This checklist is based on Part 6. Other Application Sections of NIAID's NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal. Find more checklists at Checklists for the NIH Grant Cycle.
Table of Contents
- Tips for Other Form Components
- Other Project Information Form: Bibliography and References
Cited
- Other Project Information Form: Facilities, Resources, and
Equipment
- Senior/Key Person Profile Form: Prepare the Biographical Sketches
- Strategy for Planning a Budget
- Develop a Modular Budget
- Detailed
Budgets
- SF 424 (Cover Page)
- Project Summary/Abstract
and Project Narrative
- Project Summary/Abstract
- Project Narrative
- Last Steps After You Finish Writing
- Do You Need a Cover Letter?
- Requesting an Institute and Study Section
- You Will Send Some Materials Just-in-Time
Tips for Other Form Components
Have you completed all mandatory components and any optional ones appropriate to your application?
Are you aware that for the budget forms, "optional" means "pick the appropriate one"?
Did you make sure all information on the forms is consistent with your Research Plan?
To ensure consistency throughout, did you refer to the running tab we mentioned in Keep Track of People, Resources, and Timing?
For more information, go to Tips for Other Form Components.
Other Project Information Form: Bibliography and References
Cited
Have you listed all publications you cited in your Research
Plan and other parts of your application?
Did you limit your citations to fewer than about 100 but include the essential ones to show reviewers your breadth of knowledge
of your field?
Did you format the citations correctly?
If an article is online on a public site, did you include the link or PubMed Central identification number?
Have you read the Public Access of Publications SOP for more information?
Did you check the sample citations in Other Project Information Form: Bibliography and References
Cited?
Have you read Reference Publications for more tips on adding references to your application?
For more information, go to Other Project Information Form: Bibliography and References
Cited.
Other Project Information Form: Facilities, Resources, and
Equipment
Do you show adequate equipment,
space, and support staff to conduct the research?
Have you convinced reviewers your institution provides the
support you need and does not make excessive demands on
your time?
Have you described essential resources available
to you such as animal facilities or biocontainment resources?
Do the resources match the information on the Research
and Related Project/Performance Site Locations form?
Have you listed all your sites
and stated which parts
of the project each is completing?
Did you list major items of equipment you will use and give their location and capabilities?
For more information, go to Other Project
Information Form: Facilities, Resources, and Equipment.
Senior/Key Person Profile Form: Prepare the Biographical Sketches
Have you convinced reviewers you have the resources needed to conduct your research?
Did you make sure this section is consistent with the running tab we mentioned in Keep Track of People, Resources, and Timing?
Have you created a biosketch for all people who play a substantive role even if they are not paid a salary from the grant?
Even if you know someone will be gone by the time the application is funded, did you keep that person on the personnel list?
Have you used the standard four pages or fewer for the biosketches? Use the Biographical Sketch Sample as an example.
Have you filled out a copy of the Biographical Sketch form and attached it to the Research and Related Senior/Key Person Profile form?
Did you enter your eRA Commons ID as the "Credential, e.g., agency login"?
Did you not attach other support information (unless, rarely, your funding opportunity announcement instructs you to do so)?
Did you leave pending support out of the biosketches?
Did you read the Grant Application Guide for more instructions?
For more information, go to Senior/Key
Person Profile Form: Prepare the Biographical Sketches.
Strategy for Planning a Budget
Have you provided a thorough justification of your budget?
Did you make sure this section is consistent with the running tab we mentioned in Keep Track of People, Resources, and Timing?
Did you make sure your budget is not ballooning out of scale for your grant type or career stage?
If so, did you consider cutting back experiments or Specific Aims?
Have you read Think About Scope, Amount, and Effort for guidance on how much money and time to request?
Did you request only enough money to do the work?
Is your budget realistic and appropriate for your
aims and methods?
Did you avoid significantly over- or under-estimating?
Have you figured salaries will be 60 to 80 percent of your total request?
Does the PI's salary
takes into account the mandatory cap?
If you are requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs in any year, have you gotten NIAID's approval to submit? Read more in the Big Grants SOP.
Have you filled in the correct budget form -- Research and Related Budget or PHS 398 Modular Budget -- for each year and the total?
For more information, go to Strategy for Planning a Budget and related budget pages.
Develop a Modular Budget
Are you requesting less than $250,000?
Are you applying for a grant type that uses a modular budget: R01, R03, R21, R15,
or R34?
Did you create a budget in increments of $25,000?
Have you planned for the cost of the entire project?
Have you completed the attachments for the three justifications:
Personnel, Consortium, and Additional Narrative?
In your Personnel Justification Attachment, did you:
- List all personnel (not just key personnel)?
- Briefly describe responsibilities in enough detail to justify level of effort?
- Not give salary information?
- Include key personnel even if they will be gone by the time the application is funded?
If you haven't done this before, did you get help?
Did you justify if you varied the number of modules in the Additional Narrative Justification attachment?
Did you steer clear of asking for money for equipment at hand?
Did you avoid asking for expensive equipment unless you absolutely need it?
For consortium
arrangements, have you read Where to Add Consortium and Contractual Information and the Grant Application Guide for additional instructions?
For more information, go to Develop a Modular Budget.
Detailed
Budgets
Have you prepared a detailed budget if requesting more than $250,000 or applying from a foreign institution?
Did you use the Research
and Related Budget component forms?
Have you requested a salary that is under the annual cap?
Have you made sure your direct costs and facilities and administrative costs (indirect costs) are consistent on all pages?
Have you used whole numbers for person
months for percent effort and dollars for costs?
For more information, go to Detailed Budgets.
SF 424 (Cover Page)
Has your business office signed before submitting your application?
Have you provided your institution a unique signature assurance?
Have you visited people in your business office early to see what information and how much time they need?
Did you finalize the title and Abstract last?
Is your title specific and detailed?
Did you use suitable keywords so NIH referral staff will assign your application to the appropriate institute and study section?
For a resubmission, did you keep the same title? See Part 11b. Not Funded, Reapply.
For a renewal, did you keep the same title unless your research has a new direction or a significant change in scope? Read more in Part 12. Renewal Application.
Did you keep the same title for a revision (competing supplement)?
If you're a new investigator, did you check "yes" in the box on the PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement form?
If proposing human embryonic stem cell research, did you enter the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry number in the stem cell section in the application or state that you will use one from the NIH registry?
For more information, go to SF 424 (Cover Page).
Project Summary/Abstract
and Project Narrative
Project Summary/Abstract
Did you write your Project Summary/Abstract and Project Narrative using the Research and Related Other Project Information form?
Did you provide a succinct summary of your project that both a scientist and a lay person can understand?
Did you describe the importance of your research to your field and relevance to NIAID's mission?
Have you described your hypothesis, Specific Aims, and long-term objectives and why
they are important, innovative, or both?
Have you excluded confidential or proprietary information?
Have you made sure your Abstract has appropriate keywords?
Project Narrative
Did you use lay language to describe your project's potential to improve public health?
For more information, go to Project
Summary/Abstract and Project Narrative.
Last Steps After You Finish Writing
Have you checked that the main parts are on target and in sync with each other?
Have you determined if you should revise? Find questions to ask yourself in Last Steps After You Finish Writing.
Have you looked at your application from the perspective of a peer reviewer?
Did you take a break and then perform a substantive edit?
Have you gotten help from others? Have your peers reviewed your application?
Did you perform a final edit?
For more information, go to Last Steps After You Finish Writing.
Do You Need a Cover Letter?
Do you know that cover letters are recommended for all applications but required for some?
Do you know why a cover letter is extremely helpful?
Are you sure you didn't confuse the PHS 398 Cover Letter File with the mandatory PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement form?
For more information, go to Do You Need a Cover Letter?
Requesting an Institute and Study Section
Did you get advice from a program officer or scientific review officer? Read Consider Requesting an Institute and Study Section.
Have you checked the background of study section members to determine which committee would be best for you? See Consider Requesting an Institute and Study Section.
Have you used the correct format so Center for Scientific Review (CSR) systems can read your request? Go to Consider Requesting an Institute and Study Section for format information.
If requesting an institute, have you researched the Web for institute and center interests? Read Where Does Your Research Belong?
Do you know why you shouldn't look into paylines? Find reasons at Requesting an Institute.
Have you considered requesting a study section? See Requesting a Study Section.
Did you look up members of your prospective study section and cite their work if relevant? See Requesting a Study Section.
Do you know how to request a study section? Learn how at Requesting a Study
Section.
Did you explain why a study section would be a good match for you? Go to Requesting a Study
Section for an example of an acceptable and unacceptable request.
You Will Send Some Materials Just-in-Time
Are you aware that
you send some required items "just-in-time"?
Did you prepare information well before we make the award?
Did you not submit other support with your application to avoid the possibility that NIH will return it to you without a review?
Do you know the difference between research support and other support?
For more information, go to You Will Send Some Materials Just-in-Time.
Find more checklists at Checklists for the NIH Grant Cycle. For more information, see NIAID's NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal and the All About Grants tutorials. |