Prairie Research Institute

Research Portfolio Development

A Hands-On Series for PRI Researchers

Selected Wednesdays, 3–4:30 p.m.

The Office of Research Development (ORD) at PRI will offer topical workshops focused on various topics including grantsmanship starting in the spring of 2025 as part of our Professional Development series. These in-person (with a virtual option) workshops will be open to all PRI scientists.

The location will rotate between Forbes 1005, ISTC 131, NRB 439, or ISWS Illinois Room. Some are still to be determined — these will be added to each workshop as we have them.

Workshop 1 – Series Introduction, Research & Proposal Ideation

3/12/25, ISWS Illinois Room

In this introductory workshop, we’ll discuss overview topics starting with the questions: What do you hope to learn? What are your needs for these workshops? We will also explore research questions, ideation, identifying research and/or knowledge gaps, and building ideas and research aims to meet agency priorities. One goal will be for participants to explore and develop a proposal vision and sales pitch in the form of a one-page research project prospectus. Add Workshop 1 to your calendar.

[For all investigators wanting to pursue competitive proposals]

Workshop 2 – Understanding the Sponsor Research Context

3/26/25, Forbes 1005

Do you want to develop a grant-funded research portfolio but don’t know where to start? This workshop will provide an overview of what you need to know about the research enterprise at U. of I., the parties involved, terms and concepts, process expectations, and what you need to do before starting the endeavor of applying to grant opportunities. Add Workshop 2 to your calendar.

[Introductory overview workshop for beginning investigators]

Workshop 3 – Finding the RIGHT Grant Opportunities

4/16/25, Forbes 1005

You have a great idea for a research project — now how do you find funding for it? This workshop will provide an overview of where to find grant opportunities, search strategies for identifying the correct fitting grants, how to dissect an opportunity to know if it is really what you are looking for, and strategies on how to avoid the dreaded RETURNED WITHOUT REVIEW. Add Workshop 3 to your calendar.

[For beginning and intermediate investigators who are interested in pursuing competitive opportunities and growing a research portfolio]

Workshop 4 – Collaborative Writing Strategies

5/7/25, NRB 439

This workshop will give participants hands-on experience in effectively using synchronous collaborative writing tools from initial brainstorming sessions to the final draft for submission. Techniques will cover how to promote engagement, stick to timelines, manage contributor changes over time, ‘assign’ sections, integrate group discussions, narrow down the selection of ideas/concepts, and when to take documents offline. Participants will use multiple tools and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Add Workshop 4 to your calendar.

[For all investigators wanting to pursue competitive proposals]

Workshop 5 – Grant-Smithing for Winning Proposals

5/28/25, ISWS Illinois Room

This workshop will explore strategies for writing winning grant proposals including identifying required components, structuring the proposal, writing compelling openings and research questions, using meaningful titles and keywords, aligning with achievable objectives-approaches-metrics, matching effort to budgets, and reducing uncertainty/confusion with a wide variety of reviewers. Add Workshop 5 to your calendar.

[For all investigators wanting to pursue competitive proposal]

Workshop 6 – Complexities of Working in Multidisciplinary Proposals

9/10/25, ISTC 131

More and more funding agencies are focusing on tightly coupled multidisciplinary research that breaks down the typical silos between disciplines and even within research groups. These tightly coupled teams can tackle grand challenges that are far more impactful than the participants could accomplish on their own. But with these new many-domain research contexts come challenges in terms, metrics, significance, worldview, and many other assumptions we all use on any given day. This workshop will use the emerging concept of convergence research to explore what multidisciplinary research means, what sponsor agencies are looking for, and how to structure appropriate scopes of work and outcomes to lead to a believable and compelling proposal. Add Workshop 6 to your calendar.

[For researchers moving into larger multidisciplinary contexts, but useful to all]

Workshop 7 – Understanding Safety in Multidisciplinary Research Environments

10/8/25, Forbes 1005

All researchers are required to go through campus safety training related to the research in their labs, but what happens when you start collaborating across disciplines and now you are in, or have folks from, significantly different disciplines working in your space? We especially see these challenges when transversing the Chemical/Engineering arena with the biological/pathogen space. This workshop will explore what is required in these different disciplines and how you can get the additional necessary training, compliance approvals, and how to identify and prevent potential issues. Ultimately this understanding will support and enable the expansion of your research into new and emerging contexts while keeping you and your staff safe. Add Workshop 7 to your calendar.

[For all researchers]

Workshop 8 – Achieving Award Success via Management Best Practices

10/29/25, NRB 439

This workshop will cover topics such as best practices in project management, knowing when and how to take action if your research project develops troubles or needs to change direction, engaging collaborators to complete all deliverables, maximizing your findings to increase the visibility of you and your work, and finding ways to use emerging results to pursue other sources of funding. Add Workshop 8 to your calendar.

[For mid-size multidisciplinary and multi-institutional efforts]

Workshop 9 – What Comes Next? Growing Project Success into Long-Term Research Initiatives

11/19/25

Each grant you are awarded is a stepping stone to the next proposal. This workshop will help you turn one-off proposals into long-term research initiatives. We will cover how to develop strategic teams and research trajectories that focus on long-term initiatives instead of one-off proposals. Building collaborative teams that sustain long-term research success can be very difficult if the team is not set up for success from the start. One key to successful collaborations is identifying collaborative warning signs and developing a culture where everyone has ownership in the process and is willing to contribute to outcomes that may not always benefit their interests. Whether you are just beginning your career and trying to build early successes or later in your career and want to develop a national initiative, these strategies will help you in your collaborations. Add Workshop 9 to your calendar.

[For all researchers]

Special Topic 10 – Leading Large Multi-Institutional Research Initiatives

12/10/25

Leading a multi-investigator or multidisciplinary research project is a completely different experience than leading a large research center or other multi-institutional effort, and why so few centers survive after initial funding. This workshop will explore timelines, team dynamics, identifying strengths/gaps, national positioning, strategic advisory boards, organizational structure (agency preference), strategies for finding/adding partners, oversight needs, beyond-research programs, political implications, existing/proximal global efforts, effort demands, and many other topics. Add Workshop 10 to your calendar.

[For researchers ready to lead national/international large efforts.]