What Is A Strong Grant Application? Simple steps to a successful grant application

1. What Is A Strong Grant Application? Simple steps to a successful grant application HU-UTEP 5th ANNUAL INSTITUTE on POSTDOCTORAL PREPARATION Michael A. Sesma, Ph.D. National Institute of Mental Health Office For Special Populations

2. What Research does NIH support? • NIH conducts and supports basic, applied, and clinical and health services research to understand the processes underlying human health and to acquire new knowledge to help prevent, diagnose, and treat human diseases and disabilities. • 24 NIH Institutes/Centers support research in a wide range of institutions

3. What Research does NIH support? • Meritorious projects that address research priorities and mission of an Institute/Center • Most research grants are investigator initiated projects • A variety of mechanisms support large and small scale projects • Training that supports the NIH research effort

4. What Research does NIH support? • CRISP: a public, searchable database with titles, abstracts, and institutional information about individual NIH supported grants. • WWW.NIH.GOV (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects)

5. Identify the appropriate NIH Grant Mechanism • Match where you are in your career • Pre-doc, Post-doc, New faculty member • Match the type of research • e.g. basic, risk and protective factors, pilot data, intervention development, secondary analyses, treatment, efficacy/effectiveness • Match what funds are needed • e.g how much $$, over how many years

6. Be careful where you start Step 1: Identify a mentor(s) • with a track record • with a commitment to you & your career goals • need not be your research advisor • more than one is OK!

7. Don’t be impulsive • Step 2: Plan ahead • Grant writing takes time…probably more time than you expect • Bounce ideas off mentors & colleagues • Talk to NIH program staff • Decide on your target deadline • Get organized • Talk to NIH program staff

8. Know the answers to these questions • Step 2.1: Plan ahead • What do you intend to do? • Why is the work important? • What has already been done? • How are you going to do the work?

9. There are standards Step 3: Don’t be cute…make the reviewers’ job easier • Use the correct forms (PHS398, PHS416, 424 R&R) • Follow the instructions • Use the recommended format • Fill the forms out completely • Follow the instructions • Don’t guess—ask questions, e.g., NIH contacts • Follow the instructions

10. Harness your passion • Step 4: Be creative but pragmatic… • Formulate your Specific Aims • Seek feedback (remember planning) • Focused? • Feasible? • Realistic (what can you actually get done)? • Good training vehicle for you? • Every aim and experiment must be clearly related to the overall goal of your proposal.

11. What’s really being evaluated? Step 5: It’s about you AND your idea • The candidate • Research plan • Training/career development plan • The sponsor • The institutional environment

12. How does the Reviewer Review? Step 6: Consider the review criteria (F) • Candidate : your background and potential to develop into an independent researcher • Sponsor/Mentor and Training Environment: mentor research and mentoring track record; quality of resources and commitment to training/career development of the candidate • Research Training Proposal: scientific merit, significance, feasibility & relationship to career plans • Training Potential: value of this experience in context of candidate’spreparation

13. How does the Reviewer Review? Step 6.1: Consider the review criteria (R type) • Significance: Does the study address an important problem? • Approach: Are conceptual framework, design, methods, analyses, problems and alternatives appropriate? • Innovation: Is the project original and innovative? • Investigators: Does team have appropriate training, experience, suitability for project? • Environment: unique features, collaborations, institutional support

14. Be Convincing! • Step 7: Demonstrate mastery of your research topic • Explicitly state your rationale. • Cite the appropriate literature thoroughly. • Include preliminary data. • Identify problematic aspects of hypotheses or techniques; indicate back-up strategies. • Provide expected/alternative outcomes and interpretations. • Don’t forget your training/career development plan!

15. Can You help the Reviewer? Step 8: Help the reviewers do their jobs • Use a “reviewer-friendly” format. • Present the proposal in “bite-sized bits.” Use section headings, bold type, etc. to enhance readability. • Be concise! • Walk the reader through the experiments. Don’t just present a list of methods. • Include an explicit timeline.

16. The application is you on paper Step 9: Don’t assume…don’t be sloppy • Don’t assume the reviewers will know what you mean…spell it out for them. • Attend to your grammar. Avoid jargon. • Make sure you’ve completed all required sections in the indicated order. • Get in-house critiques well in advance of the deadline. (planning) • Use headings, captions, legends, figures with care • Spell Check and Read your application carefully before submitting.

17. What is in your control? Step 10: Common problems to avoid • Lack of new or original ideas • Absence of an acceptable scientific rationale • Lack of knowledge of relevant, published work • Overly ambitious (unrealistic) research plan • Superficial or unfocused research plan • Questionable reasoning in experimental approach (feasibility) • Lack of experience with an essential methodology (feasibility) • Insufficient experimental detail • Quality of presentation

18. What makes a winner? Step 11: A strong research application… • Has well-defined Specific Aims. • Proposes novel, interesting & focused hypothesis-driven experiments. • Promises to advance knowledge. • Provides supporting Preliminary Data. • Has an appropriately detailed Experimental Design. • Documents appropriate scientific expertise. • Has a reasonable & justified budget. • Training applications need other strengths too. • Addresses the agency priorities and mission

19. Even the best laid plans…… Step 12: If you need to revise • Remember that the review is not a judgment of you personally, only of your application. • Read/Study the review carefully and discuss it with the program official. • Get help in revising. • Be polite in responding to criticism • Be responsive to all of the reviewers’ criticisms. • Put all ego aside. If in doubt, do it their way.

20. Let’s Review Step 13: Don’t make the process more difficult than it is. • Plan carefully, follow directions • Be Realistic • Ask for Help and Advice • Convey your passion for your science • Ask for Help and Advice • This is supposed to be fun • Let us know when you succeed

21. www.nih.govwww.nimh.nih.govMichael A. Sesma, Ph.D.msesma@mail.nih.gov