Typically, if you have progressed to an advanced degree in the sciences or engineering, or many other fields, you either have planned to - or already have undertaken - the writing of a manuscript for publication. In academia, it is abundantly clear that in order to advance your career…

Now that you have completed your specific aims, significance and innovation, and the bulk of your research strategy and have sent those files for numerous rounds of pre-peer review by your trusted colleagues and mentors, it is time to focus on some smaller, yet still very important details.

In the previous post, we described how to write an effective significance and innovation section, focused on defining the problem and providing a high-level overview of your proposed solution. In this post, we’ll outline the approach, wherein you’ll expand upon the solution and illustrate exactly how you plan to conduct the research.

The significance and innovation section is a recent (within the last 10 years) addition to the NIH and most other foundation grant applications. It is a place for you to showcase WHY the work should be done – WHY there is a significant need for your study, and HOW the work is different from everyone else’s approach. What makes it groundbreaking, original research, work that will advance our scientific knowledge?

So you’re thinking of writing a grant to fund your lab or fund your start up...Where do you start?

First, if you already have a target award in mind (for example: SBIR, NIH K-01, K-08, R-01, NSF, or American Heart Association), great! If not, you will need to research the appropriate funding opportunities, including those offered by governmental organizations or private foundations.

What started as a passion project in the summer of 2015, has grown into a full-time business venture. Just about 3 years later, we have expanded our capabilities, our network of expert advisory board members, rebuilt our website, and are ready to take on the world one paper, grant, and blog post at a time!