Madelon Halula, Ph.D.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious

Diseases

June 2012 NIH Regional Seminar Washington, DC

Grant Writing for Success

Grant writing is a learned skill

Grant writing is a full time job

You will need help and advice

The more you learn the better

Points to Remember

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/strategy/Pages/default.aspx

NIH mission: to create fundamental knowledge about living systems and apply that knowledge to reduce human illness and disability.

27 institutes and centers, each with its own research focus or function◦ Find funded projects.

NIH RePORTER Community of Science

Qualify for NIH Funding

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

     

www.nih.gov

Identify NIH Funded Grants

See what Research Projects the NIH or any Institute has funded

Find Potential Collaborators for your Project

Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT)

http://report.nih.gov/index.aspx

A searchable database of federally supported biomedical research

Access reports, data, analyses, expenditures, results of NIH supported research activities

Identify, analyze IC research portfolios, funding patterns, funded investigators:

• Identify areas with many or few funded projects

• Identify NIH-funded investigators and their research

• Identify potential mentors/collaborators

Your Institution Most types of institutions—including universities, small and large businesses, state and local governments, and foreign institutions—qualify for most research grants.

Investigator qualificationsR01 Parent Program Announcement under Eligible Individuals: Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the PD/PI is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.

Special considerations for particular types of grants

Qualify for NIH Funding

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

     

Chose and Design a Project

Chose and Design a Project

Propose research about which you are passionate

and totally committed

Now you just have to explain it ……

Chose and Design a Project• Be ready to apply electronically

• Do a self-assessment

publications and experience

managed comparable efforts

• Find your niche

scientific opportunities, skills,

will you be competitive?

Chose and Design a Project• Be ready to apply electronically

• Do a self-assessment

publications and experience

managed comparable efforts

• Find your niche

scientific opportunities, skills,

will you be competitive?

Chose and Design a Project• Plan a series of research goals for 7-

10 years that address a significant problem

• Draft Specific Aims and hypothesis

• Outline experiments and feasibility

• Decide grant type (R01, R21, etc.), review the requirements and target your application

Chose and Design a Project• Investigators-Initiated vs. Targeted

Research

Program Announcements

Requests for Applications

• Get advice from colleagues, NIH staff, other scientists

NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts

Official publication listing NIH funding opportunities and policy notices◦ Request for Applications (RFA)◦ Program Announcements (PA, PAR,

PAS)◦ Request for Proposals (RFP)◦ Notices (NOT)

Published weekly

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/council/concepts/pages/

default.aspx

Team Science

• Increased expertise and resources brought to the project

• Being independent enough to lead a major award

• Institutional recognition

• Peer review of multidisciplinary project

• Making a team work- communication, communication!

Write Your Application

• Follow application instructions

• When in doubt – ask!

Write Your Application

Write Your Application Research Plan: Know your audience

• Make it easy for reviewers to understand the significance, feasibility

• Understand the likely composition of the review group and scoring

Write Specific Aims• Grab the reader immediately with

significance and rationale• State long-term objectives AND

expected impact• Explicitly state hypotheses and research

question

• List aims in a few sentences each

Write Research Strategy• Remember page limits

• Address issues of significance and innovation

• Show reviewers that your approach is feasible – resources, expertise, alternatives.

• Make it easy to read

Preliminary Studies/Progress Report How previous work -- by you, your

team, and others -- leads to this study Demonstrate your experience,

competence and likelihood of continued success

Must flow logically from literature review and major themes of the problem area

Developing a Strong Research Plan

Approach For clinical studies be explicit and

thorough in discussing ◦ intervention or system to be studied

◦ target population

◦ inclusion and exclusion criteria

◦ independent and dependent variables

◦all measures and instruments

◦power analyses

Write Research StrategyApproach is important

• Background and preliminary data to support the context and importance

• Provide experiments to support each specific aim

• Describe anticipated results and implications

Provide references –

Top Ten Weaknesses• Poorly formatted, typographical errors,

grammatical errors, lack of proofreading, or unappealing presentation.

• Insufficient preliminary data, or preliminary data do not support project's feasibility.

• Overly ambitious

• Lack of significance to the field or public health.

• Lack of investigator expertise or team.

Top Ten Weaknesses• Lack of innovation or new ideas.

• Lack of a strong, original hypothesis and Specific Aims.

• Needed to identify potential pitfalls and alternative approaches.

• Concern about knowledge of the field (didn’t cite relevant papers or account for alternative viewpoints).

• Peer Review group not a good match

Submit Your Application

• Cover Letter

• Prepare to Submit

• Passing Validations

• Assess Application After You Submit

Assignment and Review

Check your application assignments – Institute and Review

Identify Your Program Officer

Identify your Scientific Review Officer

Align with Review Criteria

Scored Criteria Application

Significance Research Strategya. Significance

Investigator(s) Biosketch - Personal Statement

Letters of Support

Innovation Research Strategyb. Innovation

Approach Research Strategyc. Approach

Environment Facilities & Other Resources

SIGNIFICANCE Does this study address an important

problem? If the aims are achieved, how will

scientific knowledge be advanced? What will be the effect on concepts or

methods that drive this field?

Core Review Criterion #1

Core Review Criterion #2

INVESTIGATOR Are the investigators appropriately

trained and well suited to carry out this work?

Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers?

Does the investigative team bring complementary and integrated expertise to the project (if applicable)?

Core Review Criterion #3

INNOVATION Does the project employ novel

concepts, approaches or methods? Are the aims original and innovative? Does the project challenge existing

paradigms or develop new methodologies or technologies?

APPROACH Are the conceptual framework,

design, methods, and analyses adequately developed, well-integrated, and appropriate to the aims of the project?

Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternatives?

Core Review Criterion #4

ENVIRONMENT Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success?

Do the proposed experiments take advantage of unique features of the scientific environment or employ useful collaborative arrangements?

Is there evidence of institutional support?

Core Review Criterion #5

Human subjects Animal care and use Select agents Model organism sharing plan Data sharing plan

Other Review Considerations

Get to the right review group Title, abstract, specific aims all point to the main

goals of your project Attach a cover letter for the Center for Scientific

Review Division of Receipt and Referral ◦suggest IC and review group assignment*◦outline areas of key expertise needed for

appropriate review◦do not name specific reviewers

* Consult with Program Official

Good Review

Understand the dynamics of peer review: Reviewers will review many applications Make your application easy to read and easy

to understand The impact and significance should be clear

throughout the application Convince them to be your advocate

◦ Get them on your side!

Good Review

Good ideas, well presented always win Think clearly Write clearly Be complete but not verbose Never lose sight of the significance Point to the impact Pay attention to details

How to Assure that your Grant Gets Funded?

Funding • Funding Decisions based on merit, program

considerations, available funds

• Understand Paylines and Percentiles

• How NIAID Makes Funding Decisions

• Getting and Managing Your Grant

• Your Notice of Award

If Not Funded

You are in good company

Know your options

Get advice, Regroup

Try again

Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT)

http://report.nih.gov/

A searchable database of federally supported biomedical research

Access reports, data, analyses, expenditures, results of NIH supported research activities

Identify, analyze IC research portfolios, funding patterns, funded investigators:

• Identify areas with many or few funded projects

• Identify NIH-funded investigators and their research

• Identify potential mentors/collaborators

http://report.nih.gov/

NIH staff: We are here to help- Call & email us!!

Searching NIH web sites is a good start … but follow up with personal contact

Contact NIH program staff early Ask what information would help them advise

you about IC interest & “goodness of fit” Are there related FOAs?

Single PI model does not always work well for multi-disciplinary, collaborative research

Recognizes contributions of full team In place for most submissions to Grants.gov Implications for “New Investigator” status A complex issue – Talk to NIH program staff if

you are considering multiple PIs !

Multiple Principal Investigators

grants1.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi

NIH homepage: http://www.nih.gov/

NIAID (or any Institute): http:/niaid/www.niaid .nih.gov/

CSR website: http://www.csr.nih.gov/

Where Do I Get More Information?

Sample Applications and Summary Statements

Additional Supporting Material

More Web Resources

grants1.nih.gov/grants/grant_tips.htm

grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm

http://www3.cancer.gov/admin/gab/links.htm

deainfo.nci.nih.gov/consumer.htm

deainfo.nci.nih.gov/extra/extdocs/gntapp.htm

http://era.nih.gov/

https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/

http://era.nih.gov/virtualschool/

grants2.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2003

grants2.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2003

http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/

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http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm

Enter search

criteria or

Select Advanced

Search

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html

Select the FOA number to open the announcement.

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/parent_announcements.htm

Automated Training Tutorials◦ eRA Commons Registration◦ Completing an Application Package (Grants.gov)◦ Find & Download a Funding Opportunity◦ Check Submission Status & View Assembled

Application (PI & SO versions)

eSubmission

era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/training.htm

Frequently Asked Questions era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/faq.htm

Avoiding Common Errors era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/avoiding_errors.htm

Presentations, Quick Reference Materials, Brochures, Drop-in newsletter articles era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/communication.htm

Training Videos, Videocast Archivesera.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/training.htm

eSubmission