February 11, 2016, by Lisa Chin
Analyse, Propose & Get Funded!
This post is written by Dr Jiin Woei Lee, Research Training Development Manager, UNMC Graduate School.
The ringing of bells, the laughter and cheering, and the atmosphere of competition…
That was some of the happenings at the course “Analyse, Propose & Get Funded!”. 18 postgraduates from all 3 faculties – Engineering, Science and Arts and Social Sciences, were selected to participate in this free 5-day course that ran from 18th – 22nd January this year. The course used traditional and gaming techniques to teach the essential skills of preparing and delivering a research proposal. It doubled as a research project on human behaviour, the effectiveness of using experiential gaming pedagogy for learning compared to traditional techniques, and determining the relationship between performance and personality traits. The course was initiated by Dr Jiin Woei Lee from the Graduate School and organised with Dr Cedric Tan from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford, and Dr Ahimsa Campos-Arçeiz from the School of Geography.
For the first 4 days the students were taught various skills by different teachers, namely, statistics, presentation skills, CV and writing skills. On the 5th day the participants, in their groups, were tasked to assimilate what they learnt over the previous days and present research project proposals of their choice and their CVs to a panel of judges in an environment akin to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).
The 5-day course will be broken down in the remaining article, with a few representative images.
Day 1
The students were briefed about the entire course, followed by lessons in experimental design with a strong focus in statistics.
Students with teacher Treshi Perera.
The game incorporated the use of M&Ms – always a delicious addition to any lesson!
Day 2
The participants learnt about analysing data using the SPSS software program.
Cheng explaining the concepts of data analysis.
How far ahead can you go? Participants using dinosaurs as pieces to move ahead in the SPSS-based game. (Photo courtesy of Dr Cedric Tan, WildCRU, University of Oxford)
A close up of the game. (Photo courtesy of Dr Cedric Tan, WildCRU, University of Oxford)
Day 3
Presentation skills were the theme of the day. The participants learned about the basics of poster and Power Point presentation design along with the skills needed to sell, engage and make audiences want to know more (expand).
Participants learning about presentation skills.
Participants had to present – without practise one wouldn’t be perfect! (Photo courtesy of Dr Cedric Tan, WildCRU, University of Oxford)
“I got the answer!” Participants pointed out deliberately incorporated flaws in the teachers’ presentations in order to gain points by writing onto mini whiteboards.
Cedric extolling the virtues of having the ability to erm… sell, engage and expand. (Photo courtesy of Dr Cedric Tan, WildCRU, University of Oxford)
Day 4
Curriculum vitae (CVs) are often assessed alongside the project proposal by funders to gauge the credibility and ability of the principal investigator and his/her collaborators to put out viable research and meet milestones. Being able to word the proposal into a compelling story can determine whether the proposal is accepted or not.
Ahimsa was the star of the day – he shared his experiences and knowledge during the CV and technical writing classes.
Day 5
The day of reckoning. Participants in their groups presented CVs and research proposals on a topic of their choice for RM 20 000. The panel of judges consisted of academics from all faculties – Prof. Graham Kendall, Dr. Svenja Hanson and Dr. Tessa Houghton. All groups were judged on their CVs, presentation skills, realistic timelines and budget, viability of the project, soundness of methodology, link with literature, ability to answer questions, and integrity of their statistics.
Participants presenting their research proposals of a topic of their choice.
Judges (left to right): Tessa, Svenja and Graham.
The feedback from judges to the participants include:
- Substance and preparation are both important. You can’t have one without the other. Your research proposal has to be good as well as your ability to sell yourself such as highlighting your expertise and by being passionate and enthusiastic.
- Over-ambitious projects e.g. unrealistic timelines and budget, having 5 projects in 1 project and fusing 2 very different aspects together is likely to not get you funded. The project’s impact must be focussed.
- Over-inflated CVs get sussed out.
- It’s good to ask for more money than you think you need as funders often would give you less than you ask.
- The structure / individual expertise of the team of researchers has to be clearly stated.
Overall, this is a pilot course run by the Graduate School in collaboration with WildCRU (University of Oxford) and the School of Geography. The judges had fun. We amassed good feedback from students. One of them said that the course had given her a new perspective of her PhD project and she is looking forward to implementing the statistics she learned from the course. A few other students mentioned that the course provided the opportunity to get to know and network with fellow students – the postgraduate life, whether masters or PhD, can be a lonely experience. It is hoped that if this course is repeated next year, we will implement the suggested improvements.
Participants, judges and the organisers (left to right): Ahimsa, Gayathry, Sheena, Fiona, Cedric (front), Shiau Ying, Ashwinder, Danielle, Su Ling, Mei Xiang, Graham, David, Tessa, Chin Chin, Jiin, Omar, Yih Foo, Sonia, Toshan, Cynthia, Svenja, Josephine, Viknesh, and Zain.
Acknowledgements
Funding: Teaching and Learning Strategic Project Fund. Judges: Prof. Graham Kendall, Dr. Svenja Hanson, Dr. Tessa Houghton. Teachers: Dr. Cedric Tan, Lim Phui Cheng and Treshi Perera. Materials provided by: Dr. Cedric Tan, Lim Phui Cheng and the Graduate School. Games provided by: Dr. Cedric Tan. Observers of participant behaviour and performance: Christy Yap, Heerman Kumar, Azrin bin Jamaluddin, Ricardo Cruz, Alberto Tanzi and Lee Ai-suan. Photographer: Lee Ai-suan.
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