Facilitating a Collaborative Grant Sprint: Tips for Researchers – May 11, 2022

Featuring Guest Presenter: Ann Verhey-Henke, MDiv, Strategic Director of the Center for Socially Engaged Design (C-SED), University of Michigan

In 2016, a team of designers collaborated with faculty to create the first ever Grant Sprint™ to create a more creative and collaborative approach to grant ideation and writing. This process, rooted in the principles of design and design practice, sought to infuse research ideation with an innovation and impact mindset.  Grant Sprint™’s are a designed and facilitated experience that catalyzes teams using the power of divergent and convergent thinking, to uncover new innovative ideas and approaches to their work, to achieve a shared vision, and uncover opportunities to address societal challenges.  

Since its first pilot, our method has evolved into a process that supports faculty from the earliest stage of ideation and partnership building to the path toward broader impact and public engagement. We are re-imaging how these tools can influence, create value and support the research development community and are excited to share our process and learnings with the University of Toronto Community. 

This session will introduce the sprint method and approach by using both general and specific examples of how the tools of design facilitation can be used to redesign the research process for faculty and their teams at all the stages of their journey.  

This workshop is the fifth session in the CRIS Facilitation for Researchers 101 series.