This course consists of a series of seminars focused on the development of professional skills. Each semester focuses on a different topic, resulting in a repeating cycle that covers medical ethics, responsible conduct of research, written and oral technical communication, and translational issues. Material and activities include guest lectures, case studies, interactive small group discussions, and role-playing simulations.

This handbook is presented to you by the Office of Scholarship and Sponsored Projects in FHSU. It covers the topics on developing a budget for grant proposal writing, the types of costs, budget justification, and FHSU procedures for proposal submittal.

To prepare for this project, students develop hands-on research skills throughout the course of the semester. A variety of class activities emphasize how to pose research questions, develop hypotheses, determine materials and methods, and understand how fossil data are used to answer a variety of research questions. Class discussions of primary literature emphasize how to track down, synthesize, and evaluate primary literature. Case studies presented in lecture illustrate how to tackle research questions in paleontology. For this project, students apply all of these skills to tackle a topic they find interesting in paleontology. Intermediate deadlines are established to help students develop a research question, write up a rough draft, and revise it in detail. Student progress is also tracked via updates to their peers in the classroom. The written grant proposals must range in length from between 10-12 pages (NOT including the references cited or figures and tables sections) and are double-spaced, 12 pt font, with 1" margins. The rough drafts of the proposals are worth 5% and the final versions are worth 15% of the students' total grade.

This course is designed to provide graduate students and postdoctoral associates with techniques that enhance both validity and responsible conduct in scientific practice. Lectures present practical steps for developing skills in scientific research and are combined with discussion of cases. The course covers study design, preparation of proposals and manuscripts, peer review, authorship, use of humans and non-human animals in research, allegations of misconduct, and intellectual property. Also discussed are mentoring relationships and career options. Aspects of responsible research conduct are integrated into lectures and case discussion as appropriate to the specific topic. This course also satisfies the training grant requirements of the NIH for education in the responsible conduct of research.
Beginning in Spring 2004, this course will be titled "Survival Skills for Researchers: The Responsible Conduct of Research."