Research Workshops by Appointment

photo of four light bulbs

The Office of Research and Innovation is now piloting “Research Workshops by Appointment” for all faculty and staff.  Below are some of the most frequently requested topics and recorded workshops. We are also happy to work with you to create a research workshop designed to fit your needs and schedule.  Most workshops are 30 to 60 minutes depending on the time available or the detail needed. Specify when and where your group would like ORI to present one of the workshops and we will do our best to accommodate your request.  Please contact Christine Stamper with questions or to schedule a workshop.

Request Form  

Introduction to ORI

Learn about the office, the services we offer and who to call with questions.

Finding Funding

Learn about the tools available to WMU faculty and staff for conducting funding searches and get tips on how to use them effectively.

Early Career Funding : Explore the Early Career Research funding opportunities for faculty at the early stages of their research careers. Programs are highlighted from several sponsors including the USDE, DOJ, NIH, NSF and DOD.  View January 25, 2021  Presentation, handout, and recording.

Department of Health and Human Services Funding (2024): Recording

Getting Started: Funding for Arts and Humanities Projects : Finding financial support for your art or your humanities research project means preparing for the artisanal landscape that helps nurture this kind of work in higher education. This overview covers how to access WMU's support and uncover external resources in many diverse fields. Dr. Lofty Durham, Associate Professor of Theatre and Faculty Fellow in ORI, led this workshop. January 24, 2022 recording.

Funding for the Humanities and Humanities-Related Social Sciences : Katherine Kelly from Academic Research Funding Services discussed the ins and outs of applying to the NEH, NSF and other organizations that fund research and creative scholarship in the arts and humanities. October 19, 2020 Presentation.

Writing Proposals for the National Science Foundation : Writing a competitive grant proposal involves understanding the funding agency’s mission and review criteria, the program’s goals, and submission requirements. This Workshop covers the basics of writing a competitive proposal for NSF, with particular focus on the Project Summary. Dr. Mark Hurwitz, Professor of Political Science, Faculty Fellow in ORI, and former NSF Program Officer in the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate, led this workshop. View presentation and watch recording.

Applying to the Department of Defense Agencies : Lucy Deckard from Academic Research Funding Services joined us to discuss pursuing funding from the Department of Defense. She showed steps to identify DOD funding opportunities and program officers, how to approach program officers, writing proposals and where to find more sources of information about the DOD. View the February 22, 2021 Presentation.

Applying to the Department of Energy : Lucy Deckard, Academic Research Funding Strategies, LLC joined us to discuss how mission agencies are different from basic research agencies (e.g., NSF and NIH), how DOE is organized and the differences between different parts of DOE (e.g., comparing EERE to the Office of Science), how to identify and analyze funding opportunities, and provided a high-level review of how to write proposals to DOE.  Presentation.

Appointments on Grants

Learn about the what, how and when to appoint personnel on grants - a great session for faculty and department administrators.  March 22, 2021 presentation.

Project Budgets and Justifications

Learn how to develop successful project budgets and budget justifications. This workshop also includes how to navigate WMU internal prior approval process (PAF).

Data Management Planning

Whether you’re writing a data management plan as part of a grant or just want to get ahead on planning for a new project, this workshop will help you explore your data needs through questions and example material.  September 21, 2020 recorded presentation and access to materials.

Enhancing Your Research with Secondary Data: Creating data can be expensive and time-consuming. However, secondary data, data that you didn't generate yourself, is a great alternative! This workshop discusses uses for secondary data, consideration for choosing and reusing data, provides information on grants supporting secondary data reuse, and highlights a fantastic campus resource, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). View February 28, 2022 presentation and watch recording by Daria Orlowska, Data Librarian and Dr. Bridget E. Weller, Director, CHHS Office of Research.

Research Compliance

IRB Basics-Overview of the Institutional Review Board and human subject research.
IRB Process-Tips for preparing an IRB protocol and common mistakes that delay approval.

Retractions

Part of 2024's Research, Innovation, and Creative Scholarship Celebration Week: "Retractions: On the Rise, But Not Enough" from RetractionWatch's Dr. Ivan Oransky. Watch the replay here.

Intellectual Property at WMU

A description of the process for disclosure of inventions and creations (intellectual property-IP) to WMU and the process for analysis of the IP for patentability and commercial potential.  What is done in Technology and Commercialization and what is needed from the inventors/creators to evaluate the IP.

Commercialization of Intellectual Property at WMU

After the patent process has been initiated and/or completed, faculty inventions are provided support by the Technology and Commercialization in ORI.  The types of support available are described and the impact of this support on commercialization of the tech is presented.

Submission Portals

FastLane, Research.gov, eRA Commons and Workspace are some examples of online systems for proposal preparation, submissions, status information, revisions, award and reporting functions.  Learn how to get access to these systems and how to navigate around them.

Resubmissions

Grant success requires an intentional strategy and a whole lot of grit and determination. Persistence and patience is key. Vice President Terri Goss Kinzy and Dr. Heather Petcovic discussed how to interpret reviews, the decision to resubmit and how to address reviewer comments.  View November 16, 2020 presentation and  recording.

GLOW for Grants

This information will assist you with understanding how to review your budget and expenditures on GLOW for your grant account.

Contact

Christine Stamper
Research Development Administrator