Grant Resubmissions

When your grant is not funded, it is disheartening. Developing grants takes a substantial amount of time and energy, and having a grant sent back with a "thanks, but no thanks" might make you feel that your idea and work are being rejected.

However, as funded researchers will attest, having a grant rejected should really just be a step in your process of seeking external funding, not the end of the process.

In 2013, the NIH reported a success rate of 9.3% for new proposals, but 31.5% for resubmissions. This threefold difference shows the importance of continuing to develop your project and resubmit for grant funding.

In a recent blog, called Persistence Pays Off by Gigi Rosenberg, she states "If you don’t apply, it’s a 100% guarantee you won’t be accepted. If you do apply, your chances are better," and goes on to talk about her delight in receiving a fellowship for which she'd been rejected six times prior.

Hopefully, those sorts of statistics are encouraging, but how do you decide when to resubmit and when to look at other options, e.g., find a new sponsor or re-tool your project?

David Felson, MD, Professor at the Boston University Medical Center offered a PowerPoint on the topic and suggested the following decision making criteria:

What types of reviewer concerns should be addressed quickly and resubmitted?

• Lack of prelim data (get data)
• Lack of innovation (market better)
• For Career awards, lack of institutional support
• High level of expense

What types of reviewer concerns cannot be addressed quickly?

• Lack of productivity
• Lack of significance

Dr. Felson also suggests that for NIH, if your grant is not discussed and is unscored, then it may not be worth submitting that same project again.

If however, it does make sense to resubmit, and often it will, below are some tips to consider.

Tips for Resubmission

• Put your grant in a drawer for about a week to give yourself some distance and to move past your disappointment.
• Then read reviewer comments carefully. Dr. Felson suggests that if two or more reviewers made the same comment, it needs to be addressed.
• Get a peer or mentor to go through the comments and give their take on what they mean and what should be done.
• Have a conversation with a Program Officer to see if you can get further clarity on what you might change to be successful in your resubmission.
• Don't think of a rejection as a "no," but instead think of it as a "no, but..." The latter opens the door to what can be done to get to "yes."

Resources:
Gigi Rosenberg's blog: Persistence Pays Off
Dr. Felson's PowerPoint: Resubmitting a Grant Application
Drugmonkey: Structural Aspects of Revising Your NIH Grant