Course Description

The NIH Grantwriting Program for New R and K applicants

We know that NIH applicants with access to our virtual courses produce higher-quality drafts and have better retention of grantspersonship training, and better grant outcomes. Based on our cornerstone courses, Master the R Series and Master the K Series, we developed a program to facilitate the work of our client’s pre-award support offices and internal grant editors to improve the quality of R and K submissions and the number of applicants served. We call this comprehensive learning module the NIH Grantwriting Program (NGP): For New R and K applicants.

Benefits to learners

NGP offers step-by-step instructions for submitting an NIH R or K series application in conjunction with either of our courses: Master the R Series, or Master the K Series. Tasks are mapped to a timeline so that new applicants may focus their efforts. NGP serves as a guide for how to best use either of these courses to prepare a competitive grant application, helping them understand how and when to use the material. Applicants work from the NGP dashboard to pace themselves to their submission—receiving  brief assignments (including when to view specific lessons) with milestones and interactive checklists.

Benefits to Research Administrators

Administrators may use the NGP to invite faculty to engage in a more concrete way, committed to a timeline to submission. Importantly, it helps an applicant understand when and how to interface with their pre-award support office, their mentors, and a grant editor. Ultimately, the NGP:

  • Lowers the lift for university mentors and editors
  • Reduces reliance on external consultants
  • Lowers the ultimate cost and increases the number of applicants served
  • Makes the work of the pre-award support team more comprehensive and integrated
  • Creates a reliable, reproducible, and comprehensive strategy for applicants to create a fundable grant application

Learning Objectives

At the end of this program, participants will be able to:

  • Create a robust submission timeline and task list tailored to your NIH deadline
  • Undertake key preparatory steps that will facilitate writing a competitive submission
  • Write and format the major narrative sections in a way that is exciting, easy for reviewers to read and skim, and compliant with all the latest NIH policies and practices
  • Understand how to decipher Summary Statements, and to use the information to write a competitive resubmission
  • Understand the NIH review process and apply that knowledge in your future grantwriting endeavors
  • Mentor and coach other NIH grantwriters to learn and use these skills


Updated: May 2022

Content Disclaimer

Course content updated in May of 2022. Content of this course was updated and re-recorded on this date. The content was accurate at that time. We recommend that you search for changes that may have occurred to the content since the recording date. Note that the course title may have been modified slightly since the recording.