1. Preparation

You have a cool idea for a research project, now what? Great science is necessary, but not sufficient, to funding success. Here, I discuss preparatory strategies that distinguish my applicants who are consistently more successful at NIH. Actionable tips include how to search the Reporter website for similar projects and possible sponsoring IC, PO, and study section, and ways to identify the optimal NOFO for this stage of your career and project. Emphasis is placed on navigating the myriad recent changes at NIH. An interactive checklist helps you track your progress through these important steps.

2. Specific Aims

The one-page Aims document is arguably the most important narrative section of an NIH A0. Learn to grab the reviewers attention right from the start. Packed with templates and samples from recently successful applications, learners will be walked through the writing of an effective narrative overview, a well-constructed “we propose” paragraph, concise aims, and punchy impact statements. We then discuss how to use the draft aims page to identify an optimal study section and to vet your project idea with the Program Officer and colleagues. The course supplements contain tips, numerous samples from recent successful applications, and a writing exercise that consists of a funded Aims page into which I have inserted mistakes I typically see. An interactive checklist helps you track your progress.

3. Significance and Innovation

Applicants often struggle to write the Significance and Innovation sections and to understand the new scoring criteria. I walk learners through the writing of a strong Significance section, which includes the background/rationale, disease burden, the Rigor of Prior Research, and how your project will address the strengths and weaknesses of the prior research and reduce disease burden. I will demonstrate how the Innovation section must drive home the competitive advantage over previous and current approaches. Because reviewers tend to skim text at the meeting, I emphasize formatting strategies that ensure reviewers won’t miss key concepts. Course supplements offer loads of actionable tips, templates, recently funded samples, and exercises to help you edit and write more competitively. An at-a-glance table and interactive checklist assist in developing a strong draft.

4. Approach

The approach section is perhaps the most intuitive yet daunting of the sections to tackle. And now, applicants worry about addressing the new scoring criteria introduced in FORMS-I. I will offer strategies for developing an effective outline and formatting techniques. One by one, we will review templates and samples for each of the sections typically included in the all-important approach section. Given the changes in the scoring criteria, emphasis will be placed on concrete ways to write effectively about rigor, including many examples from recently funded applications. An interactive checklist will help you write a competitive draft.