Applying for the NIH's NRSA F Series Grant

Applying for the NRSA F Series Grants (NIH) Individual Predoctoral NRSA Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards

Maria Murray Navigating the Grant Conference 10/2/2013

Reasons to apply

• Grant writing experience is valuable • Great award/honor on your CV • $$$$$ • Bioengineering department gives $3000 bonus to winning students (like in your paycheck) • Includes funding for conference travel, lab supplies • Having your own grant money gives you some freedom

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Kirschstein-NRSA pre-doctoral fellowships (F31s) Competing applications, awards, and success rates

3 Source: NIH

R01-Equivalent grants, New (Type 1) Success rates, by career stage of investigator

NRSA Success Rate

4 Source: NIH

Three types of Individual Predoctoral NRSAs

• F30: for MD/PhD and other CDs • F31: to promote Diversity • F31: for Dissertation research related to particular institutes of NIH In addition, there are Institutional NRSAs which are distributed by departments

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F30 MD/PhD, VMD/PhD, etc.

• Up to 6 years of support, excluding other NRSA (e.g., MSTP or other TG) support • Ideal time to apply: upon picking thesis lab • Note that not all institutes participate; check the list to see if any are relevant to your research • Deadlines: 4/8, 8/8, 12/8 • Deadlines are when the grant needs to be to the Institute

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F30 Participating Institutes • • • • • • • • • •

National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) National Institute on Aging (NIA) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) National Institute on Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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F31 Diversity

• Up to 5 years of support, excluding other NRSA support (from training grants) • Ideal time to apply: once you have identified your research interests, can be as early as your first year • Virtually all NIH institutes participate • Deadlines: 4/8, 8/8, 12/8 • Deadlines are when the grant needs to be to the Institute

Eligibility can be determined on the announcement website: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-112.html 8

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

F31 Diversity Participating Institutes

National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Eye Institute (NEI) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) National Institute on Aging (NIA) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) National Institute on Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

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F31 Dissertation

• Up to 5 years of support • Ideal time to apply: after starting dissertation research • Note that not all institutes participate; check the list to see if any are relevant to your research • Deadlines: 4/8, 8/8, 12/8 • Deadlines are when the grant needs to be to the Institute, department may have another grant deadline

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F31 Dissertation Participating Institutes • • • • • • • • •

National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Institute on Aging (NIA) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) National Institute on Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) ( Will no longer participate after May 7, 2012)

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Application Info & Resources • F Kiosk: http://grants.nih.gov/training/F_files_nrsa.htm

Select appropriate F30 or F31 program announcement here

• SF424 (R&R): http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm • Individual Fellowship Application Guide

• Grant Officer

• William Burns (SEAS)

• burns@seas.upenn.edu

• Marianne Williams (BGS)

• altland@mail.med.upenn.edu

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General

• All done via eRA Commons of Grants.gov

• CONTACT YOUR GRANTS OFFICER • Grants officer will give you your log on info • Will tell you your actual due date • Will be your best friend during this process 

• Note that YOU are the PI • Your mentor is the Senior/Key Person 1

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Identifying the institute:

“Measure twice, cut once” Make sure your work is a good fit for the Institute and its mission

• Determine which institute(s) of NIH is the best fit for your project (discuss this with your PI) • Contact the fellowship program officer at the institute(s) by phone to discuss your proposal and how it might fit with the institute’s scientific goals; see numbers on p. I-3 of the Application Guide • Prepare a cover letter to be submitted with your proposal that refers to the conversation and the program officer by name (part of “Other Attachments”)

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Submission checklist

 Cover Letter  Abstract  Specific Aims  Research Strategy  Respective Contributions  Selection of Sponsor and Institution  Responsible Conduct of Research  Goals for Fellowship Training and Career  Activities Planned Under This Award  Doctoral Dissertation and Other Research Experience  Sponsor(s) and Co-Sponsor(s)  Biographical Sketch  Project Narrative  Applications for Concurrent Support (when applicable)  Introduction to Resubmission or Revision Application (when applicable)

Handy Table: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms_page_limits.htm

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Specific Aims

• Lay out your hypothesis and what you are going to do • Challenge: Scope. Make sure what you are proposing is reasonable in the amount of time you have (2-3 years) • Page limit: 1

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Research Strategy Plan

• 6 page limit, including figures, charts, tables, and diagrams: combine sections before uploading to monitor length • Pay close attention to instructions on font, headers (none), page numbers (none), etc.

• SF424 Page I-110 • GET HELP: Advisor, Committee, Labmates, PI, Navigating the Grant Fellows

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Respective Contributions • Who came up with what • Page limit: 1

• Sample This proposal is an extension of my candidacy exam. I am primarily responsible for the ideas and experiments outlined in this document. Through discussions with my sponsor, Dr. __________, I was able to focus my hypothesis and refine my experimental approach to maximize feasibility. I prepared this document independently but consulted with Dr. ____ for suggestions before finalizing the proposal. Figure 2 is the work of a former undergraduate student, ____ . I will perform the described experiments independently. I will seek guidance from Dr. ____ when interpreting data and troubleshooting experiments.

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Biosketch

• See samples online – This is mine

Grades and GRE scores Other scores if applicable (MCAT)

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Selection of Sponsor or Institution • Why Penn is awesome.

• I wrote:

SELECTION OF SPONSOR AND INSTITUTION I selected to attend the University of Pennsylvania to study for my Ph.D. because of the fantastic reputation of the bioengineering department. The University of Pennsylvania has many resources available to make good research possible – physical resources like the atomic force microscope that I plan to use in my experiments, as well as human resources. The professors at Penn are leaders in their fields, and are willing to collaborate with and help students in order to produce quality research. Penn has a strong core of faculty studying mechanotransduction – my field of interest (---,--- ,---- ,--- ). ---- is a good mentor because in addition to being a well-respected leader in the field, he also cares about his students and takes the time to train them. The situation that I have found at Penn will provide me with the education that I need to further pursue my goals.

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Goals for Fellowship Training and Career • Page of what you want to do

Career

Short & Long Term

Skills to gain 21

Activities Planned Under Award

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Doctoral Disseration and Other Research Experience

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Sponsor’s Statement • Instructions on website • Sections • • • • •

Research Support Available (Standard NIH Format) Sponsor’s Previous Trainees/Fellows Training Plan, Environment, Facilities Number of Fellows/Trainees to be Supervised During Fellowship Applicant’s Qualifications and Potential For Reseach Career

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Project Narrative

• Brief description of your project for a lay person

Example: As the body ages, the arteries become stiffer and this increased stiffness is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In this proposal, I will look at the changes in the endothelial cells (the cells that line the blood vessel) under both soft and stiff conditions in order to see if the change in the stiffness of the arteries causes changes in the function of the endothelial layer.

This is important because it could help to explain why the stiffening in the arteries causes increased cardiovascular risk.

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Other Components • • • •

Responsible Conduct in Research (Medical School Form) Human Subjects (Y/N): From Mentor Vertebrate Animals (Y/N): From Mentor Resource Sharing Plan: From Mentor

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Letters of Recommendation (3-5)

• NOT mentor/sponsor (since s/he writes statement about your qualifications in the grant) • Usually the graduate group chair, CD head and/or program chair (if applicable), rotation advisor, thesis committee member, or faculty research collaborator • Must use fellowship-specific form and be submitted electronically https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/reference/submitRefereeInformation.jsp

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Steps to Take

• ≥30 days prior to deadline: • Grants officer • Think about your proposal, talk to Navigating the Grant about getting a mentor • Get 3 referees on board; make sure they use the required form

• ≥ 10 days prior to deadline: • Complete your forms & attachments • Have your advisor review application

• ≥ 3 days prior to deadline: • Everything in final form for Univ. review

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Good Luck!!

Questions?

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