FSK-8005 Funding your research - why and how? (3 ECTS)
FSK-8005 Funding your research - why and how? (3 ECTS)
Funding your research is a course designed to provide PhDs and postdocs with basic skills in research proposal writing and an understanding of how proposals are evaluated. This course will provide insight into the process of writing a (successful) research proposal and is recommended for PhD candidates in their third or fourth year. Two major sources of funding that are covered specifically are the EU and the Research Council of Norway.
To continue in science after a PhD it is essential for researchers to master the challenge of securing funding for their research. This means that PhDs needs a good understanding of where to apply for funding and how to write research proposals, as well as to understand which criteria are used for the proposal evaluation. This course is designed by researchers that have a broad experience in proposal writing and will share their knowledge and experience with the course participants. The core lectures are given by Michaela Aschan (UiT – BFE) and Petter Olsen (NOFIMA), both with extensive experience on external funding.
The High North Academy’s philosophy is learning by doing, and to obtain the ECTS for this course PhD students need to work on their own ‘real’ proposal. To be allowed to participate in the course, participants are asked to submit a one-page draft of their research idea, which they want to develop into a research proposal. The course starts with three days of lectures and practical exercises, followed by a month where participants are asked to work on their own proposal draft. The second part of the course is reserved for the oral presentations of all proposals, where a panel of experts provide instant feedback on each proposal. Every course participant will be asked to be an opponent for one of their peers` proposals. This feedback should be used to improve the final proposal draft that is submitted as home exam at the end of the course. The exam forms a solid basis for a future, real proposal.
Pre-work
A draft of your research idea (one page max.) must be submitted on Canvas before course start. More details will be announced on Canvas.
Course schedule
The course is an intensive 5-days course and is offered every autumn semester. Please check the UiT course catalogue for exact dates.
The course is divided in 2 parts:
Part 1 (3 days) - the first part will be three days with theory and small exercises, followed by individual work. Course participants will use what they have learned during this first part of the course to develop their own proposal draft and work on it individually until part 2.
Part 2 (2 days) - the second part consists of the proposal presentations by the participants. Every course participant has to present and explain the contents of their own proposal during this last part of the course. They will get get instant feedback from the course teachers and can use this to finalize their proposal for the course exam.
Exam
Course participants are expected to submit a proposal draft as final assignment for this course. A full, ready-to-submit proposal is not expected due to restricted time available, but it should be a solid starting point for a future proposal. Ideas will mature, and a modified proposal may be submitted at a later stage or when a relevant call appears.
