The GCAS recognizes the importance of professional development for all graduate students in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS). We celebrate the broad array of careers that can follow a degree from Case Western Reserve University focused on scholarship and creative endeavors that draw on all forms of inquiry.
The GCAS, along with the CAS Office of the Dean, invites graduate students in the CAS to participate in the second annual GCAS Professional Development Writing Group (PDWG) Learning Community. We envision that every graduate student in the CAS can benefit from grant writing training and experience including, but not limited to those, destined for higher education, industry, non-profit work, and management.
The PDWG Learning Community is intended to benefit all graduate students in the CAS regardless of discipline who are interested in improving their writing skills and developing a competitive grant application. Acquiring the appropriate writing skills for these applications can help you or your future organization secure funding for important and innovative projects, events, and activities.
Three workshops, recorded last year, and available on YouTube, focus on important aspects of successful applications. Topics include: how to find the right funding opportunities, how to write an effective grant proposal or fellowship application, and how these types of applications are typically reviewed.
All full-time CAS graduate students will have the opportunity to write and submit a proposal to the GCAS Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Endeavors (GSSCE) Grants. Students are encouraged to use what they learned and the reviewer feedback to also resubmit their proposal to other internal or external funding sources.
All completed GSSCE proposals will be considered for funding and will be reviewed by a panel of CAS graduate students and faculty with the needed disciplinary knowledge and experience. All students are welcome to attend the workshops regardless if they intend to submit an application during the current grant cycle. Up to ten GCAS GSSCE Grants of $1000 each will be awarded. These awards must be spent by January 31, 2025.
Please see the official Funding Opportunity Announcement document for the full requirements towards submitting a GSSCE Grant. A condensed version of the requirements is listed below.
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Students must meet the following requirements to be eligible for the GSSCE Grants:
The evaluation process and criteria are intentionally broad to incorporate the evaluative processes used in sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. The student and faculty review panel will use five criteria to evaluate proposals:
A score of 1-9 will be assigned for each criterion. In addition, and overall impact score will be recorded based on the five criteria. The overall Impact score will indicate the review panel's assessment of whether the proposed project has the potential to be completed competently, be disseminated widely, move the discipline forward, and result in an enhanced program of study for the graduate student. If appropriate, the five criteria may contribute differently to the overall Impact score based on the student's area of study.
Proposal text should be single-spaced and placed in one PDF document containing all required sections in the order indicated. Please use the stated titles (below) as section headers and include page numbers. Any page(s) exceeding the length limitation will not be considered by the review panel. The font should be Arial 12 point and uncondensed, and margins should be at least 1 inch. Proposals can be uploaded using this Google form.
Grant recipients are required to submit a final report (limit to 1 page) to the GCAS no later than June 30, 2026 (or prior to graduation if that date is earlier) describing the work completed and a detailed outline of how the award was spent. All funds must be spent and submitted to the CAS for reimbursement prior to January 31, 2026.
October 4th - General Funding Opportunity Announcement sent through the GCAS newsletter and sent to all Graduate Program Directors to share with students.
"How to Find Financial Support to Fund Your Good Ideas," a general workshop led by Amy Trostle (CAS Research and Grant Development), Lydia Kisley (CWRU Physics), and Lauren Calandruccio (CWRU Psychological Sciences).
"How to Write a Funded Grant or Fellowship Application," hosted by Gabrielle Parkin (CWRU English, Writing Resource Center) and Meredith Steck (CWRU English).
"Who Decides What is Funded?" hosted by Barbara Lewis (CWRU Psychological Sciences), Daniel Goldmark (CWRU Music), and John Protasiewicz (CWRU Chemistry).
November 8th @ 11:59 PM Eastern - Deadline to submit GCAS GSSCE applications. PLEASE SUBMIT HERE.
November 11 - Grants assigned to reviewers
January 2025 - GCAS GSSCE Award notification / February 1, 2025 - Funds disbursed
January 31, 2026 - All awarded funds spent
June 30, 2026 - Final reports due to the GCAS (or sooner if graduating before the deadline)
All CAS Graduate Students are invited to submit an application for the GCAS GSSCE. It is recommended that interested students view both the writing workshop ("How to Write a Funded Grant or Fellowship Application") and the reviewer workshop ("Who Decides What is Funded?") to better understand the entire process prior to submitting their application. Any questions can be directed to your GCAS President Zachary Milko [Zachary.milko@case.edu].
All CAS graduate students are also invited to request to be a GCAS GSSCE review panelist. Serving as a panelist will help you learn more about the peer review process, improve your understanding on what makes an application successful, and will help prepare you to develop your own applications in the future. Please contact your GCAS Presidents to indicate your interest in serving on the GCAS GSSCE review panel.
