Grant Writing Workshops
NIH-wide grant writing workshops and resources are available through NIH’s Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE), Office of Extramural Research (OER), and the Extramural Nexus blog. In addition, the NIDDK Fellowship Office offers grant writing workshops to all NIDDK postdoctoral fellows, including IRTAs, research fellows, visiting fellows, clinical fellows, special volunteers, and contractors, with an advanced graduate degree (M.D., Ph.D., or equivalent). Fellows will gain an edge in future hiring, especially at academic institutions. They will also practice critical thinking around developing budgets and justifications, skills that are essential for running a laboratory.
2024 NIDDK Grant Writing Workshops
NIDDK will offer grant writing workshops in Fall 2024. Workshop dates, times and locations are below.
| Wednesday, August 21 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST | bldg. 10 FAES Classroom #5 (B1C210) |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, August 22 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST | bldg. 10 FAES Classroom #5 (B1C210) |
| Wednesday, August 28 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST | bldg. 10 FAES Classroom #5 (B1C210) |
| Thursday, August 29 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST | bldg. 10 FAES Classroom #5 (B1C210) |
| Wednesday, September 18 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST | bldg. 10 FAES Classroom #5 (B1C210) |
| Thursday, September 19 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST | bldg. 10 FAES Classroom #5 (B1C210) |
Fellows will review the concepts and structure to prepare a successful grant proposal, with special emphasis on the Career Transition “K” grant series, Nancy Nossal Fellowship Awards, and K99/R00 applications. The workshops will concentrate on NIH proposals and will include a mock study section. Participants will learn to develop a rigorous, well-defined experimental plan.
How to Register
Interested NIDDK fellows should email a letter of support (DOCX, 22.54 KB) , signed by their principal investigator, to Lorraine Moore.
Workshop Format
The workshops will be structured in the following format. Each six-day workshop will be divided into three sessions. Sessions will combine didactic presentations with mini group discussions, assignments, and proposal writing. A distance-learning component will allow students to submit their writing between in-person sessions; they will receive edits and feedback through email and phone conversations. A detailed schedule of each session is available below.
Session 1
Day 1
- review workshop content, NIH grant guidelines, and funding mechanisms
- review NIH-style biosketch components and content creation
- search the RePORT database for funded projects
Assignments:
- compile an NIH-style biosketch
- conduct a RePORT database search
Day 2
- review specific aims - what are they and how do you write them?
Assignments:
- write a draft introduction to a specific aims page
- write two specific aims and one hypothesis
- discuss draft hypotheses & specific aims
Session 2
Day 3
- discuss previous specific aims assignment
- discuss significance section: contents and organization
- discuss innovation section
Assignment:
- write significance and innovation sections
Day 4
- discuss rationale and problems and solutions sections
- discuss where to put preliminary studies
- discuss how to organize a research design
- discuss what reviewers are looking for
- assign grants for review for mock study section
Assignment:
- write up one experimental section of the research design
Session 3
Day 5
- wrap-up and considerations of other grant components
Day 6
- participate in mock study section
About the Instructor
Paula Gregory, Ph.D.
Director, Faculty Development Office
Professor
Department of Genetics
Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy
Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans (LSUHSC-New Orleans)
Dr. Gregory has been consistently funded by the NIH since 1997 and is currently a Principal Investigator on six NIH grants (NHLBI, NIDDK, NIAAA, NIGMS and OD). She has shared her expertise in grant writing with graduate students at LSU and post docs at the NHGRI since 2004. During that time, numerous students have been awarded F30/32s and K awards (K23s and K99s).
Dr. Gregory is also the Director of the Office of Faculty Development for the School of Medicine. In that role, she mentors new faculty and facilitates their career transition, ensuring their career success. She has also used her grant writing expertise to help many faculty successfully compete for research funding.
Additional information about Dr. Paula Gregory is available in her LSUHSC-New Orleans biography.