Thinking of responding to the HEA teaching development grant call? Short briefing for bidders

1. Thinking of responding to the HEA teaching development grant call? Short briefing for bidders Megan Quentin-Baxter (Director) Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine www.medev.ac.uk

2. Outline of the session • 12:00 Welcome and introductions – with a brief Elluminate overview (chat area, buttons to smile, tick, etc., audio mike) • 12:10 Introduction to the HEA teaching development grant call, evaluation criteria and process • http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/funding • Employability and internationalisation • 12:30 Features of successful proposals • 12:45 Discussion • 13:00 Breakout into pairs if anyone wishes to discuss the call further (or establish writing-buddies) • 14:00 Elluminate switched off www.medev.ac.uk

3. Introduction and welcome (in no partic. Order!) • Dr Jon Dowell, University of Dundee j.s.dowell@cpse.dundee.ac.uk • Mr Ben Kumwenda University of Dundee Research Admin in Med Ed B.Kumwenda@cpse.dundee.ac.uk • Dr Sabine Totemeyer University of Nottingham Lecturer in Cellular Microbiology sabine.totemeyer@nottingham.ac.uk • Dr Patricia Fell University of Birmingham Senior Academic patricia.fell@bcu.ac.uk • Mrs Susanne Roff University of Dundee Project Development Officer s.l.roff@dundee.ac.uk • Dr Ayona Silva-Fletcher Royal Veterinary College Director, Veterinary Education asilvafletcher@rvc.ac.uk • Dr Mojtaba Dorri University of Dundee Clinical Researcher mojtabadorri@yahoo.com • Dr Reza Zamani Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry Manager of Life Sciences Resource Centres rzamani@pms.ac.uk • Dr Cathy Fuller University of Bristol Senior Teaching Fellow c.j.fuller@bris.ac.uk • Dr Irene Maeve Rea Queen's University Belfast i.rea@qub.ac.uk www.medev.ac.uk

4. Rationale • The MEDEV team see many mini-project proposals which could have been improved if they had: • Better reflected the call for funding and the funders purpose • Had the right partners • Sold the ideas outlined in the proposals better  • Maximised evaluation and dissemination activities • Been more aware of their own university processes (e.g. contracting, finance) • The workshop outcomes include: • Raised skills in writing high quality proposals among the delegates • Improved critical review of proposals  www.medev.ac.uk

5. The HEA teaching development grant call document • The HEA teaching development grant call document • Key contact details • Title • New staff • Fellows of the HEA • Themes • Discipline specific • Project aims (500 words) • Methodology • Budget (including institutional contribution/matched funds) • Note carefully the themes: employability and internationalisation • In all cases try to obtain a copy of any additional documentation and the exact review criteria www.medev.ac.uk

6. Headings to cover in your own proposals • Introduction (to this proposal) • Background (VERY brief!!) • Partnership (how is this partnership more than the sum of the parts? If on your own explain that too!) • Method (what exactly will you do?) • Management, ethics, quality assurance and risk analysis (how will it be managed, what metrics will be put in place to capture impact, and what will happen if things go wrong?) including limitations • Evaluation and dissemination (evaluation of the impact of this project, not what the project is set up to test or evaluate) • Who actually wants what you are planning to disseminate? Prove it • Letters of support, including host institution (I always write these on others’ behalf, and ask them to edit/print it onto their letterhead) www.medev.ac.uk

7. Tips and tricks for success • Plan well in advance – find a writing buddy • Read the call carefully! • Choose the right partners and get senior stakeholder support • Discuss the proposal with any partners so that they are clear • Re-use/modify the layout of old proposals and use high quality formatting techniques (your proposal should be ‘bursting out of the word count’). • Reference your proposal • involve students • Don’t focus on the problem – write what the solution/s are • Plan the finance carefully and use fEC methods, cost the project fully then highlight any discounts (including match) • Include the funder in your evaluation/dissemination – what is in it for them? www.medev.ac.uk

8. Summary • Enjoy writing it – chances are the intellectual effort that you put in will be worthwhile regardless of the outcome • Don’t pin all of your hopes on it • Let us know (enquiries@medev.ac.uk) if we can do anything to help • Good luck! www.medev.ac.uk

9. Attribution and disclaimer • This file is made available under a Creative Commons attribution share alike licence. • To attribute author/s please include the phrase “cc: by-sa Megan Quentin-Baxter, May 2011, http://www.medev.ac.uk/funding/workshops/260/view_workshop/” • Users are free to link to, reuse and remix this material under the terms of the licence which stipulates that any derivatives must bear the same terms. Anyone with any concerns about the way in which any material appearing here has been linked to, used or remixed from elsewhere, please contact the author who will make reasonable endeavour to take down the original files within 10 working days pending investigation of the complaint. We reserve the right to reinstate the files if the complaint is not upheld. www.medev.ac.uk