I found this to be a very helpful session because it provided some much needed reflection time in addition to there being a practical and productive exercise for us to work through. Magdalena was thoughtful and engaging in her delivery and I felt like I was in very knowledgeable hands! – LCG Attendee
My daughter and I found Magdalena Bak Meier’s work through her TEDx St Andrews. We found her short presentation both delightful and informative. She shared her own story of how learning who we really are, and what motivates us, helps us reach our goals made us laugh. Her neuroscience research, informed by positive psychology and Carl Rogers, also cheered us up immediately. Six months later, I started to take her workshops, in this order: ‘Goal Getter’, ’14-day Habit Bootcamp’ and ‘Introduction to The Grid’, all of which I employed to help me recover from a chronic health condition while also completing an MLitt in Creative Writing. Though I received a distinction for my work, recovering my health proved much more complicated and so learning how to support myself while the external mechanisms slowly put a medical diagnostic picture together proved been essential. An indirect benefit in supporting my daughter also became apparent as time went on: she was in Sixth Form and choosing her next steps for study and career. Using the Goal-getter model, in particular, allowed me to give her complete freedom to do things in her own way yet offer guidance, in the light of what I was learning, if and when she asked for help. She graduated with straight A’s and is now studying architecture. Trusting the implicit process seeking to unfold within ourselves, and others, is easier when we have a model.
First, you get to know and talk to one of the most respected coaches in the neuroscience space in the world – Dr. Magdalena Bak-Maier. She designed all the coaching materials and you get them to support your practice. The biggest value to me was practicing with fellow coaches; I am now part of the Grid Coach community. I’m Polish, and living in Poland as an expat. Here, people tend to perceive you based on your education and not on your humanity. Equality, meeting people where they are, and respecting their journey matter to me. We are all equal, and the difference lies in self-awareness which I aim to increase in my clients.
“Magdalena has really helped me focus my pitch, and on how to really explain well to a wider audience the bigger picture of my research vision. It was really useful and targeted support.”
With Gen Z barely able to keep up with the race to good grades and a job, the Grid Method is what 2024 needs. Thank you for an excellent workshop with fun and information that was practical and interesting.
I must say that this course exceeded my expectations. Since day one, I got the feeling that this would be a game-changer in terms of scientific writing. I am not talking about scientific writing itself, but rather the way ideas can be presented to be better understood by different audiences, even among fellow scientists.
Regarding the impact this had on my work, after two days, I understood how my project could be massively improved. Just the fact that I had to pitch it to other people, with different training and from different science fields, was enough to make me see that the proposal was not clear enough.
Also, the 1:1 time with Magdalena taught me so much about writing a grant proposal. I was flabbergasted.
It was a great experience and one I am going to recommend to all my colleagues.
Pedro. P – University Of Lisbon
I really enjoyed this course, for multiple reasons. Firstly, Magdalena is extremely talented to support and provide skills and tools to turn us into better researchers, and Emma really contributed to the organization of all the course activities. They are a very good team. Secondly, meeting other researchers from different areas and in different career stages was very useful, as they could see our projects from a valuable perspective and they really contributed to the improvement of the ideas. Thirdly, the documents provided in terms of tips, drills and checklists can be adapted to other types of calls or scientific publications, which increases the value and application of the course. I recommend the course for researchers, students and professors.
Carmen. B – University of Lisbon
This course impacted my writing in two concrete ways: First, it made me aware of frequent mistakes I make in my writing (e.g. overwhelming sentences) and gave me tools to correct this.
Second, it increased my critical spirit, detecting major weaknesses in my proposal. Most importantly, it helped me work around these by shifting emphasises and complementing ideas.
Now, I’m applying for an ERC Starting Grant. I feel this course has already significantly improved my application.
Emanuel.G University Of Lisbon
The course really changed the way I understand the writing process. The idea of architecting first has really simplified, clarified, and improved my writing.
Fernando. R – University Of Lisbon
The course has helped me to better structure my ideas and put them on paper in a clear and concise way. I’m also more confident about the project writing process, as I have a diverse range of resources in my grant writing toolkit to make it successful.
Pedro. M – University Of Lisbon