Description

In the chain of events leading to a funded research project, none is more important than the meeting of a review panel (or study section, as NIH calls them) to discuss, evaluate and rank the proposals submitted to a given grant program. Yet the process by which this group arrives at its findings can be somewhat mysterious, even to investigators who have written proposals. What are the critical factors that lead to their support or rejection of any given proposal? How does a group of individuals come to a joint recommendation? Understanding these dynamics will equip the pre-award specialist with tools to interact more effectively with proposal writers, providing practical guidance on how they can attain a better score from reviewers. This workshop will use two approaches to create an insider's experience of grant reviewing:

• NIH Mock Review Panel. A team of program officers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will simulate the dynamics of a typical study section in reviewing a proposal. They will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a sample proposal and rank it using the new NIH scoring system. Additionally, the NIAID officers will discuss the rationale and practical impact of the new system.
• Grant Reviewer Exercise. For this participational exercise, workshop attendees will read and evaluate a brief non-NIH grant proposal, using review criteria common to most funding agencies. First, individuals will do their own scoring; then small review panels" will convene to develop a final score and recommendation for funding. Each team will then report its findings for full group discussion of similarities and differences.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will be able to explain the practical application of the new NIH peer review system;
• Participants will be able list six review criteria commonly used by funding agencies;
• Participants will be able apply specific review criteria to assess the quality of a grant proposal;
• Participants will be able coach researchers on how to shape their proposals to address the sponsor's review criteria.

Pre-Requisites

Participants should have practical experience working with proposal writers

Program Level:

Intermediate