GRANT WRITING COURSE. 30 April 2010 Keith Miller

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1 GRANT WRITING COURSE 30 April 2010 Keith Miller 1

2 Take one good idea Read the instructions Start writing months before the deadline Remember, Partners deadline is earlier than NIH's! Talk to colleagues, get critiques Look at the odds and write sufficient grants Longer odds = write more grants! 2

3 Find the Instructions click here 3

4 Find the Instructions I recommend the pdf, it has hypertext and better searching 4

5 The Instructions pdf File 260 pages long! The old long form only took 223 pages! Mercifully, the usual government disclaimer "This will take 10 minutes to read" is missing Find page I-26 its a good jump off place All you need to paste on the wall while you are writing the science is pages I

6 Page Limits they mean it! Font size & margins are defined (page I-28 & I-107) Click here in the pdf file and you will jump to page I-109 6

7 From the Instructions for SF424 (R&R) page I-109! 1 page only Yes, Mom 7

8 Specific Aims State concisely the goals Summarize the expected outcome(s) The impact on the research field(s) List succinctly the specific objectives For example Test a stated hypothesis Create a novel design Solve a specific problem Challenge an existing paradigm Address a critical barrier to progress Develop a new technology Write about both Choose one! Be realistic about how much you can get done 2 Specific Aims is enough 8

9 Specific Aims Study Section does not like fishing expeditions!! They don't know what you will do if you don't catch anything If you need to fish, have a hypothesis To test the hypothesis that there is a trout in the lake! And a strategy Where will you fish first What bait will you use But usually you will have done the fishing before you start! 9

10 Relating Specific Aims to Significance State concisely the importance and health relevance of the research Relate the specific aims to the broad, long-term objectives If successful, how will scientific knowledge or clinical practice be advanced Remember new scientific knowledge should pave the way for future clinical advances What effect will your studies have on the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services or preventative interventions that drive this field. 10

11 Specific Aims First, get the Specific Aims section sorted out The first sentence of your Specific Aims starts, "The broad, long term objective of this proposal is..." Then, deconstruct the Instructions So you can tell them what they want to hear in the order they expect to hear it... 11

12 Research Strategy Significance (3.a) 12 pages They really, really want you to follow the headings! 12

13 Research Strategy Significance (3.a) The most common mistake is to underweight Significance It always seems so obvious that my brilliant idea is Significant Besides, I need the space for all this great science 13

14 Research Strategy Significance (3.a) Remember that NIH doesn't fund science NIH funds health research How will your grant benefit the tax payer? 14

15 Research Strategy Significance (3.a) How will the success of your project move the field forward? Will it change the paradigm, the way people think about the field? Will it remove a road block? How will your project improve: Scientific knowledge? Technical capability? Clinical practice? How will the success of your project change some of the following in the field: concepts methods technologies treatments services preventative interventions? 15

16 Research Strategy Innovation (3.b) How does your project seek to change current research or clinical practice?are there: Novel theoretical concepts? New methodologies or approaches? New instrumentation? Whatever your answer above, Explain in more detail 16

17 This is where you can use your preliminary data. This part is the old Sections C & D combined. Writing the Grant Research Strategy Approach (3.c) Heading 1: The overall strategy of this project is... Get the big picture across clearly before the reviewer gets lost in the detail! Describe experimental approaches in a general way (details come later) Why did you chose them? What is their advantage? They will include the game plan, the experimental system, agents, etc. Heading 2 & 3... : Restate your first specific aim Repeat for each Explain in more detail the tactics to be used What will you measure and how? specific aim How will you analyze the data? How will you interpret the data to achieve the stated aim What will you do if: The approach does not work You get the wrong answer (the one you did not expect!) 17

18 Research Strategy Approach (3.c) What will you do if: The approach does not work You get the wrong answer (the one you did not expect!) Think hard about this: Should you get more data before you submit? To reduce the probability of this happening Where will a negative result lead the project? Alternative strategies... The reviewers want to know how you will spend the taxpayers money if you get stuck at the end of year 1 or 2: So describe briefly where you would go next and why... 18

19 The K08 Mentored Research Grant This is a transition grant for physician researchers From Trainee > K08 > R01 Year 1 you are a mentored researcher Year 5 you will be an independent researcher Grant writing tips Read the instruction, etc (i.e. all of the above) The grant is about The research project Your career development 19

20 The K08 Mentored Research Grant continued.. The most common reason for good applications to fail is the mentors letter. What must be in this letter There must be a plan to move you from being a post-doc to being a colleague of your mentor. Mentors without K08 experience may need help!!!!!! Chairman/chairwoman's letter This needs to address the independence issue Time protected from clinical practice (75% effort to research) Research space 20

21 The K08 Mentored Research Grant Mentor's Letter I have a long track record of commitment to mentoring the careers of physician scientists The physician scientists mentored in my own laboratory have gone on to careers in academic anesthesiology These include one who became Chairman at a major medical school Another from Germany who is Research Director in his department 21

22 The K08 Mentored Research Grant Chair's Letter In our Department at the MGH, it is policy to actively promote and support the development of new researchers. Training and retaining new talent is a the top priority Many of our young faculty have obtained their own K08 awards (7 faculty members currently), Some of these now have their own R01 support. Another critical factor... is the protection of researchers non clinical time. 22

23 Study Section Who is going to read your Proposal? Rule #1 of writing. Help the reader. You get 2 3 reviewers The 3 reviewers give scores, a range The other members of the committee vote within that range usually 23

24 Study Section Who is going to read your Proposal? Continued Rule #2 of writing. Targeting the reader. For the 3 reviewers, if you can guess roughly who they might be What is their field, where are they coming from? What aspect of your grant will they know least/most about If they are in your proposal's field, did you cite them? For the rest of the committee If there is a large range of recommended scores you need their vote!!! Have you made enough contact with them that they will vote with the most enthusiastic reviewer? If they don't understand your proposal, they will vote a lower or an average priority out of ignorance 24

25 Getting Help I have not used all of these but you can read the online reviews 25

26 bucks! 26 Recommended Dr. Reif Lehrer was a practicing scientist She funded her research She sat on Study Section Although the book is dated for the technical details (last revision 1995), There is no better single source on how to write an NIH grant and how to keep your morale up while doing it! Still available online for a few

27 Recommended Dr. Yang is also a practicing scientist He has funded his research He has sat on Study Section Compared to Reif-Lehrer: Newer (2005) The pocket guide! 88 vs. 351 pages Available online for ~$20 30 What we need is a new edition in 2010!! 27

28 New! Can be purchased on the web I have no personal knowledge of it Probably worth a look Authored by a group of professional grant writers 28

29 Questions? Please put Grant Writing Course in the title of your 29

Details of Application Changes

Details of Application Changes September 16, 2009 Introduction One of the priorities of the NIH Enhancing Peer Review initiative is to Improve the Quality and Transparency of Review. One of the goals associated