Strategic Writing for Quals and Beyond (BIOS 242 – Section 1)

Registration for this Autumn 2025 course is now closed. If you are a graduate student and interested in joining, email Crystal Botham.  

Weekly in-person meetings, led by Grant Coaches, provide structured grant writing instruction and guided peer review. Complementary videos and resources are available for additional support. This Bootcamp focuses on developing a Qualifying Exam proposal for the Biosciences Qualifying Exam, while also offering strategies for transforming your Quals proposal into a competitive NIH NRSA Fellowship (F31) or other internal and external funding applications.

This 9-week bootcamp includes:

• Weekly in person meetings led by Grant Coaches on Tuesdays September 23 – November 18 at 9-10:50AM
• Weekly peer review for impactful feedback
• Videos and resources to guide the development of your proposal
• Overview of grant writing fundamentals
• Tips & resources for writing compelling proposals

Who this is for:

• Biosciences & School of Medicine Graduate Students preparing for their qualifying exams
• All participants must committed to attending weekly in person meetings on Tuesdays September 23 – November 18 at 9-10:50AM

This Bootcamp is only available to Stanford affiliates at this time.

Graduate & Medical Students:

Please register using the link above and then we will email you a permission code to register for BIOS 242 (Section 1 on Tuesdays) in Axess. The course is credit / no credit. A satisfactory grade for BIOS 242 registered students requires attending and participating in at least 8 weekly meetings.

Our bootcamp goal:

The goal of the course is to conceive, write, and revise a proposal, with the ultimate goal of submitting it. Towards that end, ancillary goals are:

• Understand the role each document has in a proposal.
• Draft and revise each document, with a focus on Specific Aims, Significance / Innovation, and Approach
• Learn to give and receive critical feedback on scientific writing.
• Understand how reviewers and the review process evaluate your application.
• Enhance writing clarity and simplicity to improve scientific writing, and establish a writing practice.

This bootcamp is for you, if you can:

• Attend at least 8 in person weekly meetings (Tuesdays September 23 – November 18 at 9-10:50AM)
• Commit to a writing schedule during the entire course.
• Set aside 1-2 hours per week to review materials on course website (Canvas) which are organized as 10 modules.
• Build 2-3 writing blocks into your weekly schedule of at least 2-hours each to draft your proposal documents.

Bootcamp Structure:

Each week will begin with a mini-lecture addressing the above goals. Then you will peer-review parts of your application, focusing on one document per week. You will give and receive feedback from peers in class, with additional input from your Grant Coaches.

Attendance and Preparation:

Weekly attendance and participation is important! Each week you will complete guided exercises relevant to specific parts of your proposal application. In class you will receive feedback that will improve the clarity of your writing and deepen your thinking. Your peers also depend on you to provide feedback on their writing and our previous participants found that providing feedback helped improve their own writing as well. If you must miss your weekly session, please email your Grant Coach. You must attend 8 weekly meetings for a Satisfactory grade.

Textbooks Used:

• A Practical Guide to Writing a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Grant is specific for the NIH NRSA (F30, F31, F32) Fellowships. Check out a copy from Lane Medical Library.
• The K Award Guidebook: Your Guide to Launching an Independent Research Career is specific for NIH K Awards but also useful for NIH NRSA (F30, F31, F32) Fellowship writers or other proposals. All enrolled students will be provided a copy of the book. Or check out a copy from Lane Medical Library.
• The Grant Application Writer’s Workbook by Stephen W. Russell and David C. Morrison is an excellent resource when writing any fellowship or grant application. Though it focuses on the NIH R01, the strategies (specifically the Chapters on Specific Aims and Research Approach) are useful for successful NIH fellowships (i.e. F31) and career development award as well as any other funding opportunity. Check out a copy from Lane Medical Library.

• The K Award Guidebook: Your Guide to Launching an Independent Research Career (Available at Lane Medical Library)
• Writing a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Fellowship (F30, F31, F21)
• Finding Funding
• Eight tips for Planning Your Proposal
• Science & Art of Grant Writing Symposium
• Timing your Proposal – Department of Pediatrics resource
• Tools & Templates – RMG’s proposal checklists and templates

Comments from our participants:

“The deadlines forced me to think about my drafts and writing a compelling grant in a timely manner. Otherwise, I would have crammed it into 2-3 weeks before the deadline.”

“The peer review process helped me see my proposal through the eyes of a critical reviewer”

“It improved my writing skills”

“I really appreciated the grant coach office hours”

“Meeting up with other people that were ‘in the same boat’ as me was helpful”

Offered Next:

This Bootcamp is offered in the Autumn and Spring quarters. This bootcamp will be offered next in Autumn 2026.

Other relevant Proposal Bootcamps:

• NRSA Proposal Bootcamp
• Online Proposal Bootcamp
• Self-Paced Proposal Bootcamp
• Faculty & Instructor K Award Proposal Bootcamp

Grant Coaches:

Dr. Jordan Taylor Moore, a 2023 graduate of The Ohio State University’s Biomedical Engineering PhD Program, completed his graduate studies under the guidance of Dr. Daniel Gallego Perez. Currently a postdoc at Stanford University, he is co-mentored by Drs. Sarah Heilshorn and Marion Buckwalter. His postdoctoral training focuses on developing injectable drug depots for blood-brain-barrier repair and immunomodulation following ischemic stroke. Jordan is a 2021 recipient of the NIH/NINDS DSPAN F99/K00 Award, a Stanford Propel Fellow, and was recently awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund PDEP award. In addition to his research, Jordan actively contributes to community wellness initiatives for underrepresented populations in STEM, through organizations such as the Stanford Black Postdoc Association and GLAM Inclusion Committee.

Dr. Chris McGinnis is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Ansuman Satpathy at Stanford University. His research focuses on how tumors reprogram the immune system during metastasis. Chris earned his PhD from UC San Francisco in 2021 with Dr. Zev Gartner. At UCSF, he developed computational and experimental tools for single-cell genomics analysis. Chris is a 2025 recipient of the NCI K99/R00 Award and METAVivor Early Career Investigator Award and previously was supported through the CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Scholar Award, and the NCI F31 award. Chris is passionate about grant writing and works to promote early career researchers through his membership on the Metastasis Research Society Early Career Leadership Council.

Questions?

For more information, please contact Crystal Botham, PhD.