Grant Writing panel
Many early career researchers are highly motivated to obtain fellowships, grants and other types of funding to establish a strong track record of external support prior to going on the job market. In this interactive workshop, panelists will provide a 45 minute interactive overview of common funding sources (NIH, NSF, DARPA, DoD) followed by a series of short breakout sessions to discuss 1) organizing and writing specific aims, 2) incorporating preliminary data, 3) preparing a budget, and 4) avoiding common pitfalls and errors. This workshop will help postdocs start thinking about how to plan a program of research that is original and long-term. Panelists will be invited to provide insights from their own experience, as well as from reviewing grants which have been successfully funded.
Micah altman
Director of Research and Head/Scientist, Program on Information Science, MIT
Micah conducts work primarily in the fields of social science, information privacy, information science and research methods, and statistical computation -- focusing on the intersections of information, technology, privacy, and politics; and on the dissemination, preservation, reliability and governance of scientific knowledge. Previously Micah served as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, and at Harvard University as the Associate Director of the Harvard-MIT Data Center, Archival Director of the Henry A. Murray Archive, and Senior Research Scientist in the Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences. Micah earned a Ph.D. in Social Science from the California Institute of Technology, and conducted his postdoctoral research at Harvard University. Prior to studying social science, Micah worked as a software engineer in "Silicon Valley" developing software, courses, teaching and consulting on the subject of high-performance computing.
Susan Gomes
DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGY OF HARVARD FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Susan serves as the primary contact for questions regarding grant opportunities for faculty to find funding sources and develop successful grant applications. She also oversees efforts to foster relationships with external sponsors, develop strategies to enhance the FAS research portfolio, increase sponsored revenue, and facilitate the pursuit of external funding. Her major responsibilities include developing grants-related programs and resources, facilitating the development of research proposals, and supporting proposal development and submission efforts for major projects.
Sarah McMenamin
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN BIOLOGY AT BOSTON COLLEGE
Sarah did her PhD at Stanford University with Liz Hadly, studying population fluctuations and developmental variation in wild Ambystoma salamanders through space and time. As a postdoc, she transitioned to the model organism of zebrafish in the lab of Dave Parichy at the University of Washington. She developed a project looking at the developmental and molecular effects of thyroid hormone and other endocrine factors on zebrafish development. As a postdoc, she was awarded an F32 NRSA and a K99 through the NIH. She started her own lab at Boston College in 2017, and her independent work focuses on post-embryonic developmental coordination and the roles of thyroid hormone in development of the craniofacial skeleton in zebrafish.
Roslyn Orkin
Associate Chief for Faculty Development in Div of hematology/oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Associate Professor (pt time) at Harvard Medical School
Dr. Orkin received a PhD from the Division of Medical Sciences at Harvard University. After postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health and Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Orkin joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School, with a research lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and teaching at Harvard Medical School. She left Massachusetts General Hospital in 1999, transitioning first to Harvard Medical School and then to Boston Children's Hospital in 2005. Dr. Orkin is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In addition, Dr. Orkin is Associate Chief for Faculty Development, and Associate Scientific Researcher in Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. She works primarily one-on-one with trainees and junior faculty regarding grant funding opportunities and preparing grant applications (both national and private). Dr. Orkin also prepares and submits honorific award and professional society nominations for faculty. In addition, Dr. Orkin participates in preparation of programmatic award/funding opportunities and programmatic evaluation for the Division of Hematology/Oncology.
Qiaobing Xu
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY
Dr. Qiaobing Xu is currently an associate professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University. He also holds adjunction position in Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and School of Medicine at Tufts University. He obtained his PhD from Harvard University and did a postdoc training at MIT. His current research interests lie at the intersection of material science engineering, specifically micro/nanoscience, and biomedical application. His work involves using combinatorial method to develop novel materials for the delivery of therapeutic biomacromolecules and using nanotechnology to develop novel biomaterials for tissue engineering. He received Charlton Award from Tufts University School of Medicine in 2012 and named the Pew Scholar for Biomedical Sciences from Pew Charitable Trusts in 2013. He received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2015, and the Rising Star Award from BMES/Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Program in 2017.