Monday, October 24, 2016

Grantsmanship Workshop at Curtin University


Recently, three grant assessors from the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) and one from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MOSTI) were invited by Curtin University Sarawak Campus in Miri to give a one-day "Grantsmanship Workshop".  The four assessors were namely Professor Dato' Nik Muhammad from Universiti Putra Malaysia, Professor Dr Norhamidi from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Professor Dr Normah Omar from Universiti Teknologi MARA and Dr Sharon Teh from University College Tuanku Abdul Rahman. The one-day workshop invited grant applicants from the university who were reasonably well-versed in preparing an application according to the various guidelines given by competitive grant schemes. What is less known and which needs revealing, is how assessors in technical panels at the national KPT and MoSTI levels scrutinize, cull, shortlist and pick winning applications individually and as a panel. Since the speakers were all from different areas of expertise, they were able to share their experiences on the "do's and don'ts" of  grant application.  Highest on the list is the need for researchers to showcase and highlight new research areas that are in tandem with government initiatives and that can support Malaysia's aspiration to become a developed and high income nation. About sixty aspiring researchers attended the workshop and there were a lot of questions raised during the Questions & Answers session.  All in all it was a great event.  Thank you Curtin University for the invitation.

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