Better at the Bench

Bootcamp objective

The goal of the 9-week bootcamp is to generate a healthy first draft of a grant, paper, fellowship, or proposal that you feel comfortable sharing with others.

writing goals

To maximize the benefits of the grant writing bootcamp, we strongly encourage everyone to write at least 2-3 pages a week. Especially for those working on papers, dissertations, or grants, make a weekly plan or checklist of the documents or goals you want to accomplish. A plan is an excellent way to stay motivated and evenly spread your work out over the quarter. Here are two writing plans that we came up with. Feel free to alter these based on your writing needs.

RECOMMENDED SELF-DIRECTED writing PLAN (for a Fellowship or Training Grant)

Week 1 (April 6-10):  Plan out your bootcamp -- write down your writing goals, create a checklist of all the materials you need to write, make a weekly plan for the quarter, and identify all deadlines. Find writing allies!
Week 2 (April 13-17):  Specific Aims
Week 3 (April 20-24): Description of the institutional environment and commitment to training
Week 4 (April 27-May 1):  Biosketch
Week 5 (May 4-8): Training in the responsible conduct of research
Week 6 (May 11-15): Research plan (Significance and Innovation)
Week 7 (May 18-22): Research plan (Approach)
Week 8 (May 25-29): Applicant’s background and goals for fellowship training (F-Award) or Candidate information and goals for career development (K-award)
Week 9 (June 1-5): Project summary and abstract

RECOMMENDED SELF-DIRECTED Writing PLAN (For a Paper)

Week 1 (April 6-10):  Plan out your bootcamp -- write down your writing goals, create a checklist of all the materials you need to write, make a weekly plan for the quarter, and identify all deadlines. Find writing allies!
Week 2 (April 13-17):  Methods: What did you do?
Week 3 (April 20-24): Data Results: Sketch, collect, and make figures. What are the essential data and titles for these data?
Week 4 (April 27-May 1): Descriptive Results: What are the core results? Describe the findings from your analysis
Week 5 (May 4-8): Introduction: What relevant information is needed to interpret your results? Week 6 (May 11-15): Discussion: What are the implications of your results now that you have an introduction and data?
Week 7 (May 18-22): Abstract and other required summaries. What are the high-level take-aways of your work?
Week 8 (May 25-29): Who should review the work? Consider suggesting reviewers and any final formatting that is necessary for submission.
Week 9 (June 1-5): Share the manuscript draft with colleagues.