Grant writing workshop helps researchers secure federal dollars
Contact. Dr. Craig Nessler, 979-845-8486, cnessler@tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION— More than 70 researchers attended a recent grant writing workshop to obtain the necessary skills to successfully compete for and acquire large federal grants, officials said.
The free workshop was hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Research at the AgriLife Center at Texas A&M University, College Station.
“In an era when research budgets have been cut, we must help our faculty attract funding to support our work to advance agriculture. This workshop taught the skills necessary to compete for research dollars,” said Dr. Craig Nessler, director of AgriLife Research at College Station.
Lucy Deckard, president of Academic Research Funding Strategies, led the workshop, which was filled with guidelines on how to identify funding opportunities and write effective proposals.
“The workshop was full of extremely useful information; especially for young faculty members like myself,” said Dr. Anil Somenahally, assistant professor at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Overton.
The nine sessions offered at the workshop addressed proposal development, competing for National Science Foundation funding, writing proposals to CAREER and other young investigator programs, competing for U.S. Department of Defense funding, writing proposals for team grants, competing for U.S. Department of Agriculture funding, competing for National Institutes of Health funding, developing outreach, education, and workforce development components for proposals, and competing for U.S. Department of Energy funding.
In addition to the two-day workshop, Mike Cronan, consultant with Academic Research Funding Strategies, conducted 45-minute individual meetings with faculty who were farther along in their proposal development process but who needed additional guidance.
