Understanding the national and EU funding landscape.​​​​​​​​​​​​ From missed opportunities to strategic funding planning

Schedule

3 Oct 2024, 9.00-12.00

Why attend?

Submitting research grants is essential for every researcher's career. However, navigating the complex national and EU funding landscape can be challenging. Many researchers are unaware of available opportunities or lack the time and networks needed for strategic planning ahead.

Our funding strategy workshop aims to respond to these challenges by providing you with the guidance and tools needed to navigate the national and EU funding landscape effectively. Participants will build a yearly individual research funding plan, enabling them to:

• apply for “best-fit“ grants,

• combine different grants in line with their funding plan timeline,

• fund “must have“ projects that drive their research forward instead of ‘’nice to have’’ ones that slow them down.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to 

• Name the key national and EU granting organisations, be aware of the budgeting cycles, the funding lines, and the yearly fixed call cycles

• Differentiate between bottom-up grants and top-down (topic) grants

• Understand the drivers of research funding (societal challenge>>public policy>>research funding lines)

• Place their research problem on the ‘innovation ladder’ (TRL scale)

• Use four key filters to critically select grants (goal of the grant, national-international scope, type (training/personal/consortium), TRL levels)

• Distinguish and reason what is a nice-to-have project/grant and what is a must-have, and apply for the ‘’best-fit’’ ones

• Break down larger research ambitions into smaller phases to make it easier to find suitable grants and build up funding from multiple sources/grants spanning a longer time

• Combine different grants in line with your funding plan timeline

• Design a year-long individual research funding plan based on the funding overview, and the RUG’s Elsevier subscription

Maximum number of participants: 20 people

Conditions for participation

• Open to researchers and research managers at UMCG and partner organizations (RUG, 4 schools connected to RUG, Hanze, Isala Hospital, Leeuwarden Hospital, Martini Hospital).

• Cost: 100 Euros/workshop.

• First come, first served basis. Priority registration for UMCG employees.

Register

• Pre-registration for October/November 2024 workshops opened in July 2024.

• Limited to 20 participants per workshop.

• Participation is secured by transferring the participation fee.

• First come, first served basis.

Tailored workshops

The workshops of the Grant Navigator Training Programme can be booked stand alone or as a series. The practical assignments within the workshops are interconnected and can be used to develop a full proposal and network. Departments or institutes can request tailored workshops with a minimum of 20 participants. Tailored workshops are dependent on the capacity and availability of our trainers.

The trainers

Miriam Boersema, Leonie Beljaars and Eszter Ashlock-Kéthelyi

Skills developed by attending the Grant Navigator Training Programme

• Strategic planning for funding

• Networking and collaboration

• Demonstrating innovation value

• Effective storytelling in proposals

• Writing competitive proposals

• Defining societal impacts of research

• Using generative AI in grant writing

Evaluation of learning

Each module concludes with a practical assignment to measure competency development.

Accessibility of training materials

Materials will be available on the UMCG learning management system (LMS) for all participants.