Irish Cancer Society hosts grant writing workshop for cancer researchers

A grant writing workshop run by the Irish Cancer Society in partnership with the Irish Research Council took place over Zoom on Friday, 20 November.

The workshop was for early stage career researchers who are thinking about or starting to write their own grant applications.  

The event was opened by Dr Claire Kilty, Research Manager at the Irish Cancer Society. The workshop was facilitated by Dr Rachel Bermingham, representing the Society and Dr Maria Morrissey of the Irish Research Council. The workshop covered topics such as grant writing preparation, the review process, common pitfalls, Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) and data management.  

A topic that came up in discussion was the importance of reaching out to more experienced researchers and asking for some guidance, as grant writing can seem very daunting. Finding a mentor who can support you is very important in the early stages of researchers' careers.   

"It is never too early to start thinking about writing grants" was one lesson from the workshop. It is a good idea to think ahead as applying for a grant such as a fellowship in 2020 most likely means a start date towards the end of 2021. If you miss the 2020 application deadline, then you may be pushing a potential start date to 2022.

Thank you to all those that attended and contributed to the workshop discussions.