Twelve Illinois faculty selected for the 2024 NIH Grant Writing Series mentorship program

2/5/2024 11:35:34 AM Hannah Wirth

The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute is pleased to announce the 12 Illinois faculty selected for the 2024 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant Writing Series program. Led by faculty who have demonstrated a history of success with NIH proposals, the biennial NIH Grant Writing Series is designed to prepare Illinois faculty to submit their first R01 or other individual investigator proposals to the NIH.

Selected participants attend six weekly lecture/discussion sessions addressing various aspects of the submission process, followed by a peer review workshop. Loosely modeled after a study section with the cohort acting as reviewers, the workshop allows participants to experience being on a review panel while receiving peer feedback for their Specific Aims page. With the mentorship of an experienced faculty member throughout the program, each participant writes and compiles an advanced draft of an NIH proposal that has been reviewed by their peers and faculty mentor.

Applicants are nominated by a dean, department head, or director and chosen by the NIH Grant Writing Series Selection Committee. Early-career faculty are selected based on demonstrated level of need, anticipated benefits of completing the program, how likely they will be engaged, and if they will be actively working on an NIH proposal during the program. The Selection Committee strives to select from a range of disciplines and backgrounds based on personal statements from the nominees and recommendations of the nominator.

Since 2015, 88 faculty have been nominated by their departments and selected to complete the full program. Our records show that these faculty members have been awarded over $48.8M from NIH to date with a 17% success rate. Illinois Speech and Hearing Science Prof. Laura Mattie completed the mentorship program in 2018 and will serve as a panelist in the 2024 series.

“Participating in the NIH Grant Writing Series helped to create a strong draft of my Specific Aims page and gain feedback from peers outside my discipline,” noted Mattie. “This helped me think about how to discuss the aims in terms that are more accessible to a general audience.”

Meet the 2024 NIH Grant Writing Series Cohort

NIH grant writing resources at IHSI

The 2024 NIH Grant Writing Series will take place on Tuesdays from 3-4:30 p.m. Jan. 30 through Mar. 5 via Zoom. The series is open to all Illinois investigators. Join us to learn about all aspects of the NIH funding process from understanding funding mechanisms to responding to reviewers. Registrants may attend one, some, or all sessions. Learn more and register.

IHSI’s Research Development team is organizing NIH Writing Groups for Illinois researchers working on NIH proposals. Groups will meet weekly via Zoom for one hour. If you are interested in participating, please sign up and a team member will contact you with your group’s schedule.

Connect with IHSI

The IHSI Research Development team works directly with Illinois investigators to expand health sciences research across campus. The team provides proposal development support, offers grant seeking workshops and resources, and coordinates campus-wide responses to local and national funding priorities. Please contact Maggie Berg with questions or to discuss partnership and support for your research project.

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