Some Tips on NIH Grants

This week, ORDE hosted an NIH panel with faculty from our Denver campus who have been funded by the NIH through a variety of institutes and mechanisms. The NIH is a large organization made up of 27 institutes and centers and using a variety of different funding mechanisms. Because of the size and complexity of the NIH, it can be hard to nail down, especially for early career investigators, but our panelists offered the following universal NIH advice:

Speak with your Program Officer:
Because the NIH includes so many institutes with their own ways of doing things, it is essential that you get to know your Program Officer to understand the nuances of the institute, get advice on study sections, and to discuss your project fit. The panelists also suggested talking with your Scientific Review Officer (SRO) when working on a resubmission. The SRO manages the peer review process for a particular study section and can often give you clarification on your grant review and the comments you receive.

In an NIH grant, fill up the page:
Dr. Laura Argys, Professor of Economics, NIH funded researcher, and long-time NIH reviewer urged PIs to not leave large sections of their grant blank.  This is because if reviewers wonder why you didn't discuss a particular piece of your project, they're less likely to let the PI off the hook since they had room to go into it. The next suggestion she offered was to allow for white space in your grant.  Make sure that the final grant is easy to read and maneuver.

Reinforce what's important:
Often, only three reviewers read your grant and they have a lot to get through and will skim/read your grant quickly.  This makes it important for you to clearly state what you're doing and why it's and important and to restate these important elements throughout your grant.  That way if a reviewer misses something important the first time, they get it again at another point. Even if they catch it the first time (and remember, they may be jumping around and not starting at page one), they'll understand its importance when it is reiterated in the next section.

Give reviewers clear cues:
NIH grants are scored on their significance and their innovation, so when you are describing these elements of your project, use the phrase "The significance of this project is..." or "This project is innovative because..." The three reviewers that read and present your grant to the rest of the study group will appreciate this seemingly blunt description of these important pieces of your grant, because it gives them the tools they need to understand and hopefully advocate for your project.

Have a layperson review your grant:
Although your project may be very technical and complex (most NIH projects are), you still want a layperson to understand your abstract and specific aims - this means you have been quite clear and you can count on a diverse set of reviewers to get what you're doing quickly and easily. They'll likely be thankful!

Resources:

NIH Grants Process One-pager

NIH Mission