Grant Writing Workshop - LS4FUTURE Associate Laboratory

Grant Writing Workshop – registrations are open

Intensive hands-on training

These days funding is fiercely competitive (top grants and fellowships often fund fewer than 10% of applicants), thus, locating the right call and meeting its many requirements has become an essential skill for any scientist. This workshop guides you through the maze of information required by most modern funders other than the scientific and technical aspects of their projects.

This course expects to improve your understanding of the current research-funding landscape, discovering the grants and fellowships that are best suited to their project and career stage, develop skills for writing grant and project applications, and recognize the tricky elements of applications.

WHEN

15 & 16 June 2026

from 09:30 to 17:30

WHERE

at ITQB NOVA, Oeiras

ECTS / HOURS

1 ECTS / 28h

(14 hours in person + 14 hours of homework)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To improve understanding of the current funding environment for grants and fellowships.
To develop grant and fellowship writing skills.
Introduction to writing research impact statements and narrative CVs.
Standard grant and fellowship elements.

PROGRAM & CONTENT

IN PERSON (14h)

Day 1 – 15 June:

Morning Session. The funding ecosystem: identifying the priorities of funders and how they may (or may not) align with your research. Understanding the scope of specific funding calls. How to discover funding sources at the national and international level. Funding for individuals, research groups, and consortia. Practical exercise: finding the right funder for your research.

Afternoon Session. Workshop on writing your research statement for grants and fellowships.

Day 2 – 16 June:

Morning Session. Standard elements of grants and fellowships. Eligibility criteria, application procedures and requirements, and understanding the selection processes. Identifying bottlenecks such as pre-selection or screening steps. Practical exercise: adapting your application to the selection process and review panel.

Afternoon Session. Introduction to research impact and impact statements. Workshop on writing effective impact statements. Introduction to the narrative CV; practical exercise identifying non-traditional research output and transferable skills. pratical exercise: describing a key research output

HOMEWORK (14h)

Course participants write research project summaries and submit a CV before the course. These documents will provide the basis for the course workshop sessions. After the course, students submit revised versions of these texts to receive individualized feedback on their progress.

Differently to most of our trainings, this is a workshop that is OPEN TO EVERYONE, not only to LS4FUTURE members.

This is your opportunity to advance in your career and obtain 1 ECTS by gaining essential insights in how to write successful fellowship and grant proposals.

Althought the target audience is last year PhD students and postdocs, if you feel this is a course for you, your are welcome to apply.

The maximum number of participants is 25.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Application period: 01-04-2026 to 29-04-2026

Publication of selection results: 04-05-2026 (afternoon)

Claiming period: 04-05-2026 to 15-05-2026

Registration period for those selected: 25-05-2026 to 29-05-2026 (tuition fee is paid at this time, only if you are not from a LS4FUTURE lab and/or didn’t get the PRR fellowship)

Course attendance: 15-06-2026 and 16-06-2026

ADMINISTRATIVE FEES:

Application: 25€ paid by the applicant (if not selected, this fee won’t be reimbursed)

Enrolment: 15€

Tuition: 475€ (only paid after the results of the selection process are published, in the case you are not PRR fellowship elegible or not a LS4FUTURE member) *

* IMPORTANT NOTE: Please apply for PRR fellowship upon application to cover the complete tuition fee (you won’t need to pay upfront to be reinbursed). Those older than 23 years old, with residency in Portugal, and that have not previously benefited from an incentive grant awarded under the PRR ‘Impulso Adultos’ Programme are likely to secure this fellowship. Find the details of the fellowship program for more information here. The eligibility criteria will be checked, and hence documents to demonstrate these criteria must be presented upon application.

* ATTENTION LS4FUTURE MEMBERS: those accepted to the course that cannot benefit from the PRR fellowship program, will have the tuition fee paid by LS4FUTURE if they are members of the Associate Laboratory (no need for upfront payment; no reinbursement required). In case you are not sure if your lab belongs to LS4FUTURE, check Our Labs A to Z site, talk to your supervisor, or contact us at ls4future@ls4future.pt. Please include in your application your affiliation (lab and/or Research Unit of origin) to demonstrate that you belong to LS4FUTURE.

TRAINING PROVIDER

FELLOWSHERPA

Fellowsherpa provides practical courses and workshops that help you reach specific goals based on our years of experience in research, education, publishing, communications, and funding management.

Thiago Carvalho received his Ph.D. at the Gulbenkian Institute of Science (Lisbon, Portugal) in 2003 and postdoctoral training at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, both in immunology. Thiago was Head of Graduate Programs for the Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Graduate Studies Coordinator for the Champalimaud Foundation, and senior scientific editor of the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Thiago writes a column on drug development for Nature Medicine and produces the EMBO podcast.

David del Álamo received his Ph.D. in developmental biology at the Severo Ochoa Center for Molecular Biology in Madrid and postdoctoral training at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and the Pasteur Institute in Paris. David was scientific editor for The EMBO Journal and EMBO reports, managing editor of Review Commons, and the head of the EMBO Fellowship Programme. David obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in 2017. He collaborates as an editorial consultant for The Journal of Cell Biology and Life Science Alliance.

Website

TO APPLY,

CLICK

HERE

(ITQB Portal de Candidaturas)

Hard deadline application:

29 April 2026

Documents required during online application:

Curriculum vitae.
Motivation letter.
Copy of an identification document (including your Portuguese NIF).
Photograph.
Proof of residence in national territory or a valid temporary or permanent residence permit (only required when applying for PRR fellowships).
Those from LS4FUTURE: personal declaration by the candidate, under honour, confirming that they are part of the LS4Future Associated Laboratory (please add: lab and supervisor name, Research Unit and Institution you belong to).

If you have never entered before at the ITQB NOVA Portal de Candidaturas, you first need to register to obtain your credentials. Then click on “Nova Candidatura” (New Application), and choose Cursos de Curta Duração (Short Courses) to select the Grant Writing Workshop.

Please email the ITQB NOVA Academic Services at itqb.academics@itqb.unl.pt if you have trouble during the online application process (9:00-12:30 open doors at ITQB NOVA). In addition, contact the LS4FUTURE Career Development Coordinator at pilar.ramos@ls4future.pt for any doubt or trouble applying to the course.

Read the official announcement and how to apply (Portuguese)

ITQB NOVA workshop link

The Associate Laboratory LS4FUTURE is supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through the funding LA/P/0087/2020 (DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0087/2020).

The Associated Laboratory LS4FUTURE is supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through the funding LA/P/0087/2020.