A ‘grant workshop’ to build the capacity of professors and researchers to enable them to successfully apply for research grants opened in Accra on Monday.
The workshop is against the backdrop that some grant proposals were denied because most researchers concentrated on larger aims instead of lowering their focus to the easily achieved goals, while some, due to nervousness and anxiety, committed several grammatical errors.
The four-day event is organised by the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana, Legon, in collaboration with the Washington University in Saint Louis in the United States.
A professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Indiana University Methodius Tuuli, Dr Debbie Frank, a science editor at the Washington University and Sarah England, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Washington University, are facilitating the workshop.
Dr George Boateng, professor of virology at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and event coordinator said, the aim of the workshop was to teach the University of Ghana faculty members how to write a research grant.
“Most of the junior faculty members are unsure where to start from writing a research grant, that is why we have partnered with the Washington University to share their expertise with us,” he stated.
Dr Boateng noted that grants were essential elements for researchers, since it was through grants that researchers are able to carry out their research work.
“Aside experts from the Washington University other facilitators were called on from organisations that offer grants to researchers to shed light on the various ways grants can be obtained,” he added.
The cultural affairs specialist at the US Embassy in Accra, Maya Parker and Aimee Ogunro, a health development monitoring and outreach specialist at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) shared some of the grant topics with the researchers.
Professor Tuuli urged participants to have their proposals proofread, straight to the point and error free.
Professor Sarah England, sharing some insights said researchers should not request for large grants when writing their proposals, especially if it were their first time, as they could be denied because they were not known internationally.
“In writing grants, start with the small figures and as you build your curriculum vitae, then you can ask for large grants and hopefully you can get those large amounts,” she advised.
BY FREDERICK GADESE-MENSAH
Photo: Grant pix/ samba 21-10-19
