellent and extremely knowledgeable workshop instructor. It’s not easy to accommodate all the specifics of each grant but I appreciated how useful the content is to all types of grants with specifics presented in key areas for the different common granting agencies. While I’m not new to grant writing, I found this workshop to be very valuable and can see how it will strengthen future grant applications.”

Asst. Prof., Design Studies, UW- Madison

“This was a fantastic course! I took it once before at UTMB, just prior to my R01 award. It should be made available more often.”

Professor, Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics TTUHSC

“Really helpful, easy to understand lecture/presentation! I would highly recommend that this program be offered in the future.”

Professor, HDFS, Univ Georgia

“This seminar was very informative. The structure proposed for writing a proposal, in particular for the overview section, is very compelling and easy to follow. I was not expecting to leave with such tangible aid for future projects. Worth the time!”

Assistant Professor, Business Analytics, University of Iowa

“Very uplifting presentation on what we are in control of with grant writing. When he was at UB in 2018 I attended and have since been awarded two research grants for my doctoral research.”

PhD candidate and adjunct faculty, school of Nursing, UB

“It was very informative! I enjoyed the examples of good vs poor ways to communicate the ideas of proposals. I will likely use the workbook regularly as a guide/reference. I think this is a fantastic professional development series for faculty and staff (postdocs like me!).”

Postdoctoral Associate, Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo

“Excellent job! Fully met my expectations of going through writing a USDA-NIFA grant step-by-step in a detailed and thorough way.”

Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia

“I am a mid-career faculty member who has been to many grant writing workshops. I came to this workshop because the NSF is the one agency that I have not had success with. I was completely impressed by this workshop. It is hands down the best grant workshop I have ever attended. Outstanding job.”

Associate Professor, Workforce Education and Instructional Technology, University of Georgia

“The handouts greatly supplemented the workbooks recommended. I feel that I have everything that I need to better understand the steps taken to submit a grant proposal at any level. The lecturer was excellent, attentive, answered questions, and made comments as he lectured on the material that was extremely helpful.”

DEPRU Medical Coverage, DOCR CRU, Division of Medicine, Duke University

“This course was well-designed and highly beneficial, providing valuable real-life examples. Thank you very much for a great workshop!”

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

“I am one of your success stories. Your consultant has presented grant proposal writing seminars to my institution several times. Following attendance at my first seminar with GWSW in 2017, I immediately wrote an R21 and it got funded on the first attempt. I continued to attend the yearly seminars and used the methods that were taught. Eventually after a lot of work, I got funded on an R01. Additionally, I’ve been reviewing NIH grants for over a year now and I can really attest to how well your strategies work to address the most important reviewer concerns and the common missteps that occur in grant writing. Thanks for your work and I will continue to attend your seminars at my institution (and drag my colleagues if they don’t come willingly).”

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University

“The use of real examples was especially effective and helped place the teaching points in context. The organization of the course was well executed and topics flowed logically and seamlessly into the next. The order of writing each of the components was valuable, as I have told my fellows/postdocs to use similar strategies. I chaired the NIDA K study section for ten years and have been involved with many other study sections and all of the speaker’s comments about the peer review process were spot on. Many thanks again for the incredibly valuable information, engaging teaching style and insights.”

Professor, Psychiatry, McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School

“Most helpful and informative session on faculty development topics I’ve ever attended. The presenter was beyond fantastic – clear, easy to follow, and provided tips that are immediately applicable.”

Assistant Professor, Public Communications, Syracuse University

“Great presentation. It was refreshing to hear from a scholar in the field of research who can help others maximize the potential to obtain a competitive grant.”

Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Florida A&M University

“This seminar should be required for all junior faculty. The points the speaker made are relevant for writing good papers as well as for writing grant proposals.”

Professor, Physics, Washington University in St. Louis

“This course should be a mandatory part of orientation for new faculty who have even the slightest interest in research! I think this would be particularly valuable for clinical faculty as it offers a great overview of the process and sets a strong foundation and realistic expectations. Exceptional speaker who kept me interested and engaged despite being presented virtually.”

Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, University of Utah School of Medicine

“The seminar was excellent. I like the fact that the presenter always showed real examples and addressed all sections of proposal development.”

Assistant Professor, IT, Kennesaw State University

“Great information presented logically with appropriate resources to deep- dive into specifics when needed.”

Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota

“This was an eye-opener on some basic writing skills that I’ve overlooked. It was helpful to alleviate broad misconceptions that I had regarding grant proposal writing.”

Assistant Research Professor, Mississippi State University

“This F30, F31, and F32 program should be a part of our curriculum and be a regular activity for all of us students. The practice of writing successful grants begins at the very start of graduate school, not at the middle or at the end. A very powerful, inspiring and motivational program!”

Doctoral Student, University of Arizona Cancer Center

“This is the third time that I have taken this class in the last ten years. Every time I’ve taken it, I’ve come out with a fresh perspective. I’m happy to say that I used this template for an NSF grant that was successfully funded in 2018. I’m feeling quite confident that I can now write an NIH R01 grant proposal.”

Assistant Professor, University of Idaho

“This was an awesome seminar. It opened my eyes to several things that I’ve overlooked and gave me new insight on how to revise my applications. Thank you!”

☺Associate Professor, VBDI, University of Georgia

“I have participated in a number of NSF CAREER award workshops. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of new information and takeaways from this seminar. More details and information about the educational components, tips for including prelim work from unpublished research, and strategies for interaction with program managers are examples. Effective even given that it was presented via Zoom.”

Assistant Professor, CISE, University of Florida

“Great content from a fabulous, invested speaker. I learned a lot about this new funding agency for me (NIH), but also gained some great tips for all agencies, even after writing proposals for 20 years. The presenter’s energetic approach was compelling to buoy us through a full day on Zoom. Kudos to the presenter and the organizers!”

Research Professor, INE/CEM, University of Alaska Fairbanks

“Helpful tips and examples. Handout and workbook will be a “bible” when writing a grant, and helpful for student proposals.”

Professor, Dept. of Nursing, Duquesne University

“Extremely useful, especially the step-by-step instructions and examples.”

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Health Mgmt & Policy, University of Michigan

“This was one of the best, most comprehensive grant writing courses I’ve ever taken. The presenter was 100% approachable in teaching style and was a great facilitator, organized, on time, and made the material very relatable. I found the step-by-step walk-through of the Aims page very illustrative and helpful.”