Creating Compelling Research Narrative
Master crafting compelling research narratives in this 5-hour course. Identify narrative concepts, analyze scientific writing, and apply techniques for impactful grant proposals and manuscripts.
Modules/Weeks
Weekly Effort
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Format
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Course Description
In the Creating Compelling Research Narrative 5-hour short course, you will learn narrative concepts, identify those concepts in various pieces of scientific writing, and put those concepts into practice to craft an effective research story so you can write more effective grant proposals, manuscripts, and more.
- Learn various strategies to craft compelling research narratives for manuscripts and grants.
- Engage in hands-on exercises, guided by experienced instructors, to revise and refine your writing.
- Bring your ongoing writing projects to directly apply workshop lessons, enhancing grant proposals or manuscripts.
- Gain clarity in communication through grammar concepts and discover narrative tricks to captivate readers effectively.
To contact support for this course, please email [email protected].
Course Prerequisites
Investigators at all career stages are welcome to attend, and we particularly encourage research trainees and early-stage investigators to participate. To register for this training, you must have:
- Written at least one thesis chapter, manuscript, or grant.
- A grant or manuscript that is in progress is strongly encouraged, but not required to attend this training.
What You Will Learn
This five-hour hands-on writing bootcamp covers several approaches to create compelling research narrative and is led by expert instructors with more than two decades of experience providing research writing, editing, and training for researchers worldwide. This intensive will lead you through detailed examples, revise writing in guided group settings with instructors, and then put those lessons into practice on your own writing. Thus, we encourage you to bring a draft in progress (e.g., grant proposal, research manuscript), so this workshop can directly impact an active writing project. Participants also will come away with an SOP for writing logically and will learn some additional narrative tricks and tips to entice and engage readers on their science.
By the end of this writing intensive workshop, participants will have:
- A clear and organized approach for writing manuscripts and grants.
- Several easy grammar concepts for clear communication.
- Examples to share/work with their trainees.
- An improved portion of your own grant or manuscript (if you bring it with you to the workshop).
Instructors
Jessica K. Lerch, PhD, Co-Founder, CareerVolt; Founder, Significance, Innovation, Impact. Dr. Lerch earned her PhD in Neuroscience at Case Western. She then completed postdoctoral training at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami and went to a Research Assistant and then a tenure-track Assistant Professor appointment in the Department of Neuroscience at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In late 2017, Jessica moved to a science consulting role with Eva Garland Consulting, helping small biotechnology companies and researchers across the world strategize their science to achieve over $37 million in grant funding for their R&D and early-phase clinical trial projects. Jessica started her first company, Significance, Innovation, Impact, in 2018 as a grant-writing consultant. In 2019, Jessica joined with long-time friend and colleague Dr. Sheila Cherry to launch CareerVolt, born of their shared desire to help scientists succeed in their career paths by filling skills gaps and supporting attainment of professional goals.
Sheila M. Cherry, PhD, Co-Founder, CareerVolt. Sheila earned her PhD in Genetics at Case Western. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in 2009 she founded Fresh Eyes Editing to provide editing and writing support for scientists around the globe. During its 13 years in operation, Fresh Eyes helped investigators worldwide to secure hundreds of millions in research funding--tallying more than $275 million just in US federal funding. Recognizing some common skills gaps, particularly with respect to writing grant proposals and applying for funding, Sheila began offering workshops, online training, and individual career development programs in 2016. Sheila is a Certified Editor in the Life Sciences as well as a Certified Executive Coach. She is passionate about helping researchers achieve their career goals.
Craig Layman, PhD, Research Leadership and Success Consultant, CareerVolt. Dr. Layman received his PhD at Texas A&M University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Philosophy. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and was the Donnelley Fellow at Yale University. He is a Senior Fellow in the Andrew Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability and a Research Professor in the Biology Department at Wake Forest University. He was a Full Professor at North Carolina State University, a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Fellow in the Applied Ecology Department, and a founding member of the Global Environmental Change and Human Well-being Cluster. Craig is passionate about academic writing, reflected by his more than 160 scientific publications and over 17,000 citations, his successful grantsmanship, and his mentorship of hundreds of academic colleagues over his career.