Achievement

We held a trainee grant writing competition. The purpose of the research grant proposal competition is to foster team experience in writing grant proposals and carrying out interdisciplinary research. It supports interdisciplinary materials research and education while addressing fundamental problems in science and engineering. Proposals strongly emphasize the integration of the expertise of two research groups to foster authentic collaborative research. 13 trainees received their first exposure to the grant writing process and were trained in how to learn constructively from critical reviews and strategically re-write proposals to increase their chance of success. Two collaborative proposals were submitted and reviewed by an external committee.