BUILD THE SKILLS NECESSARY TO DEVELOP PROPOSALS THAT CAN GET YOUR WORK FUNDED.

The Research Skills Development Course (RSDC) uses didactic and hands-on training to develop your competency in scientific research skills. Its aim is to help participants design and develop a thoughtful, powerful, and fundable scientific research protocol.

Our comprehensive Research Skills Development Course is an intensive 5-week course offering both synchronous as well as asynchronous learning opportunities, group work, live practicum, and peer review. English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction is provided throughout the entire course.

Launched in 2012, RSDC has been developed by professors, educators, and researchers with specializations and practical experience in Research Design, Research Skills Development, Public Health Proposal and Grant Writing, and Proposal Delivery and Submission. Combined, our staff brings over 50 years of real-world experience to the course.

Course Benefits

Students in the Research Skills Development Course will develop an actual research proposal in an organized way with faculty and English language support, incorporate feedback from peer review, complete it in a template ready to submit to the funder, and present it orally.

Research Skills Development Course promotes hands-on software training for collecting and organizing research literature (e.g., PubMed®, Web-of-Science®, Google Scholar®, EndNote Web®).

Rapid, thorough, and comprehensive skills development comes through online sessions incorporating multi-communication methods to deliver didactic, learn-by-doing instruction.

Course Objectives

By the end of the 5-week training, students will gain the ability to:

  • Identify elements of a research proposal
  • Retrieve scientific evidence from the peer-reviewed literature
  • Evaluate scientific evidence critically
  • Formulate a research question and hypothesis
  • Write a targeted review of the literature to relate research aims to the current state of knowledge
  • Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Distinguish between different study designs in quantitative and qualitative research
  • Determine appropriate methods for data collection in quantitative and qualitative research
  • Identify the principles of ethical research conduct
  • Identify appropriate methods for data management and analysis
  • Develop a budget and timeline for the research study
  • Perform peer review
  • Develop written and oral scientific communication skills
  • Identify potential sources of funding
  • Develop a research proposal