Better at the Bench

What else do i need to do before i apply for a Nih grant?

In addition to writing the many components of your NIH fellowship or grant, there are a few additional items you need to accomplish prior to submission. Some of these items are common to many grants, like contacting your reference letter writers. Other things are very NIH and Stanford specific, so I’ve tried to provide all relevant resources below.

General list of things you can do far in advance

1. Set up or update your ERA commons account
   This is the ERA commons website. To submit any NIH fellowship or grant, you need an ERA commons account. If you do not have an account, contact your department administrators or the Research Management Group at Stanford and they will help set one up for you. These accounts are linked to a University/Institution, so they have to be set up by Stanford. In addition, if you already have a ERA commons account but recently transferred to Stanford from another institution, then you need to contact the Research Management Group at Stanford and change your affiliation.

2. Think about your letters of reference
   It’s generally a good idea to start thinking about letters of reference — thinking about individuals that can attest to your character and your scientific careers. You will need a minimum of 3 letters of reference and can submit a maximum of 5 letters.

3. Think about your scientific advisory committee
   A scientific advisory committee is a team of scientists that will directly help you complete the aims/goals of your research project. A scientific advisory committee used is required for K-awards, but they are a huge asset to have for F-awards too. Eventually you will contact these individuals and ask them for letters of support (in your grant you have the option to include 6 pages of letters of support from collaborators, contributors, and consultants — which usually means you have the opportunity to submit 6 one-page letters from 6 members of your scientific advisory committee).

4. Think about having a Co-Mentor
   There are many reasons to consider having a co-mentor, but here are a few that I have encountered: PI is an assistant professor, PI does not have a long history of mentoring (i.e. not a lot of people from the lab have gone on to become professors), PI is very famous and may not have a lot of time to commit to the applicant and their research, the specific aims proposed in the fellowship or grant are beyond the expertise of the lab the individual is currently in.

Items to accomplish 2-3 months prior to your NIH grant due date

1. Sign up for a Stanford NIH F-award or K-award application computer workshop
   These workshops are mandatory for submitting a NIH fellowship or grant! In these 3-hour long computer lab classes you will work with Research Process Managers (from the Stanford Research Management Group) to initiate your F-award or K-award application via Grants.gov. Sign up for this workshop early to get it out of the way! To prepare for this workshop, all you need is to know the F-award or K-award due date you are preparing your application for. In this workshop, you will start a new application, but you do not need to upload any finalized application materials.
   How to sign up for a computer workshop: Log on to Stanford AXESS, click on the STARS training tab, in the search bar type in either DOR-1218 (for F-award classes) or DOR-1219 (for K-award classes). I last heard that Stanford was going to move these classes onto Zoom to adhere to shelter in place rules. Currently, I see the first two classes offered are on April 22, 2020 (a morning and afternoon session) for the K-awards.

2. Identify and contact your Research Process Manager at the Stanford Research Management Group
   If you have not worked with them already, the Stanford Research Management Group (RMG) are an amazing group of people that help us (Stanford researchers including predocs, postdocs, and PIs) with our NIH grant submissions. When submitting a NIH grant, we work with the RMG office to generate a budget and finalize a submission (i.e. they actually look over all the NIH grants that are submitted to make sure they don’t get rejected due to formatting issues or missing components). So, yes, they are amazing and you should contact your department specific Research Process Manager (RPM) once you decide you are going to submit a NIH grant.
   Instructions on how to find and contact your RPM: Go to the Stanford RMG website’s Department Assignments Page, search by department to find your RPM, then send them a friendly email to (1) introduce yourself and (2) let them know that you will be submitting a F-award or K-award for a specific cycle.
   If your department does not have an RPM: I’m learning from others that some departments do not have a RPM, in which case you need to contact your department admin to determine who institutional signing official is. Other great resources include asking other NIH fellowship or grant applicants in your department or ask your PI who they submit their R-awards to. Email and ask. If the individual you contact is not the correct person, they can usually guide you in the right direction.

3. Contact and request letters of reference
   When I contacted my reference letter writers, I provided them with an updated biosketch and an early draft of my specific aims. Remember, the more information you provide them with, the more personal they can write your letter. Out of courtesy, give your letter writers at least a month to prepare a letter for you.

4. Contact and request letters of support from your scientific advisory committee

   Similarly, when I contacted my scientific advisory committee members, I provided them with an updated biosketch and an early draft of my specific aims. In addition, in my email to them, I specifically pointed out where in the research proposal I would grateful to have their expertise. Some of the members of my committee were already collaborators, which made contacting them very easy. Other members of my committee were just Stanford faculty that I wanted to work with, so contacting them was usually a lot more work — I would encourage offering to meet these individuals in person first to discuss your work prior to asking them for support or a letter.

5. Contact a Co-Mentor
   If you decide it’s right for you and your application, find a Co-Mentor. I actually have a Co-Mentor on my K99 grant and, while I am very grateful because my Co-Mentor has contributed significantly to my research, they can be very difficult to incorporate (convincingly) into your application. In addition to a letter from your Mentor, you also need a letter from your Co-Mentor.

6. Submit a PI waiver at least 6 weeks in advance (K-awards only)
   You will be the PI on the K-award. For an individual that is not a member of Stanford University’s academic council, submitting a grant requires approval by the department chair and dean of research — thus the need for a PI waiver. You can read up on the full details of the PI waiver on the RMG website. Thankfully, obtaining a PI waiver is very easy, but it can take a lot of time due to the signatures required.
   How to prepare and submit a PI waiver: Go to PI Eligibility and Waivers Process page on the RMG website, download the “PI waiver template” (in the column on the right), fill in the appropriate information, have the PI waiver signed by your department chair, and then submit this signed letter to your Research Process Manager (who will then review it and submit it to the School of Medicine Dean of Research for final approval). In short, a very easy process, but one that potentially takes a lot of time, so do early to avoid unnecessary application submission stress.

7. Request a letter of institutional support from your department head (K-awards only)
   Most departments have a letter template that they personalize to each applicant. Contact the head of your department and request a letter. Again, I feel like it helps to provide an updated biosketch and draft of your specific aims to help personalize the final letter.

the Internal submission Due date is 5 business days before the nih due date

Don’t forget that you have to submit all your application materials to Stanford 5 business days ahead of the NIH due date. You will do this via the Stanford SeRA website. Here are more details regarding submitting a Proposal Development Routing Form (PDRF) to SeRA.

Admittedly, my RPM was very helpful and actually helped me to upload all my materials to the Grants.gov ASSIST website. In the end, you submit your application for review, a signing official at Stanford will then review and approve your application, and then your fellowship or grant is officially submitted!