to Get the Most from Your NIH Application

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Pretend that you’ve got an hour to address an advanced biology class at an excellent high school or an especially bright group of college freshmen. What would you tell them to give the flavor of your research, its impact, and why they should get excited?

Pretend that you’ve got an hour to

address an advanced biology class

at an excellent high school or an

especially bright group of college

freshmen. What would you tell them

to give the flavor of your research,

its impact, and why they should get

excited?

Don’t be obsessed with showing off how much you know, and don’t go into great experimental detail or include a lot of background on the history of your field.

Take the long view of “impact.”

Reviewers want to know how the research you’re doing

will change the field and translate into an impact in

human health. So if you’re doing a basic study of, say,

DNA repair enzymes, you need to say, “Even though this is

basic research, it’s needed for new drug development.

Think that far ahead.

Tell reviewers the ultimate utility of your research — even

if it’s five years down the road.

Make your train of thought crystal clear. You know the logical connections in your head. You know why you’re doing a specific experiment.

Don’t forget to tell the reviewers.

Some of what they’re evaluating is your thought process — your summary of the significance of your research and your summary of its impact.

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Don’t use words you don’t need.

A 12-page form, as opposed to a 25-page form, means there’s a great deal of pressure on you to show your thought processes in a direct and architectural way.

Show that you know what’s important and what’s superfluous.

LithiumNitrogen

Fluorine

Sulfur

ChlorineArgon

Potassium

Vanadium

ManganeseGallium

Praseodymium

PlatinumHassium

Get a complete draft done at least 10 days before it’s due and find someone who’s not involved in theproject — don’t use a post-doc in your lab — to check it out.

That person can find the logical holes and can help you outline the impact.

Use the word “impact” as needed.

It shows you paid attention

to the new criteria for grants.

End your grant with a paragraph that says what the

government gets at the end of the day if it funds your research.

That’s exactly what “impact” is.

The difference between significance and impact is, basically, that

significance is whether what you’re doing is worth doing and impact is what the NIH gets after it’s funded you. You can be explicit: “At the conclusion of this research program, we will have identified [fill in the blank] and we will have determined [fill in the blank] and we will be on our way to developing [fill in the blank].

That’s impact.

Although I have served as an NIH grant reviewer for more than 20 years, the R01 Grant Application Mentor has significantly enhanced my efforts as a reviewer and in the preparation of my own R01 grant this year.

- Dr. Joseph C. Hall, Professor Norfolk State University

NIH R01 Grant Application Mentor:An Educational How-to Manual

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