This online course is run by the Researcher Academy 

Target audience: Anyone involved in writing or supporting complex research grant applications with multiple partners:  

• Researchers who might be involved in writing/supporting proposals either in their own name or on behalf of the Principal Investigator, but also mid/senior academics who might lead or play key roles on complex projects;  

• APM staff involved in supporting complex research grant applications.  

It may be less useful for early career researchers writing more straightforward fellowship proposals, which arguably don't need collaboration tools where there aren't m(any) partners. But it will provide useful insights for their future careers. 

Course Description:

Developing, writing and submitting a competitive research grant application is a significant undertaking, especially for larger and more complex proposals with multiple co-investigators across different institutions.  

The rapid and continuing development of Microsoft Teams and associated applications creates an opportunity to collaborate more efficiently and effectively. We don't have to have multiple versions of documents, and we don't have to send thousands of emails.  

But developments have been so rapid that many people haven't been able to keep up, either in terms of the technology available, or how best to use it, or both. Could we make better use of these tools to save ourselves time and effort, and in doing so, free up more time to develop the proposal and/or have a better work-life balance?   

This session is designed for anyone planning to start a research grant application and would like to learn more about options and opportunities for better collaboration and more efficient working. It's also designed for APM staff who support grant applications. Much of the information will be generalisable to other projects of comparable scale, though the focus of this session is on research grant applications. It will cover: 

• What Teams can offer 

• Using Teams effectively (including with external collaborators) 

• Sharing documents and version control 

• Case studies of success (and unsuccessful) use of collaboration tools in proposal preparation 

• Q&A 

We'd also like to hear what questions you have about collaboration tools, and you can submit your questions as part of the registration process or via email to adam.golberg@nottingham.ac.uk 

The core session (but not the Q&A) will be recorded and made available afterwards. If you can't make the session, please register anyway. We'll email everyone who registers a link to the recording after the session. 

Process: Lecture/demonstration style with interactive Q&A 

How to Book:

This course will take place on 17th March, 2026, at 1.30-2.30pm.

To book your place, please click HERE.

Course Accessibility

The following table shows a summary of what is needed to participate in the course. 

If you feel you will experience any difficulties participating, please let us know via the ‘special requirements’ tab, providing as much information as possible. The special requirements tab can be completed when you book your place. Alternatively, you can contact us directly at ra-training@nottingham.ac.uk.

Access MS Teams
Attend the course at the specified date and time
Follow presentation slides during the course