Back from Brazil

Greetings once more. I’m glad to be writing to you again.

I’m back from the South–South Initiative (SSI) workshop in Foz do Iguaçu (Iguassu Falls), Brazil. The workshop was excellent.

The workshop was for pairs (or small groups) of researchers who were working on research proposals. Members of each pair or group came from different developing countries.

Some 16 researchers—from Africa, Asia, and South America—attended. They had submitted high-quality letters of intent (preliminary proposals) and so had been invited.

There also were 8 facilitators, most of whom were very experienced reviewers of grant proposals.

 The workshop structure was as follows:

• After the introductory remarks, a member of each team gave a presentation summarizing its letter of intent.
• The next morning, facilitators gave presentations on proposal writing and related topics. 
• The rest of that day and much of the next day, each pair or small group worked on its proposal. The facilitators circulated to the groups to answer questions and provide guidance.
• Finally, each group presented its updated proposal. Clearly the groups had made much progress.

The presentation on proposal writing is now in the AuthorAID Resource Library. I thank scientist Philip LoVerde, who gave the presentation, for permission to post it.

Also added to Resource Library is a brief presentation I gave on scientific writing. Feel free to share this presentation.

After the workshop, most of us visited the beautiful waterfalls nearby. Sometime soon, I hope to show you a photo of the waterfalls.

Wishing you a good week—

Barbara