Course Description

NIH has released a dizzying number of changes recently. Good news - we regularly update this course to help you stay current! Looking for ways to write to the new scoring criteria? Unsure what to do about an animal model study you want to propose? Wondering about the so-called list of forbidden terms? We have you covered! This four-chapter writing course also contains many new samples and templates from recently successful applications. This course is unparalleled in keeping you competitive in a challenging funding landscape. It will raise your general grantsmanship skill and make your biomedical research funding applications more competitive.

If you have questions about your specific application or circumstances, please bring your questions to one of our live sessions (bi-weekly live Q & A, First Fridays office hours, and Bootcamps) to discuss with Dr. Bouvier. These 1:1 live opportunities are included in your Membership. 

Updated:  July 22, 2025

Preview an Excerpt of This Course

Helping over 3000+ learners from all skill levels

Our students have grown their skills by taking our courses. Here are just a few of their stories.

I want to share the wonderful news that I am officially an R01 recipient! I want to thank you for your enormous support. The writing course was critical for my grant development and subsequent submission.

Doris Ponce MD, MS

Top 3 Cancer Hospital

The training will be invaluable as I submit grants in the future. I plan to use the content with all R01 submissions.

George Monemvasitis MS

Top 3 Cancer Hospital

Course Details

Who: Designed for those preparing to write an R-series submission for an upcoming grant deadline, and the people who advise them.

When:  Available on demand

Cost: $1500

Summary of Course Sections

1. Preparation

You have a cool idea for a research project, now what? Great science is necessary, but not sufficient, to funding success. Here, I discuss preparatory strategies that distinguish my applicants who are consistently more successful at NIH. Actionable tips include how to search the Reporter website for similar projects and possible sponsoring IC, PO, and study section, and ways to identify the optimal NOFO for this stage of your career and project. Emphasis is placed on navigating the myriad recent changes at NIH. An interactive checklist helps you track your progress through these important steps.

2. Specific Aims

The one-page Aims document is arguably the most important narrative section of an NIH A0. Learn to grab the reviewers attention right from the start. Packed with templates and samples from recently successful applications, learners will be walked through the writing of an effective narrative overview, a well-constructed “we propose” paragraph, concise aims, and punchy impact statements. We then discuss how to use the draft aims page to identify an optimal study section and to vet your project idea with the Program Officer and colleagues. The course supplements contain tips, numerous samples from recent successful applications, and a writing exercise that consists of a funded Aims page into which I have inserted mistakes I typically see. An interactive checklist helps you track your progress.

3. Significance and Innovation

Applicants often struggle to write the Significance and Innovation sections and to understand the new scoring criteria. I walk learners through the writing of a strong Significance section, which includes the background/rationale, disease burden, the Rigor of Prior Research, and how your project will address the strengths and weaknesses of the prior research and reduce disease burden. I will demonstrate how the Innovation section must drive home the competitive advantage over previous and current approaches. Because reviewers tend to skim text at the meeting, I emphasize formatting strategies that ensure reviewers won't miss key concepts. Course supplements offer loads of actionable tips, templates, recently funded samples, and exercises to help you edit and write more competitively. An at-a-glance table and interactive checklist assist in developing a strong draft.

4. Approach

The approach section is perhaps the most intuitive yet daunting of the sections to tackle. And now, applicants worry about addressing the new scoring criteria introduced in FORMS-I. I will offer strategies for developing an effective outline and formatting techniques. One by one, we will review templates and samples for each of the sections typically included in the all-important approach section. Given the changes in the scoring criteria, emphasis will be placed on concrete ways to write effectively about rigor, including many examples from recently funded applications. An interactive checklist will help you write a competitive draft.


Learning Objectives

At the end of 3 hours 45 minutes of coursework, you will: 

  1. Identify and employ crucial steps to take to prepare to write an NIH grant application
  2. Acquire key information about effective NIH writing strategies
  3. Apply NIH effective strategies to writing and revising a draft submission Utilize learned skills to critique peer drafts to hone their own skills
  4. Utilize learned skills to critique peer drafts to hone your own skills
  5. Develop better grantwriting skills that will carry forward on all submissions, whether to NIH or other funding agencies


Content Disclaimer

Course content updated July 22, 2025. Content of this course was updated and re-recorded on this date. To our knowledge, 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.