NATIONAL LEVEL HANDS ON WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSAL WRITING

NATIONAL LEVEL HANDS ON WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSAL WRITING

A one-day workshop on research grant proposal was conducted on 3^rd October 2022 at Pushpagiri Nursing College Auditorium, Thiruvalla. The program was organized by the IQAC cell, Pushpagiri College of Nursing in collaboration with the Pushpagiri Centre for Evidence-Based Practice. The program was designed to equip researchers with skills to apply for grants in order to take up funded research activities—a total of 72 delegates registered for the workshop. The resource persons were Dr Mamatha S Pai, Professor, Dept of Child Health Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing and Dr Sherly Antony, Asst Professor and Scientist, Dept. of Microbiology, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre.

The program was inaugurated by Rev. Dr Mathew Mazhavancheril, Director- Research, Pushpagiri and MAC FAST along with an inaugural speech highlighting the importance of research, especially in the context of the existing pandemic, how it turned history when vaccinations which have now contained the disease came up because of the hard work of scientists across the globe. He stressed that research should be taken up as an integral part of the academic activities in healthcare colleges and universities which will help the community at large. The keynote address was added by Dr Nebu George Thomas, Professor, Dept of Periodontics, Pushpagiri College of Dental Sciences & Scientist, Pushpagiri Research Centre. He spoke about the importance of taking up research activities. He emphasised that writing projects is the first step in our quest for knowledge and described the different requirements for completing research projects successfully.

The first session was taken by Dr Mamatha S Pai, who explained the importance of funding opportunities in grant proposal writing and the common funding agencies. Then, Dr Elsheba Mathew, Director of Pushpagiri Evidence-Based practice (PCEBP) gave valuable insight into systematic reviews and the importance of secondary research. The next session was handled by Dr Sherly Antony, who discussed the basics involved in grant proposal writing including the various steps and requirements for writing the proposal, how to resubmit and how to keep on writing till a grant comes through. This was followed by a hands-on session on drafting a grant proposal. In this session, the delegates were categorised into five groups and were asked to draft proposals. In the final session, Dr Mamatha S Pai detailed the tips for writing and polishing up proposals before submission to funding agencies.