Teaching Pharmacology Graduate Students how to Write an NIH Grant Application

Abstract

Objective. To fill the gap in grant writing training in pharmacology graduate education using an activelearning strategy. Design. Graduate students wrote subsections of a grant according to NIH guidelines. Students revised their applications based on multiple rounds of critiques from professors and peers throughout a semesterlong scientific writing course. Assessment. Prerevision and postrevision grant drafts were graded. Students were provided with questionnaires assessing their perception of the process. To determine the impact of feedback on the proposals, the quality of the pre/postrevision drafts was assessed by professors who were blinded and unaffiliated with the course. Conclusion. Student grades improved significantly upon resubmission. Perceptions of the proposals by blinded faculty members favored revised submissions based on multiple criteria. Survey feedback indicated an increase in student confidence in grant writing ability. The results of 3 independent measures demonstrate that intensive feedback on scientific writing improved the quality of student proposals.Keywords: grant, NIH, writing, graduate, active learning INTRODUCTIONWriting is essential for academic and scientific success and the dissemination of scientific findings. Writing and revising a grant application or manuscript helps students learn the research process, 1 solidifies the goals of future experiments, enhances awareness of recent research breakthroughs in the field, and places pilot data in a broader context. Manuscript writing, characterized by theme-centered, expository, dispassionate prose of scholarly pursuit, is markedly different from successful grant writing. The latter is characterized by a projectcentered approach and a persuasive, personal tone conducive to addressing the service goals of the sponsor. Graduate students need critical feedback during this process as they can struggle to frame their research plan and findings in a manner that highlights the relevance and contribution of their work. Junior scientists are often encouraged to provide drafts of grant applications to senior colleagues so flaws in scientific rationale, interdependent specific aims, lack of critical preliminary findings, and unclear prose can be addressed before submission. Generally, the only grant writing training graduate students or postdoctoral fellows receive is from assisting their mentor with his or her application, or possibly in writing their own fellowship proposal. The introduction of an explicit grant writing course or training program would, therefore, benefit students in transition to independent research careers.The goal of the present study was to incorporate grant writing into a pre-existing research seminar course for students enrolled in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Duquesne University. Many of these students may depend on scientific writing in their future careers, whether in industry, academia, or government research settings. Learning grant writing skills in graduate school may even bear on the student...

The benefits of workshopping graduate fellowships: a how-to guide for graduate students and early career scientists

“…Learning to strike that balance is key to a strong foundation in science communication and all its benefits (Kuehne et al 2014).…”

“…Rensburg 2015), and increasing numbers of universities are implementing formal courses in grant writing (e.g., Delyser 2003, Leak et al 2015. Additionally, training programs such as informal research proposal workshops (Dowse and van Rensburg 2015) and structured opportunities for students to pursue within-institution research funding earlier in their careers (Dumanis et al 2013) are emerging.…”

“…Grant writing is crucial in academic careers in order to support research and provide opportunities for career advancement (Dumanis et al 2013, Inouye andFiellin 2005); as such, it is increasingly recognized as a critical component of professional development for early career scientists and individuals in research-driven fields (Leak, O'Donnell, and Surratt 2015, Wasby 2001, Weissmann et al 1990). With grant and fellowship writing among the key skills required in both academic and non-academic career tracks (Blickley et al 2012, Fleet et al 2006, the training and experiential opportunities available to students are diverse and growing (e.g., Cole et al 2013, Dumanis et al 2013, Leak et al 2015.…”

“…With grant and fellowship writing among the key skills required in both academic and non-academic career tracks (Blickley et al 2012, Fleet et al 2006, the training and experiential opportunities available to students are diverse and growing (e.g., Cole et al 2013, Dumanis et al 2013, Leak et al 2015. Opportunities for structured interaction-including discussion of ideas as well as multiple iterations of feedback on writing-can lead to stronger research proposals (Dowse and van …”

National Institutes of Health grant opportunities for the neurointerventionalist: preparation and choosing the right mechanism

“…20 21 These classes may be defined by the type of grant an applicant is working on and often require a rough draft for a grant that will be further developed within the class framework. 20 Additionally, at annual meetings of the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery, Congress of Neurological Surgery, American Association of Neurological Surgery, and Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology, grant classes or reviews are often offered to obtain further critical reviews for grant applicants.…”