How to get funded from the National Institutes of Health Minda R. Lynch, Ph.D., Chief Behavioral and Cognitive Science Research NIDA

What’s NIH? u National Cancer Institute u National Eye Institute u National Heart, Lung, and Blood Inst. u National Human Genome Research Inst u National Institute on Aging u National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism u National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases u National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases u National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering u National Institute of Child Health and Human Development u National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders u John E. Fogarty International Center u Center for Scientific Review u National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research u National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases u National Institute on Drug Abuse u National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences u National Institute of Mental Health u National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke u National Institute of Nursing Research u National Library of Medicine u Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center u Center for Information Technology u National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine u National Center for Research Resources

What Grant Is Right? - what stage of research career - what are your research needs - do you need a mentor or collaborators? - how big is the project? Talk with the Institute Program staff, they can help match your needs to the right funding mechanism

Research Career Development Timetable Graduate Student NRSA F30, F31, T32, R03 Post-doc NRSA F32, T32 Early Career K01, K08, K23, R03, R01, R15, K22 Mid Career R01, K02, P01 Senior Investigator K05, P50, P60

Requests for Applications (RFA)  Formal announcement describing an institute initiative in a well-defined scientific area  Invitation to the field to submit research grant applications for a one-time competition  Set-aside of funds for a certain number of awards

Program Announcement  Invites grant applications in a given research area  May describe new or expanded interest in a particular extramural program  May be a reminder of a continuing interest in a particular extramural program  Generally has no funds set aside  Applications reviewed in CSR along with unsolicited grant applications

NIH GUIDE for Grants and Contracts  Announces NIH Scientific Initiatives  Provides NIH Policy and Administrative Information  Available on the NIH Web Site :

How are funding decisions made? Based on priority score and programmatic need

Who/What is a Grants Management Officer? Implements the funding process Watches over the budget Ensures compliance of grantee with Institute policies and regulations You should have sponsored programs call your GMO

Review Criteria Significance Approach Innovation Investigator Environment Hot “TIP” # 1: Reviewers are asked to identify the STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES of your proposal---USE those words to guide the reviewers

Hot “TIP” # 2: Include basic information where necessary. Only a few of the reviewers will be EXPERTS in all aspects of your application. Successful Writing Strategies Audience: remember your proposal is one of many—20-40 proposals/meeting; one reviewer is responsible for 4 to 8 reviews at 2 to 4 hours per review = a lot of time Make your proposal easy to read: larger print, preserve white space; be concise

Concept Development What should you write about? Focused sequence of studies that build on one another Planned studies that: are hypothesis-based provide useful info regardless of outcome info from one study sets stage for others have contingency plans if they don’t work Questions: what will be learned why is it important?

Common problems-- studies lack cohesiveness sequence of experiments is not logical results of a study results in a dead end contingency plans either not stated or ill conceived and are not feasible Hot “TIP” # 4: Follow the instructions on the 398 form Common Pitfalls

Be patient – It’s a long process There are three overlapping cycles per year: FEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDECJAN Cycle 1 Receipt Review Council Referral Award Cycle 2 Receipt Review Council Referral Award Cycle 3 Receipt Referral Review Council Award Council

Your application is here.

Finally….. You won’t get a grant if….. You Don’t Apply You won’t get a grant if….. You Don’t Re-Apply!