From idea to project: Writing successful project proposals

Ph.D. -course

ECTS credits
1
Teaching semesters
Spring
Course code
GEOF915
Number of semesters
1
Teaching language
English
Resources
Schedule

Course description

Objectives and Content

Objectives

The course aims to enable early-career climate scientists to develop their own research ideas into successful project proposals.

Content

Students will iteratively and interactively develop their own research ideas into project proposals, while learning how to write proposals. At the beginning of the workshop, students pitch their project ideas, and 3 of these are chosen to be developed into project concepts. Participants will learn about the central components of a project proposal (Objectives, Impact, Work Plan), delivered through iterative learning cycles consisting of lectures, group work, and plenary sessions. Group-work results will be presented in plenary and assessed by peer feedback. The tangible output of the workshop for the three chosen ideas is a project concept, ready to be developed into a complete project description. Further course content provided is information about suitable funding opportunities for early career researchers. Teaching methods are based on constructive alignment of learning outcomes with students' needs, co-creation of course content with teachers and students together, and the use of active learning strategies.

Learning Outcomes

The student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

  • knows the characteristics of the central components of a project proposal
  • knows how successful research proposals are structured and presented
  • knows the most relevant funding opportunities for early career scientists

Skills

The student

  • can present a project idea shortly and concisely (pitching)
  • can develop and formulate the central components of a research proposal
  • can develop and structure a convincing project concept
  • can draft a project budget

General competence

The student

  • can plan and write a complete project proposal based on one’s own ideas
  • can identify relevant research funding opportunities and strategically work towards the submission of an own project proposal

ECTS Credits

1 ECTS

Level of Study

Phd level

Semester of Instruction

Spring
Required Previous Knowledge
At least 2 years of research experience after completing a Master’s degree.
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Work experience in research projects.
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Access to the Course
To be eligible to participate in the course, you must hold admission to the Ph.D. program at UiB. Postdoctoral fellows and researchers affiliated with UiB and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research may attend the course. Postdoctoral fellows and researchers at UiB who wish to take the course for credits must apply for an employee study right, with the consent of their employer, in addition to meeting the admission requirements to the course. Information about employee study rights at the Faculty of Science and Technology is available here: Admission at the Faculty of Science and Technology - Admission for Employees | Faculty of Science and Technology | UiB
Teaching and learning methods

In the course, the following teaching and learning methods are used:

  • Preparation for the course, 10 hours
  • Presentation of own research idea, 5 minutes per participant, 1,5 hours total
  • Lectures and group work briefing, 7 hours
  • Group work, 3,5 hours
  • Presentation of results from group work in plenary and peer feedback, 3 hours

25 working hours in total including preparatory work.

Compulsory Assignments and Attendance

Compulsory attendance for the entire course, 2 working days.

Compulsory asignmensts are only valied during the semester in

which the course is taught.

Forms of Assessment

The following forms of assessment are used:

Oral

  • Idea pitching: Presentation and interview in plenary. Assessed by teacher with oral feedback.
  • Present results of group work in plenary: Assessed by peers with organized peer feedback, supervised and qualitycontrolled by teachers.

Written

  • Solve group work tasks on a digital workspace. Assessed through presentation in plenary, see above.

All parts of the assessment must be passed in order to receive a final grade in the course.

Grading Scale
Pass / fail
Assessment Semester
Spring
Reading List
Course responsible can be found in MittUiB.
Course Administrator
The Faculty of Natural Sciences, through the Geophysical Institute, has administrative responsibility for the course.

Course description

Contact information

Contact studieveileder@gfi.uib.no.