Better at the Bench

Introduction

The importance of the summary/abstract
When I think of the abstract, I actually think of the Genie from Disney’s Aladdin… “It’s all part of the genie gig. Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty-bitty living space.”
In this metaphor, the Genie is your abstract….

Let me explain. In the review process, only three members of the study section will read and review your application in full.  These three reviewers will collectively (1) determine if your application will be discussed and (2) if your application is discussed, they will advocate for your proposal in the final review.  Here it is important to remember that even though only three members read your full application, all members of the study section will score your application. Given the very little time available (about 15 minutes), these reviewers will often depend heavily on the abstract to make their quick assessment.  Thus, the abstract is an extremely important component of your grant application that must not only summarize your proposed work, but also excite the reviewer in its wider promise to advances the field and benefit human health.

Challenges of the summary/abstract
Just to raise the stakes, the abstract is not only an incredibly important document that will likely be read by all reviewers, but this document is also difficult to write because it must accomplish everything in 30 sentences.  Thus, the abstract must capture your entire research project, but also be succinct. The abstract must convey a brilliant idea, but also be understandable to someone outside of your field.  When done right, the abstract is truly a piece of art. To help you create this masterpiece, here are six steps for writing an excellent abstract.  

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT INSTRUCTIONS

Directly taken from the Career Development Instructions for NIH and Other PHS Agencies, SF424 R&R Application Packages, Version F.  Critical components of the abstract are underlined.

Overview:
The project summary is a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work and should be able to stand on its own (separate from the application). This section should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and understandable to a scientifically literate reader. Avoid both descriptions of past accomplishments and the use of the first person. Please be concise.

Format:
This section is limited to 30 lines of text, and must follow the required font and margin specifications. A summary that exceeds the 30-line limit will be flagged as an error by the Agency upon submission.

Content:
State the application's broad, long-term objectives and specific aims, making reference to the health relatedness of the project (i.e. relevance to the mission of the agency). Describe the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals. Be sure that the project summary reflects the key focus of the proposed project so that the application can be appropriately categorized.  Do not include proprietary, confidential information or trade secrets in the project summary. If the application is funded, the project summary will be entered into an NIH database and made available on the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) and will become public information.

How to write your abstract in six steps 

• Step 1:  Make a case for significance.  Start your summary/abstract with an impactful first sentence that identifies a big problem that is both important for human health (essential for all NIH grants) and addresses the goals of the funding source/institute you are applying to.      

• Step 2:  Introduce a sub-problem.  Your proposal will fund a project for 2-5 years.  It will not be possible to solve the big problem in 2-5 years, thus you will propose to use this time to solve a smaller sub-problem that is absolutely critical for eventually solving the larger big problem.  In the second to fourth sentences, introduce the focused sub-problem that your proposal seeks to solve.  In introducing the sub-problem you must do the following:  (1) establish what has already been done and illustrate why the sub-problem has gone unsolved, (2) clearly explain why solving the sub-problem is the best approach for solving the big problem, and (3) make sure that the sub-problem you describe is well-defined. 

• Step 3:  Make a case for innovation.  The sub-problem is unsolved.  Introduce a new opportunity that will allow for the solving of the sub-problem. These opportunities are usually advances in the field, such as breakthroughs in next-generation sequencing or gene editing.  

• Step 4:  Associate yourself with the innovation.  After introducing this innovation, associate yourself with the innovation. Specifically, introduce an opportunity that places you in a unique position to solve the sub-problem using the previously mentioned innovation. This association could be in the form of a new application of the technology that your lab established, a new technique using the technology that you developed, or access to a special resource that (with the technology in hand) will allow you to solve the sub-problem, where all others have failed.  

• Step 5:  Introduce your plan.  Here, list your specific aims.  Make sure that you summarize the full proposal because you must convey to the reviewer how you will clearly execute your entire plan to solve the sub-problem.   

• Step 6:  Summarize the state of the world after successfully executing the plan.  Circle back and address how solving the sub-problem will expand the field and/or benefit human health. In addition, for career transition awards, describe how the completion of the grant will help you to grow as a scientist and prepare you for the next step in your academic journey.    .          

Additional summary/abstract tips 

• The abstract is written for a general audience. To clearly convey your science, avoid the use of jargon and abbreviations that only a specialist in your field would understand.   

• The summaries/abstracts of all funded NIH grants are published.  For excellent examples go to the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) website to look up and read abstracts related to your research and funded by the institute you are applying to.

Additional resources

A formula for abstracts (8 minutes) by Dr. Russ Altman.
A fantastic talk from the 2017 Grant Writing Symposium. This was the inspiration for the six steps (above). Dr. Altman is a fantastic speaker, commit 8 minutes to listening to this excellent talk.

Abstract killers by Vid-Mohan Ram
An excellent, short entry published in Science describing the dos and don’ts for writing a grant abstract. Although it was published in 2000, the whole “How not to kill a grant application” is a great read.