2023 Grant Writers Coaching Group for NIH Awards
June 22, 2023
8:00 AM-6:00 PM ET
Fairmont El San Juan Hotel
About the Meeting
The Grant Writers Coaching Group for NIH Awards is designed for racial and ethnic minority faculty who are actively working on a K or R NIH grant proposal. The goal of the program is to support minority faculty in improving critical writing skills to strengthen grant proposals and increase diversity in medicine.
Research shows that racial and ethnic minority faculty often experience differential success with grant applications. According to an article published in Science in 2011, “Minority researchers in the United States consistently win NIH funding at lower rates than their peers.”
The AAMC helps minority faculty write successful grants through the Grant Writers Coaching Group for NIH Awards. The Coaching Group is led by Dr. Rick McGee, Associate Dean for Professional Development, Professor of Medical Education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Dr. Daniel Jay, Dean and Professor of Developmental, Molecular & Chemical Biology at Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. They will use their expertise and peer review to address faculty members’ frequently identified needs for direct hands-on assistance with proposal preparation. The goal of the Grant Writers Coaching Group is to complement existing support that the faculty member already has to submit a competitive proposal. This program is comprised of four primary activities: (1) orientation webinar; (2) in person workshop; (3) individual consultation; and (4) virtual coach and peer review sessions.
Program Overview
Dr. McGee has developed this group-based approach to grant writing for faculty over the past decade and it has become a highly effective core element of faculty development at Northwestern. At the in-person workshop, the group is divided based on K or R grant submissions. The group process starts with a detailed review of how the NIH review process shapes proposal writing, and the core elements of a proposal, along with what reviewers are looking for in a successful grant application. Drs. McGee and Jay will lead the group process providing detailed coaching and facilitating peer feedback to each person on strategies for improving the design and writing of their proposals. This group process has been shown to be exceptionally effective at teaching both writing and scientific design skills. After the full day preconference, Drs. McGee and Jay will meet individually with each Coaching Group member to provide additional guidance and discussion of topics specific to their career, scientific development, and making progress toward completion of their proposal.
Over the course of 2-3 months, sections of each participant’s proposal are reviewed in bi-weekly online group meetings with real-time feedback from Dr. McGee, Dr. Jay, and peers in the group. The feedback process allows for rapid improvement of not only writing, but often improvement in the scientific underpinnings of the project and study design. During this time, participants continue to work with scientific and other mentors involved in their work. The group complements and supplements, not replaces, scientific and career mentors.
Participation involves:
- Submission of draft application materials prior to the conference
- A 1 day in person workshop
- An individual one-on-one virtual meeting with a coach
- Follow up virtual bi-weekly group meeting webinars (approximately 90 minutes) to facilitate ongoing review and discussion about proposals for a duration of 2-3 months (July 2023 through October 2023) or possibly longer depending on the participant’s needs and interests.
How does this differ from activities in the Minority Faculty Leadership Seminar(s)?
The Minority Faculty Leadership Development Seminar provides information and skill building in a variety of professional development areas for early career faculty (assistant professors, Residents and post-docs) looking to advance in academic medicine. The Coaching Group is intended to serve as a complementary skill building program for eligible participants focused on NIH awards. Interested individuals can participate in both programs. Priority consideration for the Grant Writers Coaching Group will be given to current Minority Faculty Leadership Development Seminar registrants or past Minority Faculty Leadership Seminar participants.
Why is this different from other grant writing programs?
The major difference between this and other grant writing workshops or strategies is the ongoing work of the Group and its members to keep refining the proposals. This will be accomplished through an internet-based group meeting that will allow ongoing discussion of sections of each person’s proposal. It will include a bi-weekly 90 minute session that would start 1-2 weeks after the Workshop and will continue for 2-3 months depending on participant’s interests and needs. Participants who choose to continue into this extended phase would need to commit to participation in at least 80% of the sessions to both give and receive feedback. Dr. McGee or Dr. Jay will also be available for individual consultations, as needed.
Eligibility for Participation
To be eligible for the Coaching Group, an applicant must meet the following criteria and expectations:
- Priority consideration will be given to individuals registered for the 2023 Minority Faculty Leadership Development Seminar (MinFac) or past participants of MinFac (date of attendance will be confirmed).
- Actively and realistically writing an award with at least a good start to defining the research question, hypotheses, and Specific Aims – target submission for October/November 2023 or early 2024. (Someone farther along wanting to submit for August 2023 would qualify, as would someone resubmitting a revision or a full grant later in 2024).
- Willingness to participate fully in the intensive period.
- Support to participate from medical school and local research and other mentors.
- Openness to receiving honest, constructive feedback and a desire to learn how to give constructive feedback on proposals.
- You must be affiliated with an AAMC member institution, a non-profit medical education or professional organization, or a college or university. Please note that commercial representatives are not permitted to register for the meeting.
Application Process
Interested individuals need to apply no later than May 18, 2023. There is a separate registration/application process for the Minority Faculty Leadership Development Seminar and the Grant Writers Coaching Group for NIH Awards. Considering the nature of the program, only 20 individuals will be accepted to participate in the Grant Writers Coaching Group. Once accepted, the program cost is automatically processed on the credit card provided during application.
Prior to the preconference workshop, each group member will need to submit to Dr. McGee or Dr. Jay the following materials related to their application:
- NIH Biographical Sketch
- Specific Aims page with well-crafted research questions, hypotheses, and overview of approach
- Copies of as much of the proposal as they have written
- An outline of the Career Development and Mentoring plans – concept and goals if not written yet
- Schedule/availability to meet with a coach virtually