Grant Writing Essentials EXPECTATIONS OF GRANTING AGENCIES AND REVIEWERS At the NIH TITLE SUBMISSION AND REVIEW The NIH R01 Review ProcessGrant Writing Essentials Deborah Ann McClellan, Ph.D. Research Associate Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences and Division of Biomedical Information Sciences Welch Medical Library Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineLONG-TERM STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL GRANT WRITING 1. Take the long view (look ahead) 2. Find someone who will share copies of successful grants 3. Investigate appropriate sources of funding (governmental agencies, foundations, Hopkins) 4. Stay informed about the grants scene (through grant administrators, colleagues, Internet) 5. Find an appropriate study section 6. Ask for feedback 7. Keep a grants notebook 8. Don’t be afraid to ask for help 9. Start early!!! Expect delays! EXPECTATIONS OF GRANTING AGENCIES AND REVIEWERS What the Granting Agency Will Ask About Your Grant: $ Does it match the agency’s mission and priorities? $ Is it interesting/innovative? $ Is the design well conceived and described? $ Is it based on previous work? Is it feasible? $ Are the applicants qualified to carry out the research? $ Is the institution supportive? Questions You Need to Answer in Your Grant: $ What problem have you identified? How does it match the funding agency’s interests? $ What is the current status of the field, and what gap(s) are you proposing to fill? $ What will you do to fill those gaps? $ What have you already done to demonstrate the feasibility of your approach? $ Where will the work be done, and by whom? 2USEFUL WEB PAGES At Johns Hopkins www.welch.jhu.edu Welch Library homepage www.welch.jhu.edu/publish/grant.html Useful grant resources jhuresearch.jhu.edu/ JHU Research Projects Administration www.hopkinsmedicine.org/research/ora Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Research Administration www.jhsph.edu/ora/ SPH Research Administration www.son.jhmi.edu/research/cnr/ SON Center for Nursing Research At the NIH grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm Office of Extramural Research homepage grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html Funding opportunities--general cms.csr.nih.gov/ResourcesforApplicants/Policy/ProcedureReview The peer review process +Guidelines/OverviewofPeerReviewProcess.htm (includes mock study section video) csr.nih.gov/Roster_proto/sectionI.asp CSR Study Section Descriptions csr.nih.gov/Committees/rosterindex.asp CSR Study Section Roster Index era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/applying.htm Electronic submission of applications niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/default.htm NIAID “All About Grants” page niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/app/default.htm NIAID sample R01 grant 3PARTS OF THE RESEARCH PLAN for NIH R01 Grants (Page limit: 25 pages for sections a - d) a. SPECIFIC AIMS: What do you intend to do? (1 page recommended) 1. State your broad, long-term objective(s) (1-2) -to develop safe and effective vaccines against schistosomiasis -to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which retroviruses exert an immunosuppressive effect on their hosts -to design effective home-based intervention programs for elderly Korean Americans 2. Briefly identify health-relatedness, rationale for proposed study, overall approach, hypothesis(es) to be tested (2-3 sentences) 3. State each specific aim (“to do” list; what you will do to test hypothesis) -optimal number is 3-5 aims -must be measurable -use active verbs (“to compare,” “to measure,” “to recruit”) SPECIFIC AIM 1. To design and synthesize 1-N-oxide iminosugar inhibitors of glycosidases SPECIFIC AIM 2. To evaluate in vitro the inhibitory potential of the glycosidase inhibitor candidates SPECIFIC AIM 3. To examine the effect of selected inhibitors on metastasis in a mouse model of lung carcinoma 4. For each specific aim, briefly outline the approach to be used to achieve that aim 5. Conclude with a statement of potential usefulness/importance of findings (optional) 4b. BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE: Why is the work important? (2-3 pages recommended) Background: 1. Critically evaluate existing knowledge 2. Identify gaps in knowledge -be objective -state the questions that remain to be answered 3. Show how your proposed studies will fill the gaps -relate your proposed experiments to specific aims -establish theoretical framework for your proposed studies Significance: 1. Summarize potential importance, implications of your study (How will your research increase our ability to diagnose/manage/prevent disease? Increase our understanding of a disease or disease-related biologic process?) 2. Avoid citing well-known statistics on incidence, economic impact of common disorders 3. Consider a separate heading for this sub-section c. PRELIMINARY STUDIES/PROGRESS REPORT: What have you already done? (6-8 pages recommended) 1. Show pertinent preliminary findings (can be unpublished) -provide data to support hypothesis -establish experience and competence of PI -show studies are feasible -relate findings to specific aims 2. Use tables and figures to showcase data 3. If new applicant, discuss relevant training -include work from other fields that indicates experience with proposed techniques -differentiate yourself from your mentor 4. List your relevant publications (required for progress report) -papers submitted or accepted for publication (not abstracts, talks) -optimum: >1 paper with PI as first author -for progress report, not counted toward page limit 5d. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: How will you do the work? (remainder of 25 pages allowed) 1. Discuss overall design and specific methods to accomplish aims 2. Consider introductory paragraph to summarize research goal, gaps to be filled, underlying hypotheses, overall approach 3. Use specific aims as outline for section -restate each specific aim (same wording as Specific Aims) -summarize approach to carry out aim -provide rationale for approach 4. For each aim, describe specific experiments/interventions/protocols -include setting, subjects, variables, interventions, measures, analytic methods -be explicit in describing controls,