Writing Your Specific Aims

When it comes to applying for an NIH grant, your Specific Aims page is the most important and where you should spend the most time. Here's why: Although only a few reviewers are assigned your proposal to review, all of the reviewers in the study section will score your proposal. The reviewers not assigned your proposal will only have a chance to look at your Specific Aims page when your proposal is up for review. This means that although they will have the input of those reviewers who read your whole grant, they will be scoring your proposal based on the Specific Aims, which they'll be reading quickly as they try to listen to the primary and secondary reviewers' case.

So, it is of utmost importance that your Specific Aims be clear and compelling! Below, I offer some tips for the different sections of your Specific Aims page:

Intro:
In your opening paragraph, you want to hook your reviewers. Show them how big the problem is you're trying to solve. Use statistics to show how many people are affected by the problem and in what way. You want to evoke a feeling of urgency amongst your reviewers. But, don't leave it at that. You want to also make sure that you offer your project goal in the first couple of sentences; don't make your reviewers dig for what this proposal is all about.

Background:
After you've introduced your problem and your solution, you want to back it up. You need to describe the cutting edge research in your area (and highlight where you have already contributed to this research). After you've shown what's been happening, identify the gap that still remains and explain why that gap needs to be filled now, by you/your team.

Hypothesis:
Once you've shown the gap where you're focused, articulate your hypothesis. Your hypothesis should be testable and not descriptive.

Specific Aims:
Following your hypothesis, you outline your specific aims. Usually, you have 2-3 specific aims. These aims should be interrelated but not co-dependent. This can be a tricky balance, but it is essential. It's also important that your aims be very clear.  State each aim succinctly and follow it with a short sentence or two explaining it.

Vision:
To close your Specific Aims, be sure to bring it back to the vision of your research. Remember, people tend to remember what they read first and last the best, so make sure you leave reviewers with the punchline. Express the impact and what's possible down the road with this work!

Structuring your Specific Aims in this way, as well as hitting these points will allow this one page to flow, as well as be clear and compelling. Additionally, consider including a conceptual diagram of your aims in the page to more easily show how they fit together. Also, even though you'll be tight on space, make sure to keep space between your paragraphs to give your reviewer visual breaks. In everything you do, make sure you are making your Specific Aims page easy on your reviewer.

Resources:
The anatomy of the Specific Aims Page - Bioscience Writers
Writing Your Specific Aims Seminar - ORDE