The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to host the workshop Planning and writing NSF grant proposals presented by Dr. Peg Atkisson and Dr. Amanda Welch of Atkisson Training Group, LLC.

This webinar will be presented in 2-hour segments over the course of four (4) consecutive mornings: Monday through Thursday, January 23, 24, 25 and 26, 2023 from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. We hope this novel schedule will be more convenient for faculty and trainee schedules.

This workshop is ONLY open to WSU faculty and current postdoctoral and graduate trainees. NOMINATION AND REGISTRATION ARE REQUIRED. Since the OVPR is covering the costs for the seminar, registrants must be nominated by a university official:

• Department chair for faculty members
• Faculty researcher for postdoctoral fellows
• Graduate advisor for graduate students

Provide the name and email of your nominating official at the time of registration for verification.
To register, click on the RSVP button above using your WSU email address or AccessID – and make sure it is correct! You will be sent a link to the Webinar training session shortly before the event.

Content of the webinar

Fundamental concepts of NSF proposal planning and writing backed up by concrete tips and operational strategies that support planning and longer-term sustainability. This novel schedule presents four 2-hour sessions over 4 consecutive days in a combined lecture format and engaging activities and specifically tailored to writing for the NSF. Attendees can expect to gain a broader understanding of the grant planning, writing and review process for NSF proposals and the ability to make less arbitrary and more informed writing decisions.

M. S. (Peg) AtKisson, Ph.D., earned her degree in neuroscience from Tufts University in 2001, working in cell biology and cancer biology as well. After completing her degree, she consulted for Cogniscent, Inc., on nanotechnology applications of short DNA sequences as chemical sensors. She began her research development career as a contract grant writer, with clients including the Association for Computing Machines, Wake Forest University, Hunter College, Tufts University among others. Tufts created a position for her, where she subsequently created and fully staffed one of the earliest formal research development offices. By the time she departed from the position of director of proposal development, she and her team had been involved in bringing in over $140,000,000 in funded grants. Funders ranged from NIH, NSF, and USAID to the W. M. Keck Foundation. Most of these successful high-value proposals supported research centers and infrastructure. She also provided training for faculty and post-doctoral fellows in grant writing.

Since 2008 she has presented an average of 30 seminars per year, customized for many different funders, covering bench and social science as well as arts & humanities. She worked directly with over 200 individual researchers on proposals ranging from materials physics to history, coaching investigators through the grant-writing process to leave each faculty member with a new skill set to be applied to every proposal going forward.

In January 2017 she established the AtKisson Training Group to expand support for faculty research development beyond grant writing--placing the grant proposal in the context of the individual scholar's larger research enterprise and career trajectory. Dr. AtKisson is a highly acclaimed public speaker with a track record of helping faculty improve their competitiveness for funding.

For more information about this event, please contact Mary Serowik at mserowik@wayne.edu.