By Charis Cook, GARNet.

Last week I attended the Institute's workshop for e-Infrastructure trainers. I’m sure Simon and the rest of the team will keep you up to date. This post is about something interesting that came up that isn’t related to training in computing or working with data: Technical writers are a suggested expenditure in Pathways to Impact in RCUK grant proposals.

The Checklist for Completing the Impact Summary and Pathways to Impact (see also this RCUK webpage) lists this as an option:

And the Impact Requirements FAQ states that:

Science outreach, informing public policy or legislation, case studies and skills transfer are all allowed in Pathways to Impact – so long as they are directly related to the proposed research and beyond expected academic output, like publishing papers and going to conferences (see the links above for more details). So scientists and engineers might use technical writers for:

• Writing a user interface and training materials for an online resource to be developed during the project
• Writing a manual for an expected new lab protocol that will come out of the project
• Writing outreach material designed around your research, for example a website pitched at non-experts or a teaching resource
• Knowledge transfer to user communities, for example writing a policy briefing or an article for a specialist publication
• Writing case studies, from the planning stages through to interviewing people and writing the report (Institute's case studies are a prime example of this)

Have you ever worked with a technical writer on an RCUK-funded project? If so, did you find the panel supportive of your proposal and how was your experience of working with the writer? If not – would you consider writing one into your next grant? Comment below, or get in touch.