Faculty Facilitator

Megan Mayerle

My goal is to provide strategies and tools to demystify the academic system and enable scientists to succeed.

📍 USA

Surviving and Thriving after Switching Labs mid PhD

I switched to a new research group and dissertation project in the 5th year of my basic biomedical research PhD. Three years later I graduated with multiple first authored papers and a much improved resume that included a teaching fellowship. I went on to complete a successful fellowship-funded postdoc

Types of Research Funding

Academic research is funded through a variety of sources each of which have distinct pros and cons. It's important to understand these, as the funding type determines what it can be spent on and when, and what risks are associated with using it. Many basic biomedical researchers assume

Maintaining a Wikipedia Page

It is now expected that a researcher has some sort of online presence. At a minimum this includes a University profile page, a lab webpage, and some sort of social media presence, often a Wikipedia page or LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is wonderful for networking, but is not the best option

Working with Minors

Having high school interns in the lab can be a valuable experience for both the high schoolers and for the graduate students and postdocs who mentor them. However, there are some specific concerns associated with working with people under the age of 18. Exact rules vary by location (city, state,

2025 NIH Simplified Review Framework

With the goals of both reducing review burden and broadening the number of individuals and institutions working with the NIH, the NIH is moving to a simplified review framework for all grants submitted on or after January 25, 2025. As of this writing, the outcome of review currently includes 5

Book Review - "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott

My format for book reviews is heavily borrowed from how James Clear does his book reviews, providing an overall summary and then notes and quotes that resonated with me. Final Summary This was a great book that discussed emotional and practical things that can keep people from writing. Practical recommendations

Grant Tip - Clearly State Your Expected Results

The Research Strategy of an NIH R01 grant contains descriptions of experiments to be performed in order to achieve the goal of the proposed research. While most people do an excellent job stating the goal of an experiment and describing methodology, many forget to clearly define what they expect to

NIH Letters of Collaboration (formerly Letters of Support)

updated August 2026 Per NOT-OD-26-094, the NIH is replacing Letters of Support with Letters of Collaboration. This change brings the NIH into alignment with the NSF. The change takes effect with the implementation of NIH Forms J in January 2027.This change only applies to Letters of

What is a PTA?

The majority of US universities use PTAs to track expenses charged to different accounts. A PTA is a bit like a bank account number in that it identifies a specific source of funding. However it’s more complicated in that it identifies the funding goal at 3 different levels, the

NIH URM Eligibility

updated February 2026. NOT-OD-20-031 was the most recent version of the NIH's Interest in Diversity. This Notice is no longer posted on grants.nih.gov consequent to the release of Executive Order 14151. The Notice it replaced, NOT-OD-18-210, is online but rescinded.