Do You Need Help Developing a Scholarly Writing Habit?
Join a CARTI SWAG!
CARTI SWAGs are online, peer-led, writing groups for UMB faculty members. Each SWAG meets weekly for one hour over seven (7) weeks.
Each SWAG is limited to eight participants and follows a structured agenda:
- 5 minutes of updates and goal setting
- 40 minutes of individual writing
- 15 minutes of wrap-up
Participants MUST commit to attending the majority of scheduled sessions.
CARTI SWAGs are based on WAG Your Work: Bootcamp for Increasing Scholarly Productivity, which focuses on the process of writing, not the content; SWAGs do not involve any review of writing. The concept has helped academics overcome common barriers to scholarly writing, increase writing regularity, decrease writing duration, and develop sustainable writing habits.
Groups will be formed based on these focus areas:
- K/CDA Grant Applications (Q&A opportunities with Marey Shriver, leader of CARTI's K grant writing class) **Open to postdocs and faculty who are actively writing a K/CDA application.
- R01 Grant Applications (or equivalent) (Q&A opportunities with Christy Chang, leader of CARTI's R01 grant writing class) *open to faculty only
- Manuscripts & Other Non-Grant Writing Projects *open to faculty only
Summer 2026:
Groups will meet via Zoom once a week for 1 hour starting the week of June 29 - August 14, 2026 (7 weeks).
To participate in Summer 2026, sign up by completing the form below by June 22, 2026.
Meeting dates/times will be arranged based on the availability submitted by faculty in their sign-up forms.
Contact Stacie Mendoza with any questions.
Testimonials
“The encouragement and camaraderie from my peers has helped me be a more productive researcher.“
Wendy G. Lane, MD, MPH
“SWAG is an amazing program that keeps you motivated and helps you become a more self-disciplined writer!”
Yan Wang, BM, DrPH
“SWAG has been an amazing motivator. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive. I just can’t say enough good things about this program ...”
Samer S. El-Kamary, MB, ChB, MPH
“My group has been very supportive, especially in the weeks when it’s just not going well with the writing, and the weekly meetings have helped me regain focus on what needs to be written.”
Katharina Richard, PhD