Part 2. Game Plan

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Table of Contents

• Are You Ready for This Part?
• Start to Finish: How Long Will It Take?
• What's Your Game Plan?
• Which Award Type Suits You Best?
• Strategy for Picking a Project
• Create a Solid Hypothesis
• Get Ready Now to Apply Electronically
• Application Approach: What Are Your Choices?
• Compare FOAs
  • Parent PA
  • Institute-Specific PA
  • Requests for Applications
• When Will You Apply?

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 . . .

• Know how to use this tutorial and where to find tools -- read How to Use the NIH Grant Cycle. Find helpful Tools: application samples, checklists, timelines, and contacts.
• Have a basic understanding of application timing, and know when and how to get help -- read NIH Grant Cycle: Start Here.
• Know if you qualify for an NIH grant and NIH's and your institution's expectations -- see Part 1. Qualifying for a Grant.
• Talk to NIH program officers to gauge where your application might belong -- go to Part 1. Qualifying for a Grant.

Start to Finish: How Long Will It Take?

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 preparing your R01 application. Complex application types, for example, those including human subjects, take longer to prepare than simple ones do.

Then 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 on the first try.

Don't count on it: most people must revise and resubmit before getting a grant. If you need to, plan on as long as 28 months from the time you initially apply until the time we fund your resubmission.

That period of time can vary dramatically depending on several factors. They include whether your application scores within the payline and is funded soon after peer review or whether you need to wait until the end of the fiscal year for the award.

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 R01 Application to Award Timeline for Initial Submission and Resubmission, Timeline by Review Cycle, and NIH's Standard Due Dates for Competing Applications.

During this period, you should consider where your support will come from during the interval it takes to apply for and receive an R01.

What's Your Game Plan?

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 keeps you 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.

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 ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I have preliminary data?
• Am I switching fields?
• Do I want a smaller, second grant?

Many people choose an R01, which provides three to five years of support to investigators who have preliminary data. To learn more about R01s, see Why You Should Consider an R01 in the New Investigator Guide to NIH Funding, and go to our R01 Investigator Resources portal.

Lacking preliminary data? A small grant (R03) or exploratory/developmental research grant (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 about the R03 and R21, go to our Small and Exploratory/Developmental Research Grants SOP and our Other Grant Types portal.

Other Grants

Besides research projects, NIH has programs to target special areas, such as research centers or conference grants -- see our Other Grant Types portal.

We also have awards for investigators at different careers stages, such as career development awards and fellowships. For more on that topic, go to:

• New Investigator Guide to NIH Funding
  • Do You Qualify for Independent Support?
  • What Award Should You Apply For?
• Training and Career portal

You can find a list of grant types NIAID supports at Grants portals, but talk to a program officer before choosing.

	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.
	Are you a "new" investigator according to the definition at Are You "New"? Yes. Read What's an R01? in the New Investigator Guide to NIH Funding. Make sure you identify yourself as a new investigator, and know what programs and options you can take advantage of. Then continue reading. No. Continue reading.

Strategy for Picking a Project

Decide what research you want to pursue for the next three to five years.

Our Advice: Try This Approach When Choosing a Project

Consider the following points before deciding your project.

1. Assess gaps and opportunities in your field.

• Carve out new space that could make an impact on the field.
• Avoid crowded areas because it's harder to make a difference.

2. Assess the importance of potential research areas to NIAID.

• To stay within your area of expertise, many people choose an investigator-initiated application, where you pick the topic.
• But you can capitalize on Institute priorities even with an investigator-initiated application.

3. Be an expert in the field.

Choose a topic within your area of expertise. It's critical to have first hand experience with the area of science and most of the methods, although you can recruit collaborators to fill some gaps.

• New investigators should not stray far from their area of expertise.
• More seasoned investigators can go farther afield.

Reviewers expect you to be an expert in the area you propose to investigate. Your expertise, achievement of Specific Aims from any previous grants, and career level determine reviewers' comfort level with the research you propose.

4. Choose a topic where you can make a high-impact on a narrowly focused area.

• Peer reviewers will judge your application's ability to move the field forward. Impact on the field -- together with feasibility -- will be the primary basis of your score.
• The more focused the project, the easier it is to avoid overlap with another application, in case you apply for another grant.

5. Write a sentence showing how your project is well focused, can make an impact, and has a testable hypothesis.

6. Rate your project.

7. Ask yourself how your reviewers might view the impact of your project.

Read another overview of Planning Your Application in our New Investigator Guide to NIH Funding.

Create a Solid Hypothesis

Most top-notch NIH grant applications are driven by well-focused and testable 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

• Narrow your idea to one hypothesis.
• Choose an important, testable, focused hypothesis that increases understanding of biologic processes, diseases, treatments, or preventions and is based on previous research.
• See if you can base your hypothesis on any of NIAID's high-priority areas: go to our NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID and Concepts: Potential Opportunities.

Example of a good research hypothesis:

Analogs to chemokine receptors can inhibit HIV infection.

Examples of a poor research hypothesis:

	Analogs to chemokine receptors can be biologically useful.
	A wide range of molecules can inhibit HIV infection.

Get Ready Now to Apply Electronically

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.
  • Foreign institutions need even more time to complete their additional steps.
  • You can see instructions for organizations on NIH's Register page and at Grants.gov Registration Instructions for Domestic and Foreign Institutions; read Foreign Applications Have an Extra Review Step.
• Sign up for the electronic submission listservs at Get Connected.
• 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:

• Applying for a Grant questions and answers
• How to Submit Electronically on Time
• When Will You Apply?
• Standard Due Dates for Competing Applications

Application Approach: What Are Your Choices?

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 overall impact/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 solicitation. 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 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:

• Parent R01 for any area of science (except NIAID Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trials, which use the R34).
• Parent R03, for small, short-term research projects.
• Parent R21, for exploratory or developmental research.

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.

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. Discuss unpublished priorities and concepts with the program officer. You may be able to take a blended approach as described in Application Approach: What Are Your Choices?

When Will You Apply?

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.

If you serve on a chartered NIH study section, you can apply for R01, R21, and R34 grants at any time, regardless of standard receipt dates.

Beginning July 15, 2009, NIH will open this option to members of the following NIH advisory groups:

• Boards of Scientific Counselors
• Advisory Councils
• Peer Review Advisory Committee

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.

• Use R01 Application to Award Timeline for Initial Submission and Resubmission and Timeline by Review Cycle to see time frames. Also see Start to Finish: How Long Will It Take? in Part 2. Game Plan.
• Eventually, you will need the more detailed information at How to Submit Electronically on Time.

• Applying for a Grant questions and answers
• RFAs, PAs, and Solicitations questions and answers

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	The next part of the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal is Part 3. Define Your Project.

Help us improve our outreach to you by emailing deaweb@niaid.nih.gov.