NIH Mentored Career Development Awards (K Series) Part 2

Thomas Mitchell, MPH Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics University of California San Francisco

Slide 1: Writing a competitive mentored K award grant application

• 4 main sections of the grant application:

  • 1) The Candidate
  • 2) Statements by Mentors, Co-Mentors, and Collaborators
  • 3) Environment and Institutional Commitment to Candidate
  • 4) Research Plan

Slide 2: Section 1: The Candidate

• 1.A Candidate%u2019s background
• 1.B Career goals and objectives: Scientific biography
• 1.C Career development activities during award period
• Length: 4-8 pages: remember, Section 1 (Candidate) and Section 4 (Research Plan) are subject to 25-page limitation.

Slide 3: Section 1: The Candidate: Review Criteria

• Quality of the candidate's academic and clinical record.
• Potential to develop as an outstanding independent researcher.
• Likelihood that the career development plan will contribute substantially to the scientific development of the candidate.
• Appropriateness of the content and duration of the proposed didactic and research phases of the award.
• Consistency of the career development plan with the candidate%u2019s career goals and prior research experience.

Slide 4: Section 1.A Candidate's Background

• Suggested length: Approximately 1 page.
• Using your NIH biosketch as your guide, provide a personal narrative of your professional career.
• Explain why you made key career choices (e.g., to pursue specific kinds of clinical and research training opportunities or research projects).
• OK to use 1st person (%u201CI%u201D).
• Give examples of the opportunities you%u2019ve had to engage in research (basic or clinical), as evidence of your long-standing commitment to research.
• Describe your role in these projects; highlight early evidence of productivity (e.g., pursuing a specific question, analyzing data, presenting or publishing your results).
• Describe any formal research training (ATCR, MPH, etc).
• Tip: Begin this section with a summary statement regarding your long-term research career goals.
  • Example: %u201CMy goal in seeking a Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award is to advance our understanding of health disparities in chronic kidney disease (CKD) within Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Specifically, I seek to develop the skills necessary to establish a community-based CKD cohort with the ultimate objectives of identifying modifiable, ethnicity-specific risk factors for CKD; improving access to CKD care; and developing effective management strategies to confront the higher rates of end-stage renal disease observed in ethnic minority communities.%u201D

Slide 5: Section 1.B Career Goals and Objectives

• Suggested length: 2 - 3 pages
• Describe how you developed your current research focus (i.e., the evolution of your ideas that led you to the research proposed in the K award).
• In describing the research you%u2019ve conducted, clearly describe the role you played and the skills you acquired.
• End this section with an assessment of your strengths and weaknesses with regard to the specific challenges that lie before you (i.e., the research plan outlined in the K award and the R01 project that will follow it).
• Indicate specific areas where you have deficiences and explain why gaining additional training and mentored research experience in these areas will be critical to achieving your short-term and long-term career development goals. Give concrete examples.

Slide 6: Section 1.C Career Development Activities During Award Period

• Suggested length: 2 - 3 pages.
• Given the training areas you%u2019ve indicated in Section 1.B, describe the specific training areas you will pursue to acquire these skills.
• Describe in detail how you will gain this training, such as through specific courses, individualized tutorials, or practical experience gained from conducting the research.