From Ideas to Fundable Questions: A Grant Writing Journey with CIFAR Fellows
- Inclusive Innovation
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
On August 11–12, 2025, we had the opportunity to design and facilitate the CIFAR Grant Writing Workshop, offered to a diverse cohort of doctoral students, junior researchers, and established scholars.
What unfolded over the two days was more than just technical training. It was a creative and collaborative journey that helped participants shift from broad research interests to sharp, fundable questions. Guided by Inclusive Innovation’s values of being Inclusive, Intentional, Invitational, Imaginative, Interactive, and Invested, we created a space where researchers could experiment, refine their ideas, and leave with greater clarity and confidence in navigating the grant landscape.
Being Intentional: Designing for Purpose
The workshop was framed around The Effective Grant Writing Workshop model, emphasizing both clarity of ideas and alignment with funder priorities.
Objectives:
Build on the skills developed at an in-person event CIFAR hosted with the same cohort of participants
Strengthen confidence in the language of grant writing
Increase awareness of the funding landscape and funder expectations
Support researchers in writing more efficiently and effectively
Delivered over two half-days (3–3.5 hours each), the design followed the creative problem-solving stages: clarify → ideate → develop → implement.
Creating an Inclusive & Invitational Space
We designed the workshop to be both inclusive and invitational, creating a space where participants could engage with each other in breakout rooms, in groups of 4 to 5 allowing space to reconnect and to learn from one another. The facilitation balanced structure with flexibility, ensuring that each activity built on the last while leaving room for diverse voices and perspectives. By blending individual reflection, peer-to-peer exchange, and practical frameworks, participants were supported in moving from initial curiosity to fundable mini-concept notes.
Day 1 focused on clarifying and ideating. We:
Explored what makes a research question “fundable”
Distinguished between curiosity-driven and funder-aligned ideas
Used Problem-Gap-Hook and SMART/PICOT frameworks to refine questions
Shared insights in structured peer exchanges
Reflected on their learnings at the end of the day, applying tools immediately to their own questions
Day 2 shifted into developing and implementing. We:
Explored funder perspectives and expectations
Applied feasibility mapping and a funder-fit checklist
Translated questions into proposal logic (objectives, methods, budgeting)
Practiced pitching for peer and facilitator feedback
Built on peer input through the “Builds & Considerations” activity, which strengthened research proposals
The Stormz collaboration tool supported real-time adjustments to meet participant needs, making activities more interactive and inclusive.
Imaginative and Practical Outcomes
By the close of the workshop, participants left with both imaginative and practical outcomes. They refined their research questions into compelling, fundable ideas, evaluated feasibility against funder expectations, and mapped their questions to real calls for proposals. Along the way, they sharpened proposal-writing skills, practiced pitching with greater confidence, and critically reflected on the potential benefits and limitations of using AI in research design and grant development.
One participant said, “for the first time, I must confess, I got hands-on experience on how to initiate and write grants from the rubrics. it was a very enlightening moment for me and I got to see things I had been doing wrongly.”
The closing session encouraged participants to take next steps in drafting proposals, seeking collaborators, and applying the tools in practice.
What We Learned Along the Way as Facilitators
Every facilitation is also a learning process. Key takeaways from this workshop included:
Structured creativity unlocks clarity: tools like Problem-Gap-Hook, SMART, and funder checklists were easy to grasp and directly applicable.
Peer-to-peer exchange multiplies value: participants learned deeply from each other’s perspectives through breakout discussions and feedback rounds.
Flexibility matters: being able to adjust resources (like Stormz boards) on the go improves flow and responsiveness.
Brevity drives momentum: short, focused sessions were energizing and effective.
Mixed cohorts enrich dialogue: combining doctoral, junior, and senior researchers balanced fresh curiosity with experience.
Practical enhancements for next time: adding icebreakers, incorporating real funded proposal examples, using participant-generated questions in mini-lectures, and exploring connections beyond the workshop could deepen learning and community building.
A Shared Commitment to Impact
At Inclusive Innovation, our stance is that grant writing is more than form-filling. It is about shaping ideas that matter, aligning them with opportunities, and communicating them with conviction.
The CIFAR Grant Writing Workshop was an energizing reminder of how much potential lies in intentional spaces where researchers can work together, apply new tools and gain confidence to take a step into the funding space, knowing there may be rejections yet persisting anyway.