Summer Proposal Writing School

With deep theoretical knowledge (Fall course), insight into the Broader Impacts of their research (Winter workshop), and hardware implementation skills (Spring course), Fellows are ready to develop strong research proposals on applied MathQuantum projects. This program activity provides a thorough training on the research proposal genre, its place in the profession, and the important practical aspects that happen before and after writing one. Its practical outcome is for each participant to produce a research proposal draft ready or near-ready to submit to a relevant funding opportunity. Throughout the process, each Fellow’s Principal Mentor is available to provide feedback on proposal topics and drafts. The School starts with a few days of lectures, hands-on activities, and peer interactions to cover: funding source selection, topic selection, proposal outlining and writing, budgets, and best practices of writing groups. This is followed by weekly 2-hour writing groups led by Postdoc Fellows. MathQuantum organizers check in on writing groups and are available to provide individual constructive feedback. Fellows also have access to the UMD Graduate School Writing Center for assistance with writing strategies and for feedback. After 6 weeks of drafting, the program culminates with a few wrap-up days similar to the opening ones, but focusing on: polishing, submission and review. Finally, the Fellows submit their proposals to mock review panels assembled from the same participants of the School. This gives participants experience in both writing and reviewing proposals, particularly important for Postdoc Fellows, who will be engaging professionally in these activities in their near future. This program component simultaneously allows our Fellows to explore their scientific vision, gives them a large number of transferable skills that are not often taught formally in academia, and results in a tangible, practical product that contributes to their professional success.