Workshop Dates: July 20 - 26, 2025
Cost: $480
Deadline to register: July 6
Location: Mountain Lake Biological Station, Pembroke, Virginia
Join NSF BIO Directorate program director Dr. Leslie Rissler for a six-day hands-on grant writing workshop for scientists who want to learn strategies, styles, and structures to improve their grant proposals. The experience is geared toward early career proposal writers including faculty, postdocs, and senior graduate students and will include direct discussions and writing sessions based on participants’ own proposal ideas. The workshop will involve finding appropriate solicitations associated with those research ideas, writing a proposal that matches ideas to those solicitations, and having draft proposals reviewed in a panel format by colleagues. Limited enrollment (12) will enable close interaction. Past participants’ topics have spanned biology, ecology and evolutionary biology, physics, conservation, and more.
Preparation:
Participants will be asked to arrive with an outline or vision of a grant they need to, or might need to, prepare in the near future. One or two pages of thoughts will prepare you to hit the ground running.
Schedule:
The earliest move-in time is Sunday at 4:00pm, and the first meal included is dinner at 6:00pm. Checkout is by 12:00pm Saturday, and the last meal included is lunch.
Location and Travel:
MLBS is a remote full-service residential field station in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia. Road access is good. The nearest airport is Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA), a 1.25hr drive from the Station. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) is a 3hr drive. More about travelling to MLBS…
Housing:
Accommodations are 1930s-era historic buildings and are rustic in nature. Shared housing will be assigned. Linens, pillows, and towels are *not* provided. There is no cell service, but WiFi is provided throughout the Station, including in cottages. More about MLBS accommodations…
Cost:
$480 - Covers registration and room & board. To be considered for limited financial support, email a brief statement of need to mlbs@virginia.edu.
Registration:
An $80 deposit is required at registration. Any remaining balance will be billed separately, and is due by July 6. You may also choose to pay in full at the time of registration. Online credit card payment is required.
Cancelation:
The deadline for cancelation with a full refund is July 6.
**CLICK TO REGISTER**
Questions:
About workshop structure and content: Contact Leslie Rissler, Leslie.Rissler@gmail.com
About registration, logistics, or station life: Explore mlbs.org, or contact MLBS staff at mlbs@virginia.edu, 540-982-5486