Research Plan: Where to start?
Typically, a reviewer will read your application only once! So, you really need that “Wow!” factor.
When you write, keep in mind that assigned reviewers will…
- Look at your Specific Aims to make sure the research hasn’t been done before or is not currently underway.
- Review your Specific Aims and Significance to see if the research can make an impact on its field.
- Look at Innovation to see if the work is new and unique and can add significantly to existing knowledge.
- Review your Approach to assess how you’ll conduct the research.
- Read the Biosketches to look at the expertise of the key personnel you propose.
- See if you have the Institutional resources to do what you plan.
For more detail, click here (NIAID) and here (NIH).
| REVIEW CRITERION | Which Section of Proposal? |
| 1. SIGNIFICANCE |
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| 2. INVESTIGATOR |
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| 3. INNOVATION |
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| 4. APPROACH |
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| 5. ENVIRONMENT |
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For more detail, click here.
As you design your experiments, keep a running tab of the following essential data on a separate piece of paper:
WHO: A list of people who will help you for your Key Personnel section later.
WHAT: A list of equipment and supplies for the experiments you plan.
TIME: Notes on how long each step takes. Timing directly affects your budget as well as how many Specific Aims you can realistically achieve.
Jotting this information down will help you create a budget and complete other sections later.
Sample Applications & more (NIAID)
Duke samples (under Funded Grant Examples, Examples Specific Aims Pages)
NIAID Website
NIH Website
Duke Website
University of Michigan Website
Recommended Workbook
Let's start with the provisional Title
- The title is the reviewers’ first impression of a grant application.
- Titles that define the project clearly and accurately help referral officers steer applications to the most appropriate review panel.
- Keep the title as succinct as possible while including the important information to distinguish your project within the research area.
- Make your title reflect your project’s goals, the problem your project address, and possibly your approach to studying it.
- Make your title specific!
- My title is specific, indicating at least the research area and the goals of my project.
- It is 200 characters or less (for NIH R01)
- I use as simple language as possible.
- I state the research problem ans, possibly, my approach to studying it.
- I use a different title for each of my applications.
- My title has appropriate keywords.
Know the structure of Research Plan
Specific Aims
1-page statement of your objectives for the project
This section must contain everything that is important and exciting about your project, but without a lot of detail.
- The most important sections in any grant application.
- It must quickly engender robust enthusiasm for your idea.
- The flow of logic must be compelling.
- It serves as the template for the rest of the Research Plan.
In your Specific Aims, you note the significance and innovation of your research; then list your two to four concrete objectives, your aims.
Suggested structure;
- 1st paragraph: Identify the “Need”
- 2nd paragraph: Outline the idea for a “Solution”
- 3rd paragraph: Spell out the “Approach = specific aims”
- 4th paragraph: Summarize expectation
For more detail, click here.
What you include in each paragraph;
1st paragraph: Identify the “Need”
- Opening sentence
- Current knowledge
- Gap and lack
- Statement of need
- Consequences of not meeting need
2nd paragraph: outline the idea for a “Solution”
- Long-term goal
- Objective in this application
- Central hypothesis & how formulated
- Rationale (for R03)
3rd paragraph: spell out the “Approach”
- Specific aims
- 2-4 concise, eye-catching “headline” statements
4th paragraph: Summarize expectations
- Expected outcomes
- Positive impact
- I keep to the 1-page limit.
- Each of my 2 or 4 aims is a narrowly focused, concrete objective I can achieve during the grant.
- My aims highlight the significance of the research to science and health.
- My text states how my work is innovative.
- I describe the biology to the extent needed for my reviewers.
- I give a rationale for choosing the topic and approach.
- I tie the project to my preliminary data and other new findings in the field.
- I explicitly state my hypothesis and why testing is important.
- My aims can test my hypothesis and why testing it is important.
- I can design and lead the execution of two or three sets of experiments that will strive to accomplish each aim.
- As much as possible, I use language that an educated person without expertise can understand.
- My text has bullets, bolding, or headers so reviewers can easily spot my aims.
Research Strategy
A description of the rational for your research and your experiments
Your Research Strategy is the nuts and bolts of your application, where you describe your research rational and the experiments you will conduct to accomplish each aim.
It is structured as follows;
- 3 main sections
- Significance
- Innovation
- Approach
- Progress Report (for renewal)
- Each Specific Aim
- Introductory Paragraph
- Research Design
- Expected Outcomes
- Potential Problems & Alternative Strategies
- Timetable
- Future Directions
- Possible other sections, for example
- Human subjects
- Vertebrate animals
- Select agents
Research Strategy is limited to 12 pages for the three main sections and the preliminary studies only. Other sections, like research animals or select agents…, do not have a page limit.
Though how you organize your application is largely up to you, NIH does want you to follow these guidelines;
- Add bold headers or an outlining or numbering system -or both- that you use consistently throughout
- Start each of the Research Strategy’s sections with a header: Significance, Innovation, and Approach.
- Organize the Approach section around your Specific Aims
Refer to the NIH SF424 Application Guide.
For most applications, you need to address Rigor and Reproducibility by describing the experimental design and methods you propose and how they will achieve robust and unbiased results.
Research Strategy - Significance, Innovation & Approach
Significance is the positive effect that the successful completion of your research project is likely to have on addressing an important NIH-relevant problem.
Although you will emphasize your project’s significance throughout the application, the Significance section should give the most details.
Suggested format;
- Importance of the problem to be addressed
- Rigor of the prior research supporting the aims
- Aim #1 (literature & preliminary results)
- Aim #2 (literature & preliminary results)
- Aim #3 (literature & preliminary results)
- Significance of the expected research contribution
For more detail, click here.
- I describe the importance of my hypothesis to the field and human disease.
- I also point out the project’s significance throughout the application.
- The application shows that I am aware of opportunities, gaps, roadblocks, and research underway in my field.
- I state how mu research will advance my field, highlighting knowledge gaps and showing how mu project fills one or more of them.
Innovation is a new and substantially different way of addressing an important, NIH-relevant problem that requires departure from the status quo and could lead to new horizons.
- I show how my proposed research is new and unique.
- If I am a new investigator…
- Most likely, I explain how my project’s research can refine, improve, or propose a new application of an existing concept or method.
- Less likely, I go for the other option described in NIH’s definition: show how my research can shift a current paradigm. If I choose that path,
- I make a very strong case for challenging the existing paradigm.
- I have data to support the innovative approach.
- I have strong device that I can do the work.
Purpose for the Approach subsection is to describe how the proposed research will be carried out.
Every funding agency consider Approach to be an important review criterion. NIH data show that of the peer review criteria, approach has the highest correlation with the overall impact score.
Suggested format;
Under each Specific Aim,
- Introduction: what you propose to do and why
A work plan should begin with an overview paragraph (6-8 sentences MAX) that includes;
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- Research Design: exactly how you propose it
| Basic Science | Clinical Research |
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- Expected Results/Outcomes: what you expect to accomplish once what you propose to do has been completed
- Potential Problems & Alternative Strategies: What might go wrong and how you will fix it if something does go wrong
- I include enough background and preliminary data to give reviewers the context and significance of my plans.
- Each of my Specific Aims results in a set of experiments.
- They can test the hypothesis
- I show alternative experiments and approaches in case I get negative or surprising results.
- My experiments can yield meaningful data to test my hypothesis
- As a new investigator, I include enough detail to convince reviewers I understand and can handle a method.
- It is clear what I do well and what unique skills I and my team bring to research, If I think reviewers may have doubts, I explicitly state my team’s resources and expertise.
- If I or my team has experience a method. I cite it; otherwise I include enough details to convince reviewers we can handle it.
- I describe the results I anticipate and their implications
- I omit all information not needed to state my case.
- I keep track of and explain who will do what, what they will do, when and where they will do it, how long it will take, and how much money it will cost.
- My timeline shows when I expect to complete my aims.
Abstract and Narrative
Abstract sections may be small, but they’re the most important section during review!
All your peer reviewers read your Abstract. Write it last, but not at the last minute!
Be sure to omit confidential or proprietary information in these sections. When your application is funded, NIH enters your Title and Abstract in the public RePORTER database.
Your are allowed 30 lines of text. It should be a stand-alone section.
In your Project Narrative, you have only a few sentences to drive home your projets potential to improve public health.
For more information, click here.
Write a succinct summary of your project that both scientist and a lay person can understand.
Use your Specific Aims as a template. Shorten it and simplify the language.
Suggested structure;
- In the first sentence, state the significance of your research to your field and relevance to NIH’s mission.
- State your hypothesis and the innovative potential of your research.
- List and briefly describe your Specific Aims and long-term objectives.
- My Project Summary/ Abstract and project Narrative are accessible to a broad audience.
- They describe the significance of my research to my field and state my hypothesis, my aims, and the innovative potential of my research.
- My narrative describes my project’s potential to improve public health.
- I do not include any confidential or proprietary information.
- I do not use graphs or images.
- My Abstract has keywords that are appropriate and distinct enough to avoid confusion with other terms.
- My title is specific and informative.
Referencing Publication
References show your breadth of knowledge of the field.
Throughout your application, you will reference all relevant publication for the concepts underlying your research and your methods.
For more details, click here.
- Throughout my application I cite the literature thoroughly but not excessively, adding citations for all references important to my work.
- I cite all papers important to my field, including those from potential reviewers.
- I include <100 citations
- My bibliography and References Cited form lists all my references.
- I refer to unpublished work including information I learned trough personal contacts.
- If I do not describe a method, I add a reference to the literature.
