A5 - International, interactive, intercultural – Modern approaches to teaching grant writing

Workshop outline: 

How to teach researchers in an international context about grant writing in a fun and sustainable manner? This workshop will show how to plan and implement an interactive session for mainly postdoctoral researchers, taking the example of the international mobility grant ‘Individiual Fellowship’ from the EC Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). The MSCA “ensure excellent and innovative research training (…) through cross-border and cross-sector mobility of researchers, to better prepare them for current and future societal challenges.” (Introduction to the WP MSCA 2016-17.) In this context of brain circulation, (remote) teaching and communication with an international and within an intercultural context becomes vital for grant managers and trainers. 

The workshop will engage the audience interactively with different exercises, an example proposal and a case study on intercultural communication (Switzerland-Cyprus) to raise awareness of the typical pitfalls in such a process and help trainers gain knowledge about international and cross-border grant consulting. 

Two remote tools will be presented and can be tried out: 1) a webinar produced by Net4Mobility and 2) an online tutorial prepared by the Swiss MSCA NCPs. Additionally, the tools prepared by Net4Mobility, i.e. the ‘Survivor’s Guide’ illustrates the kind of tools researchers appreciate by institutions, NCPs, grant administrators etc. 

The workshop links to the professional and career development of researchers (B3 of the RDF), Finance, funding and Resources (C3), Engagement and Impact (D3), Communication and Dissemination (D2) and Working with others (D1). All these elements are also part of the MSCA funding schemes and demand a high level of knowledge and awareness by the researchers. We will discuss in the plenum about ways to increase these skills within the postdoctoral research community during grant counseling.  

Topics in bullet point: 

• Support for postdoctoral researchers
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and European and Global Fellowship
• Interactive training elements
• Intercultural communication
• Use of remote training tools 
• Group dynamics
• Support tools of Net4Mobility

Outcome of the workshop

This workshop will teach participants about the policy and implementation of the cross-sectoral and cross-border Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and how to communicate best with the scientific community worldwide. Together with the audience approaches will be developed towards different audiences, in different cultural contexts. This will be done via interactive exercises. A demonstration of how to transfer knowledge in the days of virtual training shall help inspire ideas for new concepts. Metaknowledge about group dynamics, the joy of learning and teaching in an interactive manner and in an intercultural environment, will add to the knowledge this workshop will transfer.