Effort Preparing vs' Reviewing

1
Effort Preparing vs. Reviewing
COMPONENTS PREPARE REVIEW
Specific Aims 1 4
Background 75 1
Preliminary Results 9 10
Experimental Design 15 85
GRANT money and percent effort EXPERIMENTS
2
Order of Proposal Preparation Will Help
Will my data support my aims?
PRELIMINARYRESULTS
What do I need to prove I can do this?
INNOVATION
SPECIFIC AIMS
Will the experiments answer the aims?
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Definite yes or no answer
Literature to support your premise
BACKGROUND (do this last-make sure it is relevant)
Keep it short and to the point
3
Preliminary Results

• Data needs to be relevant to the proposed work
• Make sure the data says what you say it says
• Data must be legible
• Show raw data

• Using difficult or unfamiliar methods? Include
  proof of principle in Prelim. Results
• No huge tables
• Show data you may not think is data

4
Specific Aims

• Be specific

• Be descriptive

To determine what level ras signaling can be
inhibited.
To characterize function

• Multiple aims/subaims

• Be repetitive -

Use the theme as the structure of the entire
proposal

• Make one aim the tool needed to develop all

• Cohesive, but not totally dependent

5
Experimental Design
Flaws
Fatal Flaws
Above Beyond

• Potential Pitfalls
• Troubleshooting
• Future directions
• Statistician

• No specifics of experiments
• No controls
• Lack of detail

• Experiments will not answer the aims
• Cant do proposed work
• Too ambitious
• Already done

Dont cut and paste a Clinical Protocol!!!!!
6
The Physical Grant Read a Book
Make it easy for the reviewer to read

• Limit technical abbreviations, especially non-NIH
  proposals
• All sections should support aims
• Xerox test figs before you finalize
• Know your audience

• Justify both margins
• No less than 11 point
• No fancy scripts
• No italics or bolding, just headers
• Legible figures large enough to read

7
Key to Writing a Successful Grant Know your
Limits
! Person
! Person
! Idea
? Idea
Balance innovation with reality
MAYBE
FUND
? Person
? Person
! Idea
? Idea
MAYBE
DONT FUND
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Know How to Fix YourselfPay attention to the
things others do not
Budget Justification
Describe personnel, avoid TBAs
Resources and Environment
You may be new to research, but the place you
are isnt.Highlight what is accessible to you.
Get help with techniques you have never used.
NEED THEM ESPECIALLY FOR REAGENTS
Letters of Support
Appendix
Limit papers- are they needed? Add Protocols
(clinical trials)
Supplemental Information
Send in the newest data, not too late