Educational Toolkit

Drake SPARC offers training and professional development opportunities in a variety of formats.

• Online Training
• On-Campus Workshops
• Books
• Other Online Resources

Online Training

• Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) - training and certification programs in the following areas:
  • Biomedical Research
  • Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB)
  • Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
  • Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) - grant writing podcasts
• Foundation Center - video tutorials and podcasts
• National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) - webinars, tutorials, downloadable publications, and articles

Drake Sponsored Programs & Research Compliance Workshop Series

Workshops are available upon request. 

• Program Evaluation, Ensuring Fidelity of Implementation and Overall Project Outcomes. The goal of this session is to introduce participants to program evaluation. Program evaluation is a processthat involves collecting and analyzing information about a program's activities, characteristics, and outcomes. Its purpose is to make judgments about a program, to improve its effectiveness, and/or to informprogramming decisions. The LOGIC model will be stressed, as it is frequently required by funding agencies. The logic model is framed within a diagram or chart depicting a grant proposals planned work and intended results for a given project. The model is composed of the inputs, activities, outputs, short- to long-term outcomes, and the impacts of the project. 1.5 hours
  
• Institutional Assurances – What Every Researcher Needs to Know: The goal of this session is to introduce participants to the assurances required when applying for a grant. Federal agencies, and some foundations require Drake to attest to having a number of Federal Assurances in place, examples include the Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Financial Conflict of Interest, Materials Transfer, Procurement, Export Control, Time and Effort Reporting, Research Misconduct and more. This session helps PI’s and others understand which assurances apply to them. This session uses case studies in which the participant must identify if institutional assurances are in place or if there is institutional risk exposure due to noncompliance. 1.5 hours
  
• Finding Funding – What’s Funded and What’s Not: The goal of this session is to provide an orientation to the usual and customary types of funding available from Federal and State agencies as well as local and national foundations. Participants will be able to clearly identify their funding needs and have a good idea of the types of funding agencies to target. 1.5 hours
  
• Using Drake’s Grants Database to Find Funding: The goal of this session is to introduce participants to the grants database that is available to Drake faculty and staff. The training session requires participants identify the types of funding they are interested in and then use Drake’s database to develop a funding portfolio that will organizing participants writing efforts over a 12-month period of time. Participants will learn how to read grant opportunities and identify the best funding fit for their particular research or project. 1.5 hours
  
• How to Write a Grant Proposal I & II: The goal of this two part program is to guide participants through the proposal development process. The sessions includes the following components: Developing a Proposal Idea, Writing a Compelling Needs Statement, Defining Clear Goals and Objectives, Developing an Appropriate Methods Section, Preparing an Appropriate Evaluation Process, Developing Sustainability Strategies, and Preparing a Program Budget. Participants will be able to leave the session with a fairly well crafted proposal that can be submitted to a funding agency. 1.5 hours
  
• From Invention to Commercialization – Understanding Each Step in Technology Transfer
  The goal of this session is to help participants understand the processes involved in Technology Transfer. Technology Transfer is the process of realizing the value of intellectual assets and then engaging in the select processes required to take an innovation to market. The following eight steps will be described: research, invention disclosure, assessment of potential, patenting, identifying potential licensees, negotiation, licensing, revenue and commercialization. Participants will be introduced to the tech transfer process at Drake to include a brief discussion with faculty who have been successful in moving an idea to market. 1 hour
  
• How to Prepare an Application to the Institutional Review Board: The goal of this session it to walk through the IRB application development process. Participants will learn how to develop a protocol, relevant consent form(s), recruitment materials, and more. Exempt, Expedited and Full Board application specifics will be presented. 1 hour 
  

Books

• The Grant Application Writer's Workbooks:
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Science Foundation

Other Online Tools

• University of Iowa's Grant Writers' Tools
  
  • Writing Guides
• Foundation Center
• Grant writing advice from UNC (Chapel Hill)