1. NIH Fellowships Overview
Kristen A. Keefe, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. of Pharmacology & Toxicology
College of Pharmacy

2. Objectives: Attendees will be able to:
discuss the funding focus of the NIH in terms of areas, quality, and uniqueness
use NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts and NIH Reporter to assess areas of research priorities and uniqueness of a research areas
identify grant mechanisms appropriate for different career stages
identify the parts of the grant submission cycles and general timing of the cycles
identify the major sections of an “F” application and state the importance of each section to addressing the overall purpose of the NIH Fellowship
describe basic characteristics of effective technical writing

3. funding focus of the NIH: areas, Quality, uniqueness
“NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.”
foster fundamental creative discoveries, innovative research strategies, and their applications as a basis for ultimately protecting and improving health;
develop, maintain, and renew scientific human and physical resources that will ensure the Nation's capability to prevent disease;
expand the knowledge base in medical and associated sciences in order to enhance the Nation's economic well-being and ensure a continued high return on the public investment in research; and
exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science.
Projects of High Scientific Caliber
NIH looks for grant proposals of high scientific caliber that are relevant to public health needs and are within NIH Institute and Center (IC) priorities
Projects That Are Unique
You can search all NIH-funded research to be sure your work is unique.

4. NIH REPORT (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools)
NIH Reporter lets you search currently or historically funded research
Activity searching for NIH funded research and going through what one learns on NIH Reporter.

5. What Grant Mechanism Is Appropriate for my Career Stage?

6. Once You Know What KIND of Application to Submit, When Do you Submit it?
NIH “How to Apply – Application Guide”

7. How to Write an “F” award
Remember the Guide!

8. Parts of the “F” Application
Fellowship Applicant Section
Applicant's background and goals for fellowship training (6 pages)
a. Doctoral Dissertation and Research Experience
“Briefly summarize your past research experience, results, and conclusions, and describe how that experience relates to the proposed fellowship”
b. Training Goals and Objectives
Describe your overall training goals for the duration of the fellowship and how the proposed fellowship will enable the attainment of these goals.
Identify the skills, theories, conceptual approaches, etc. to be learned or enhanced during the award.
Discuss how the proposed research will facilitate your transition to the next career stage, if applicable.
c. Activities Planned Under This Award
Describe, by year, the activities (research, coursework, professional development, clinical activities, etc.) you will be involved in during the proposed award. Estimate the percentage of time to be devoted to each activity. The percentage should total 100 for each year.
Describe the research skills and techniques that you intend to learn during the award period.
Describe the planned, non-research activities (e.g. those related to professional development and clinical activities) that you plan to engage in during the award period.
Provide a timeline detailing the proposed research training and related activities for the entire duration of the fellowship award.

9. What you’re trying to accomplish in the applicant Section
Go back to the NIH Mission and Goals:
“develop, maintain, and renew scientific human and physical resources that will ensure the Nation's capability to prevent disease”
Look at the purpose of the Kirschstein NRSA Program:
"The purpose of the Kirschstein-NRSA postdoctoral fellowship is to enhance the
research training of promising postdoctoral candidates who have the potential to
become productive, independent investigators in scientific health-related research
fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers.”

10. Parts of the “F” Application
Research Training Plan
Specific Aims (1 page)
“State concisely the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcome(s), including the impact that the results of the proposed research will have on the research field(s) involved.”
Research Strategy (6 pages)
a. Significance:
Explain the importance of the problem or critical barrier to progress
that the proposed project addresses.
Explain how the proposed project will improve scientific knowledge,
technical capability, and/or clinical practice in one or more broad fields.
Describe how the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field will be changed if the
proposed aims are achieved.
b. Innovation: Not required for F-series fellowships, but if you can speak to innovation, do!
“NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.”
…grant proposals of high scientific caliber that are relevant to public health needs and are within NIH Institute and Center (IC) priorities
Projects That Are Unique

11. Parts of the “F” Application
Research Training Plan
Research Strategy, continued
c. Approach
Describe the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Unless addressed separately in the Resource Sharing Plan attachment, include how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted as well as any resource sharing plans as appropriate.
Discuss potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success anticipated to achieve the aims.
If the project is in the early stages of development, describe any strategy to establish feasibility, and address the management of any high risk aspects of the proposed work.
“NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.”
develop, maintain, and renew scientific human and physical resources that will ensure the Nation's capability to prevent disease;
foster fundamental creative discoveries, innovative research strategies, and their applications as a basis for ultimately protecting and improving health;
exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science.
Projects of High Scientific Caliber
NIH looks for grant proposals of high scientific caliber that are relevant to public health needs and are within NIH Institute and Center (IC) priorities

12. Parts of the “F” Application
Research Training Plan
Research Strategy, continued
Respective Contributions (1 page)
Selection of Sponsor and Institution (1 page)
Training in RCR
Sponsor and Co-Sponsor statements (6 pages)
Research support available
Sponsor's/Co-sponsor's previous fellows/trainees
TRAINING PLAN, Environment, Research Facilities
Number of fellows/trainees to be supervised during the fellowship
APPLICANT'S QUALIFICATIONS AND POTENTIAL FOR A RESEARCH CAREER
Sponsor(s), Collaborator(s), Consultant(s)
Other items
Institutional Environment and Commitment to Training
Other Research Training Plan Sections (human subjects, vertebrate animals, select agent research, resource sharing plan, authentication of key biological and/or chemical resources)
Additional Information
Budget
Letters of reference (3 needed)

13. "The purpose of the Kirschstein-NRSA predoctoral fellowship (F31) award is to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers. The proposed mentored research training must reflect the applicant’s dissertation research project and is expected to clearly enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist."

14. (Tasty) technical writing tidbits
Somewhat different from “prose”.
The purpose is not to entertain, but to communicate.
Want to do so in the clearest, most concise manner possible.
Want to convey your message in a manner that is:
Logical
Precise -- “Words of certain meaning”
Concise
Outline each section
Each major heading is a main point and a paragraph or two.
REVISE!
Unity
Do all of the sentences in the paragraph contribute to the development of that paragraph’s central idea?
Does the paragraph even have a clearly stated (1st sentence) central idea?
Coherence
Is the relationship between each sentence and each paragraph clear?
Are you using transitions?

15. GRANT
PROPOSAL
Faculty member
Grant reviewer

16. GET FEEDBACK!!