Thursday, March 20, 2025 - With good quality comes optimal results. To improve the quality of proposal writing as well as increase the chances of receiving DIKTI grants, the Research and Community Service Institute of Dian Nusantara University (LRPM UNDIRA) has once again organized the DIKTI 2025 Grant Coaching Clinic program. This Coaching Clinic, held on Thursday, March 20, 2025, is a follow-up meeting from the previous session successfully conducted in February 2025.

This session of the Coaching Clinic was held in the Auditorium on the 6th floor of Dian Nusantara University, Tanjung Duren Campus, West Jakarta. Two expert speakers, who are also lecturers at Trisakti University, attended the event: Dr. Winnie Septiani S.T., M.Si., IPM., and Dr. Maria I. Ririk Winandari S.T., M.T., to share tips and tricks on proposal writing techniques with UNDIRA’s permanent lecturers.

The Vice Rector I of Dian Nusantara University, Mr. Ir. Margono Sugeng, M.Sc., mentioned in the opening segment of the event that he hopes this Coaching Clinic will facilitate the drafting of proposals in both the research and community service (PkM) fields.

The Coaching Clinic event is part of UNDIRA's strategic efforts to realize its envisioned goal of becoming a trustworthy and professional university with a global perspective, meeting the needs of industry and entrepreneurship based on science and technology by 2030. He further stated that to achieve this vision, research and PkM are two main pillars in realizing UNDIRA's vision and mission while enhancing the capabilities of lecturers to produce innovative research that benefits society.

Following the opening remarks, Dr. Winnie Septiani S.T., M.Si., IPM., who had reviewed the research grant proposals submitted by lecturers, stated that there are several aspects that need attention, such as submission errors, formatting issues, and incorrect language usage. She emphasized that writing research proposals requires patience and a step-by-step process.

“Writing is like filtering, ladies and gentlemen; it cannot be smooth in just one go. You need to adjust to the template. Compliance with the template is an absolute rule that must be adhered to,” said Dr. Winnie Septiani.

She also highlighted that in producing quality research writing, lecturers need to reference prior research, especially from studies that successfully passed the selection stage. This is essential to save time in writing proposals, particularly for lecturers who cover multimodal discussions (encompassing multiple fields of research).

However, there are some aspects that could reduce the eligibility of research submissions, such as the absence of target research scheme indicators and the lack of detailed research procedures.

For the implementation of PkM activities, in order to streamline the proposal writing and the execution of PkM activities, it is better for lecturers to establish communication with PkM partners involved. This communication ensures that the proposal scheme aligns with the initial targets, affecting the determination of partners, budget, targeted locations, and the expected outcomes of activities for the surrounding community.

Additionally, administrative requirements must be met and understood by the groups so that the submitted proposals can pass the review stage. The proposals must follow the provided writing format, align with the approved research scheme, include substantial topics as research and PkM problems, and present the track records of the team leader and all members.

It is hoped that with this second and final session of the Coaching Clinic, UNDIRA’s lecturers are well-prepared to maximize the output of their research and PkM effectively.