Generate a K99 Checklist
Your final K99 application will be very long and attacking it all at once can be overwhelming. So, let’s break it down. First, I would highly recommend making a checklist of all the items you will need to write and/or collect from others. Below is a list I generated from the NIH Grants and Funding website. I’ve italicized items that you should request sooner rather than later, since you will need to ask others for these materials. Note, most of the people I know wrote their own letters of support, but I will hopefully cover this in a later post.
Project Summary/Abstract (30 lines of text)
Project Narrative (3 sentences)
Introduction to Resubmission/Revision (1 page — only necessary for second submissions)
Candidate Information and Goals for Career Development and Research Strategy (12 pages)
Specific Aims (1 page)
Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (1 page)
Plans and Statements from Mentor and Co-Mentor (6 pages)
Letters of Support from Collaborators, Contributors, and Consultants (6 pages)
Description of the Institutional Environment (1 page)
Institutional Commitment to the Candidate’s Research Career Development (1 page — at most universities you need to put in a request for this).
Biographical Sketch (5 pages)
How should I breakdown the 12 page “Candidate Information” and “Goals for Career Development and Research Strategy” section?
This is a great question I recently received from a Grant Writing Bootcamper. As you can see from the page limits above, the K99 is strange in that the Candidate Information and Research Strategy are lumped together, yet there are no clear instructions regarding how to split this section apart. Good news, I don’t think there is one right answer. Bad news, giving more space to one component (i.e. your personal statement) obviously takes away from the other (i.e. your research statement).
For my own K99 application, I placed more emphasis on the research strategy, committing only 3 pages to the candidate information section and the remaining 9 pages to the research strategy. My reasoning — this is the only area where you have the opportunity to actually showcase your research, so pack it full of data/figures to really make a strong case for feasibility. Initially my candidate information component was 4 pages, but I cut it down to 3 pages with careful editing and the incorporation of a detailed timeline/timetable at the end (I’ve included mine below for reference). I would highly recommend making a detailed timeline/timetable as they provide a really easy, visual way to pack in lots of information without taking up too much space.
Here is my breakdown in more detail:
Component 1: Candidate Information and Goals for Career Development (3 pages total)
Here it is important to identify what you will learn and how you will go about learning during the K99 (training phase) to achieve goals in your R00 (independent phase).
Candidate’s Background (~1 page)
Career Goals and Objectives (~0.75 pages)
Candidate’s Plan for Career Development/Training Activities During Award Period (~1.25 pages)
Sub-paragraph #1: New or Enhanced Research Skills and Knowledge
Sub paragraph #2: Career Development
Sub paragraph #3: Timeline and Evaluation
Here is the actual career timeline/timetable I included in my application. I write about these events in my text, but the timeline really allows you to “pack in” the information and organize it to highlight both career development goals (the things you want to do during your R00) and the training activities you will complete to achieve these goals (the training you plan to do in .
Component 2: Research Strategy (9 pages total)
Remember, the research plan must also cater to both phases of the award (K99 and R00).
Significance (~0.75 pages)
Innovation (~0.25 pages)
Approach (8 pages)
This is the meat of the research component of your application. My general recipe for each section:State the Aim (example: Aim 1, 2, 3)
Preliminary Studies for the Aim — evidence of current and past research.
State the Sub-Aim (example: 1A, 1B, 1C… etc)
Sub-Aim Body — detailed rationale and experimental approach
Sub-Aim anticipated results, interpretation, and follow-up
Sub-Aim potential pitfalls and alternative strategies
I also ended this section with a similar timeline/timetable… but one illustrating when I plan to do and complete the various Aims and Sub-Aims.
Final thoughts. I know this is a lot and I will try to go into each section with more detail as the Grant Writing Class moves along. But, hope this helps a little to get started! As always, if you have any questions either leave a comment below or contact me directly and I’ll do my best to address them.
As always, Happy Writing :)