On September 18, AlmaU held the first training session of a new series on preparing applications for grant funding competitions, “From Idea to Project.”
The series was organized by the AlmaU Department of Science and Commercialization. The project aims to create a practical environment within the university where researchers can systematically explore all stages of preparing a competitive research proposal – from developing an initial idea and selecting a suitable competition to preparing a budget and submitting the project.
A total of 27 participants registered for the training, including AlmaU faculty members, researchers, doctoral students, and staff interested in developing their own research projects.
The event was opened by Darkhan Yesseuly Yerezhep, PhD, Associate Professor, Director of the AlmaU Department of Science and Commercialization. In his opening remarks, he emphasized the importance of systematic support for university researchers in preparing grant applications and noted that the new training series is primarily focused on practical work with future research projects.
The first training session, titled “How to Turn a Research Idea into a Strong Proposal,” was delivered by Zhansaya Serikovna Temerbulatova, PhD, Research Professor, School of Digital Technologies and Economics.
During the session, participants explored current grant funding competition formats, including GF, KMU, and “Zhas Galym,” requirements for principal investigators and research teams, as well as the main stages of the application review process: formal screening, scientific and economic evaluation, and consideration by the National Scientific Council.
Particular attention was paid to the logic of a strong proposal. Participants examined how to connect the research problem, research gap, objective, methodology, expected outcomes, and required resources into a coherent cause-and-effect framework. One of the key principles of the training was that all sections of a proposal should contribute to a single outcome and be clear to an expert from the very first reading.
The practical part covered almost the entire project development cycle:
• formulating the research topic, objectives, and tasks;
• substantiating scientific novelty and significance;
• selecting research methods;
• forming the research team;
• describing the research environment and partnerships;
• addressing ethics and intellectual property;
• developing a timeline and budget;
• defining expected outcomes and preparing a bibliography.
The session also addressed common mistakes that can lead to promising projects receiving low expert evaluations or failing to pass formal screening.
Participants were also introduced to a 30-day algorithm for preparing a grant application – from checking eligibility and developing a research idea profile to internal expert review and final synchronization of the application, language versions, and attachments in the AIS system.
The new training series is distinguished by its practical, hands-on format: participants not only become familiar with competition requirements but also learn step by step how to transform a research idea into a structured project in which objectives, tasks, methods, team, outcomes, and budget form a coherent logic.
The first training session marked the launch of the “From Idea to Project” series. Going forward, the AlmaU Department of Science and Commercialization plans to continue the series with sessions focused on specific stages of research project development, working with competition documentation, improving the quality of applications, and preparing researchers to participate in national and international grant funding competitions.
The series is aimed at strengthening AlmaU’s research culture and creating conditions for the promising research ideas of faculty members, researchers, and young scholars to be systematically transformed into well-prepared, high-quality projects.