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Table of Contents
Are You Ready for This Part?
Part 2. Game Plan gives you a strategy for pursuing your research and helps you decide whether to submit an investigator-initiated application or respond to an institute initiative.
Before reading this page, be sure that you . . .
Start to Finish: How Long Will It Take?
Even if your application is approved for funding, many factors could cause a delay. |
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Probably longer than you think!
 Our Advice: Be Prepared for a Long Journey
If you are a new investigator, plan to spend two months or more of dedicated time to prepare an R01 application. It can take from 5 to 18 months after the receipt date to get an award, 3 months less for AIDS applications, assuming you succeed.
Don't count on it: most people must revise and resubmit before getting the grant.
Complex application types, for example, those including human subjects, take longer to prepare than simple ones do.
Even if your application is approved for funding, many factors could cause a delay. You can read some examples at Why You May Not Get Funded Right Away.
Go to NIAID R01 Application to Award Timeline and NIH's Review and Award Cycles section of Standard Due Dates for Competing Applications.
What's Your Game Plan?
Look way down the road, but plan for the next few years. |
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Roll up your sleeves, and start mapping out a strategy.
Our Advice: Look Way Down the Road, But Plan for the Next Few Years
We suggest that you plan your research goals for ten years or more based on research you've been doing. Then slice that plan into segments you can accomplish in three to five years.
That approach has three advantages:
- It helps keep your projects small. It is critical that you propose an amount of work you can do within the time and resources you request. Proposing too much is one of the main mistakes new investigators make.
- It forces you to think in terms of keeping your career going, helping you avoid the common pitfall of failing to get a renewal.
- Big picture planning helps you stay focused on your principal idea and how you will pursue it for many years of funding.
While the standard research grant, R01, provides a solid level of funding for three to five years of research, a single R01 will not support your entire life's work.
As part of your strategy, do not neglect your image. To some extent, your success depends on what your peers -- including peer reviewers -- think about your work. Even though you are busy at work and writing applications, keep up with publishing papers and presenting and interacting at scientific meetings.
Which Award Type Suits You Best?
To support a research project, you will choose a grant type (a.k.a., mechanism or activity code, e.g., R01) depending on your goals, the subject, your career level, and other factors.
Contact the program
officer for your area of science:
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Our Advice: Get Expert Guidance
Talk to your program officer and experienced investigators in your institution. If you haven't sought a program officer yet, go to the links in the box at right.
Also talk to your institution's sponsored research staff to learn what awards your institution lets you apply for.
Do not choose a grant type on your own. Why? NIH supports hundreds of specialized award types with a plethora of different characteristics. Adding further complexity are the following facts:
- Not all institutes participate in all grant mechanisms (a.k.a. activity codes).
- Different institutes or initiatives may have different requirements even for the same mechanism.
- Institutes might participate in a grant mechanism in certain areas of science only.
Talking to a program officer, whose name is listed in the funding opportunity announcement, will help you answer those questions, so you can make sure your plans suit the mechanism and the institute's rules. You can check NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID and the NIH Guide for recent funding announcements.
Finding a Research Grant
With the caveats noted above in mind, you may want to read the following information as background on three major research grant types: standard research project -- R01, Exploratory/Developmental Grant -- R21, and Small Grant -- R03.
First answer the following questions:
- Do you have preliminary data?
- Are you switching fields?
- Do you want a smaller, second grant?
Many people choose an R01, which provides three to five years of support to investigators who have preliminary data.
Lacking preliminary data? An R03 or R21 can give you funds to obtain those data if you have a hypothesis you can test in two years that will lead to a major project.
- Your planned R01 application will be a continuation of the same line of research. However, avoid overlap; NIH will not award a grant for research that is already funded or has already been done.
- To learn more now about R03 and R21, read our Small and Exploratory/Developmental Research Grants SOP.
Other Grants
Besides research projects, NIH has programs to target special areas, such as research centers or conference grants, or certain types of investigators, such as career development awards. For early career awards, go to Do You Qualify for an Independent NIH Grant?
You can find a list of grant types NIAID supports at Grants portals, but talk to a program officer before choosing.
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Do you have the background, resources, and data to qualify for an R01?
- No. Look into other award types. Talk to your institution and NIAID program officer.
- Yes. At this point, this tutorial is mainly for investigators applying for an R01. Continue reading.
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Are you a "new" investigator according to the definition at Are You "New"?
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About Picking a Topic
Your expertise, achievement of Specific Aims from a previous grant, and career level determine reviewers' comfort level with your proposal. |
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Decide what project you want to pursue for the next three to five years.
Our Advice: Try This Approach When Choosing a Topic
Consider the following points before deciding.
Your scope and goals affect
your strategy.
- If this is your first application, you might be better off writing several smaller, highly focused applications rather than one big one. They can be pieces of a larger long-term concept. Explain your approach in the Background and Significance section of your Research Plan.
- Your strategy may depend on the effect of any grants on your tenure track at your institution.
- If you are writing a renewal application, go to Part 12. Renewal Applications.
Be an expert in the scientific area.
- Start with topics within your area of expertise. It's critical that you have firsthand experience with the area of science and most of the methods (assuming you can recruit collaborators to fill some gaps).
- Your expertise, achievement of Specific Aims from any previous grants, and career level determine reviewers' comfort level with the research you propose.
- Reviewers may be skeptical about your ability to do the job if your track record doesn't match the research scope and funding level of your request.
Look at NIAID priorities.
Fit NIH's public health mission.
- Be sure you can tie your science to the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and cure of human diseases.
- NIH is the National Institutes of Health; its mission is to improve health through science. Get details at NIH Mission.
- Congress assesses whether NIH is spending the taxpayers' money to improve public health.
- Peer reviewers will judge the likelihood that your research does this -- just moving science forward is not enough.
Make sure your topic is unique.
- Search the NIH CRISP database and Community of Science to see if anyone else is pursuing that line of research.
Read more at National Library of Medicine LocatorPlus.
- By law, NIH cannot support a project already funded or pay for research already done (if you want more information, see Prepare Your Other Support Submission).
- Avoid sending NIH an application in an area overpopulated with researchers. Ferret out the gaps in high-priority areas in your field.
- Generally, you may send the same application to more than one organization outside the Public
Health Service (PHS) agency at the same time; NIH will not fund it
if you get that outside award.
Make sure your idea is not too broad.
- Select a hypothesis that is provable during your award period (e.g., three to five years for an R01) and with the level of resources you are requesting.
- Make sure your hypothesis is provable using your proposed aims and methods. To read more detail on this topic now, go to Don't Propose Too Much or Be Too Innovative.
Make sure your topic is significant, and your hypothesis is testable.
- Choose an important, testable question that can make a significant impact on your field and public health.
- Both significance and feasibility are required: even a technically flawless study design must show significant impact to fare well in peer review.
- Read NIH's five standard initial peer review criteria for R01s, which peer reviewers use as a gauge for assessing merit and feasibility. If you want to read more about that subject now, see the Review Criteria SOP and How NIH Review Criteria Affect Your Score.
Steps to Choose a Topic
Be sure to contact a program officer to get an opinion of your idea and learn about other topics. |
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Our Advice: Explore the Field, Ask Questions, Develop a Hypothesis
After reading the points to consider in About Picking a Topic, follow these steps.
- Assess your field for gaps. Check the literature to see if the topic has already been done.
- If you haven't done so already, contact an NIAID program officer in charge of your area of science for an opinion of your idea and to get others.
See Where Does Your
Research Belong?
- Write a one-sentence hypothesis for a topic to explore. More on that below.
- Refine your hypothesis.
- Assess what work is feasible for you to accomplish based on your experience and resources.
- Read an overview of Planning Your
Application in our New
Investigator Guide to NIH Funding.
Create a Solid Hypothesis
Your research design should be able to prove or disprove your hypothesis. |
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Most top-notch NIH grant applications are driven by strong hypotheses.
Generally applications should ask questions that prove or disprove a hypothesis rather than search for a problem or simply collect information.
Think of your hypothesis as the foundation of your application -- the conceptual underpinning on which the entire structure rests. Your experimental results will prove or disprove your hypothesis.
Don't confuse your hypothesis with methods. Methods describe how you will perform your experiments.
Our Advice: Keep Your Hypothesis Focused
Example of a good research hypothesis:
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Analogs to chemokine receptors can inhibit HIV infection. |
Examples of a poor research hypothesis:
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Analogs to chemokine receptors can be biologically useful. |
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A wide range of molecules can inhibit HIV infection. |
Get Ready Now to Apply Electronically
Most grant types require electronic application. Eventually, all types will. |
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Most grant types, including research grants such as the R01 and Exploratory/Developmental Grant -- R21, use electronic application.
Eventually, you will apply electronically for all grant types -- see NIH's Transition Timeline if you are choosing a grant type other than a research project grant.
Make sure these actions take place beforehand:
- Request an eRA Commons account at least a month before you want to apply. Ask the Commons signing official in your institution's business office to register you and associate your profile with your institution.
- At that point, you have the option to delegate a Commons account holder as an assistant role (ASST), who can view the status of your application.
- That person sees the same information as the signing official: errors, warnings, and the application image, but not your summary statement.
- Find out about your institution's procedures and timelines.
- Do staff or an automated system complete some of the application for you? Find out what internal reviews your institution requires and when they are due.
- NIH typically describes how to apply using the software described at Grants.gov's Download Software, but your institution may use a different approach.
- Find out who is your authorized organizational representative (AOR) for Grants.gov. Your AOR is usually someone in your business office who will submit your application on your behalf.
- Work with staff in your business office to sign a principal investigator signature assurance for each application.
- If your institution has never applied for NIH funding, it should start registrations at least a month before you want to apply.
- Sign up for the electronic submission listservs at Receive News and Updates.
- Read more at Select Approach and What do service providers do?, and view NIH's Electronic Application Process and Electronic Submission.
Find more information online:
Application Approach: What Are Your Choices?
Whatever approach you choose, stay within your area of expertise. |
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As you define your topic, you have two ways to approach your application.
You can submit an investigator-initiated application or respond to an NIAID high-priority initiative. To look at our current initiatives, go to NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID.
Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages.
Our Advice: Capitalize on Your Strengths
Investigator-initiated. Using this approach, you can apply in any area of science the Institute supports. Most people go that route -- as do most funds -- because it best enables them to stay within their expertise, the most important factor in succeeding in initial peer review.
With an investigator-initiated application, you have the most control and latitude to generate your own ideas. But you will have to convince peer reviewers that your topic is significant and worth NIH's investment.
Another point can affect fundability: NIAID funds investigator-initiated applications by paylines; whereas some initiatives use set-asides. More on that subject below.
Initiative. When responding to an initiative -- a request for applications (RFA) or a program announcement (PA) -- you are held to the requirements of the announcement and research areas NIAID has defined.
Though you choose your project, you must stay within the predefined areas of science.
Why go that route? Some initiatives have money set aside to pay for the research, which may be advantageous. All RFAs have funds set aside as do some PAs.
With a set aside, NIAID funds applications in priority
score order until the funds run out.
A set-aside may seem like a good deal but isn't necessarily:
- Your success will depend on the expertise and number of your competitors as well as the amount of money set aside.
- More money means more
grants, but if more people apply, a smaller proportion gets awards. You can find the amount set aside in the funding opportunity announcement.
- Since competition is often intense, contact the program officer listed in the announcement to find out what to expect. As always, you need expertise in the science.
What about program announcements that do not have set-asides? Even if a PA does not have funds set aside, NIAID
may fund some applications beyond the payline. And an application in a high-priority area is a more likely candidate for special funding.
One thing you don't have to worry about is significance. NIAID has done that for you -- the topic is significant.
If you respond to an institute-specific initiative (non-Parent PA) or RFA and do not get an award, you can resubmit the same application as a new
investigator-initiated application.
Blend the Approaches
How can you reconcile the need to stay in your area of expertise with the advantages of meeting an Institute priority?
Blend the two approaches: use a high-priority topic as the basis for an investigator-initiated application. If your score misses the payline, such an application is more likely to be funded with an R56-Bridge award or selective pay.
Do some sleuthing to find more priorities. Talk to program officers, and look at NIAID's concepts as guidance for high-priority areas.
A concept is the planning stage of an institute-specific initiative: a program announcement, request for applications, or request for proposals. Concepts are high-priority research areas in which NIAID would like to receive applications.
We publish ours on Concepts: Potential Opportunities for two reasons:
- Concepts can give you a heads-up for potential initiatives.
- Even if they never become published initiatives, concepts can give you topic ideas for an investigator-initiated application.
You don't need to wait for NIAID to publish an initiative to apply in a topic covered by a concept. Savvy investigators look closely to see whether their expertise lends itself to any of these important research topics.
Read our Five Steps to Finding NIAID's High-Priority Areas.
Plus, your program officer may be able to fill you in on other unpublished priorities.
Compare FOAs
For each FOA, NIH publishes announcements with additional information and instructions in the NIH Guide. |
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For any application you submit to NIH, you will apply through a funding opportunity announcement (FOA). We list NIAID's on our NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID.
Program Announcements
While both requests for applications (RFA) and program announcements (PA) are FOAs, PAs come in two types: institute-specific announcements or parent announcements -- see below.
All PAs solicit investigator-initiated research, and applications are reviewed in NIH's Center for Scientific Review.
Parent PA
 The parent announcement is simply a vehicle for you to submit an investigator-initiated application for a given mechanism in any area that meets the NIH mission.
Find a list at Parent
Announcements, including:
Institute-Specific PA
Institute-specific PAs solicit research in a broad area of science (and are occasionally for special administrative requirements).
For example, in 2008, we issued a program announcement to encourage research on human pluripotent stem cells from non-embryonic sources.
Requests for Applications
RFAs announce funding in a well-defined scientific area. For example, in 2008, we issued an RFA to advance topical microbicides to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.
When considering an RFA, make sure you are an expert in the topic. Applications are due on a single receipt date for review in NIAID.
In addition to the information above, you may want to read How Funding Opportunities Work in the New Investigator Guide to NIH Funding. To learn how NIAID decides what high-priority areas to target for initiatives, see NIAID Funding Opportunity Planning and the Budget Cycle.
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Does your project match the requirements of an institute-specific PA or RFA?
- Yes. Contact the program officer for advice.
- For RFAs, the program officer can also help you assess how competitive the opportunity may be.
- No. Use the parent program announcement to apply.
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When Will You Apply?
Receipt dates vary by grant type. |
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Your FOA will give you a receipt
date, a deadline for submitting your application electronically.
If you're submitting an investigator-initiated application, you will apply on one of NIH's three standard receipt dates. For example, new non-AIDS R01 applications are due February 5, June 5, and
October 5.
AIDS applications, small business applications, renewals, and certain others are due on different dates. For
all receipt dates, see the Standard
Due Dates for Competing Applications.
Our advice. You may want to work backwards to determine when you want to be funded, when to start preparing, and how long the
whole process will take.
Find more information online:
Help us improve our outreach to you by emailing deaweb@niaid.nih.gov. |
