Faculty Facilitator

Topic

Writing

A collection of 19 issues

Writing Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation (LOR) are ubiquitous in academia. They are an important component of applications for schooling, career advancement, enrichment activities, and for awards. A good LOR can make an otherwise borderline application successful, and a bad LOR can destroy the chances of an otherwise good applicant. Faculty members, particularly

R01 Research Strategy - Innovation

Is the work innovative? This question is included in the evaluation of NIH R01 grants as part of the Importance of the Research under the new review framework, and is the second component of the Research Strategy. In order for your grant to be funded, you must be able to

Establishing Feasibility in NIH Grants

Rigor and Feasibility are one of the 3 key factors NIH grants are scored on under the new evaluation framework. Feasibility is most commonly established within the Approach section of the Research Strategy, however other components of the grant can also be used to establish feasibility. Research Strategy: Approach The

Leaving with an Unpublished Paper

Grad students and postdocs often leave a lab with unpublished data. Often, when the work is eventually published the author list is not what was anticipated. This can cause hurt feelings and if someone was really counting on those first author publications coming through, career progression. At the same time

Formatting Grants

Properly formatting your grant is essential for ensuring its comprehensibility to reviewers, which facilitates their ability to understand and promote your work. It can also help ensure that your documents are fully compliant with sponsor guidelines. Labeling sections and subsections All grants have required sections and subsections. These need to

Preliminary Data

Preliminary Data serve two purposes in a grant application. The first is to establish feasibility at the conceptual level. The second is to establish feasibility at the technical level. Each goes in a different location in an R01 application. In Approach, before Aims For most grant applications there is some

NIH Roles and Responsibilities

While many scientists use terms such as "Collaborator" and "Co-investigator" interchangeably, the NIH has specific definitions for these terms as well as other terms used to define roles and responsibilities for individuals associated with grants. It's important that the correct term is used to

Communicating Research

In order for research to be impactful, your findings and their significance must be understood. Such communications can take a variety of forms, some traditional and some more unusual. Traditional Channels Peer-reviewed publications Peer-reviewed publications are a non-negotiable component of running a successful research program. Research findings must be published

Pivoting Research for Foundations

United States federal research funding has historically been a key driver of scientific advancement, economic growth, and societal well-being. The level and consistency of financial support provided by government organizations such as the NIH, NSF, DoE and others has directly accelerated the number of breakthroughs in medicine and technology, while

Developing a Writing Practice

The ability to write quickly and well is essential for success in biomedical research. There is a constant need to produce protocols, grants, manuscripts, letters of recommendation, lay summaries, abstracts, and other documents, along with the high volume of professional emails requiring a response. Fortunately, writing is a skill that