The NORDP Professional Development committee is offering this new webinar; Webinars are free and open to NORDP members and those interested in learning more about the Research Development Profession. 

Registration is now available.

Just as Elizabeth Barrett Browning recounts the numerous ways in which she loves her husband in her poem, “How Do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways,” so too are there many ways to review and evaluate the potential for success of grant proposals.  But are grant review criteria as endless as the ways of love?  Upon initial glance of various federal funding agency review criteria guidelines, it does seem as though each has its own distinct set and number of “rules” regarding review of grant proposals for research and scholarship.  This workshop will present an examination of proposal review criteria from various federal funding agencies to demonstrate that there are actually only a small and finite number of ways that a grant proposal can be evaluated and that once you know the “rules” from any one funder, it makes it much easier to learn the “rules” for every other, including foundations and corporate funding bodies.  But why does this matter?  As the external federal funding landscape continues to become more competitive because of a decline in resources for research and scholarship support, it is important for investigators and scholars to consider multiple agencies to which they can submit grant proposals.  So much of the grantsmanship process is dependent upon the review criteria, which represent the funders’ desired impact of the research or scholarship.  Thus, if investigators and scholars perceive that they need to learn an entirely new review system(s) before considering a grant proposal to a new funding agency, the task can seem overwhelming and researchers and scholars are less likely to diversify their funding portfolio.  This workshop will empower research development professionals to guide investigators and scholars through the complex landscape of funder review criteria through a strategic approach to mastering proposal review criteria, focusing on using the criteria to demonstrate synergies between a proposal and funder’s goals.  

Dr. Holly J. Falk-Krzesinski is the Vice President for Strategic Alliances at Elsevier and a Senior Adjunct Instructor at Northwestern University, where she has been teaching grantsmanship courses for 10 years.  In her role as the founding Director of the Office of Research Development at Northwestern, she led a multitude of successful grant proposals to federal funding agencies (DOE, DoD, NASA, NIH, NSF, and HHS), foundations, and corporate entities.   She also launched NORDP in 2008, serving as the organization's founding president and board member and then chair of membership until 2013.  Moreover, through her leadership with the Annual International Science of Team Science Conference, Dr. Falk-Krzesinski has been instrumental in developing a strong community of practice for team science and interdisciplinary research.