Strengthen your next application with advice from a 2022 Grant Writing Webinar Series hosted by NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The webinars cover different stages of the application process:
- Before Writing: Faculty Readiness and Submission Considerations. The first Presentation and Video cover your research idea, readiness, timing, NIH notices and instructions, and common pitfalls—e.g., lack of time, planning, or an opportunity that is not a good fit.
- Determining Whether a Funding Opportunity Is Right for You. The second Presentation and Video explain institute and study section assignments, ways to find the right NIH program officials, and how to write effective Specific Aims.
- Writing a Competitive Application. The third Presentation and Video advise you on how to acquire the structure and feedback you need to develop a strong application, effective practices when you write and revise, and the overall NIH funding decision process.
You can also find links to helpful Resources at the bottom of the Grant Writing Webinar Series page.
We recommend that you check out all three webinars. As a useful preview, here are some recommendations from NIGMS Webinar 3—Writing a Competitive Application.
For help while you draft your application, consider recruiting colleagues from your institution and other scientific peers to volunteer to provide feedback on your application. This feedback team can help when you write your application. They can comment on your research question or goals, recognize problems or lack of clarity, and suggest ways to refine your ideas. As you assemble this team:
- Ask potential members about their availability and how they prefer to share feedback.
- Consider your needs as a writer and what types of candid and constructive feedback each person can provide. For example, you may wish to recruit a subject matter expert, a non-expert biomedical scientist, and a skilled writer/editor.
Once you assemble your feedback team, work out when you will send drafts and be sure to commit to your deadlines. You should seek feedback before you write a significant amount:
- Start by sharing a brief project description or the Specific Aims page.
- Have short conversations or send quick email queries—Does this hypothesis seem plausible? Is this method feasible? Is this research outline logical?
- Consider summarizing components of your application in a video call, then ask for feedback.
NIGMS staff shared additional effective grant writing practices:
- Your application must appeal to your eventual peer reviewers. Check study sections in your area of science, know the review criteria, and examine related projects in NIH RePORTER. (NIAID also covers these topics at Know Your Audience and Find Funded Projects and More Using NIH Databases.)
- When you read Sample Applications, you should reflect on the scope of work proposed, how the Specific Aims connect to each other and the project objectives, whether the biosketches showcase experience relevant to the project, and note writing style throughout.
- Find communities of practice at your institution or create your own with peers, e.g., writing groups or retreats. Organize these events for repeat interactions and consider diversity of membership.
- Protect your writing time: set time aside weekly, advocate for yourself when balancing other commitments, and enlist allies.
- Consider volunteering for an NIH review panel, if possible. (NIAID details how Serving on a Peer Review Committee can help you.)
The second half of the webinar shifts focus to the steps after you apply: peer review, Advisory Council, and funding decisions. You can find NIAID summaries of these stages in our After You Submit an Application section.
Find more grantsmanship advice and guidance at Research Funded by NIAID. Long before you apply, you should Contact an NIAID Program Officer in your area of science to discuss your project idea and funding opportunity.