No, despite these landscapes I was not on a holiday. Instead, I was sailing the coastline of Northern Norway with an international group of participants from countries far and away – among others Canada, Argentina, South Africa and Russia – with research focuses ranging from whales to communicating climate change with an aim to learn how to write the perfect grant proposal.

During the workshop, we heard several lectures dealing with or touching upon getting your research funded and, on the side, also got to learn a lot about the stunning Lofoten area, as the programme also included cultural visits and excursions. The multidisciplinary group of participants was also put to a concrete test when we were divided into groups to draft an imaginary research proposal in response to a real call of the Norwegian Research Council.

 Despite the broad range of different represented in each group, lack of specific instructions and a competitive atmosphere contributing to zero communication between the groups during the task, three out of four groups came up with a nearly identical proposal! That probably taught us more about the realities of the world of research funding than anything else we learned during the course.

Thanks to Young Scientist Forum for the workshop and the funding.

Text and photos: Hanna Lempinen