Spring Proposal Bootcamp: Biomedical & Biosciences
BIOS 263: Applied Grant-Writing Skills for Fellowships
The Spring Proposal Bootcamp: Biomedical & Biosciences is specifically tailored for graduate students applying to fellowships, for example the NIH F31 or F30, and postdocs writing the NIH NRSA Fellowship F32. Bootcamp participants develop proposals through guided exercises with an emphasis on establishing a writing practice, in-class peer review, and focused faculty feedback.
CANCELLED IN 2020 (VIRUS OUTBREAK)
Spring Proposal Bootcamp – Mondays 2:30-4:30 pm starting March 30 to June 1, 2020.
Graduate Students will also register in AXESS.
Space is limited so please only sign up if you are committed to attend and participate fully in the entire multi-week course.
Comments from our participants:
“The faculty review workshops are fantastic and maybe a once-in-a-life kind of experience”
“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”
Why Join our Multi-week Proposal Bootcamp?
- Increase your potential for success! Prior cohorts (started in 2014) have had a greater than 40% applicant success rate with 904 proposals submitted so far.
- Learn new approaches for eliciting and delivering effective feedback! 100% of prior Bootcamp participants (460 in Autumn Proposal Bootcamp alone) reported feedback received during course improved their writing.
- Discuss your proposal with engaged faculty! As part of the Bootcamp, you have an opportunity to meet with Stanford faculty to discuss your proposal in highly rated workshops.
- Join the Bootcamp community! This community will guide and support your efforts in writing a strong proposal.
Ideal Participants:
School of Medicine or Biosciences Program Graduate Students and Postdocs committed to working on their proposals during the Bootcamp. Graduate Students and Postdocs from other Schools committed to working on proposals relevant to the biomedical and biosciences fields during the Bootcamp. In the Spring Proposal Bootcamp, all participants are working on NIH NRSA Fellowships (learn more: https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs/fellowships).
Bootcamp Goals:
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:
(1) Understand the role each document has in a proposal.
(2) Draft and revise each document, with a focus on Specific Aims, Research Plan, and Training Plan documents.
(3) Learn to give and receive critical feedback on scientific writing.
(4) Understand how reviewers and the review process evaluate your application.
(5) Enhance writing clarity and simplicity to improve scientific writing, and establish a writing practice.
Proposal 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 Coach and faculty outside of class. In the Spring Proposal Bootcamp, the course is structured around the documents central to the NIH NRSA (F30, F31, F99/K00, F32).
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 7 weekly meetings for a Satisfactory grade.
Textbook:
Course textbooks are available to check-out at Lane Medical Library, Lane Course Reserves located in the Lane building, near the courtyard next to Stanford Hospital. Course reserves can be checked out for up to 28 days and can be renewed online up to three times.
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 are useful for successful NIH fellowships (i.e. F31) and career development award as well as any other funding opportunity. *** Course participants that attend 8 of the 9 weekly meetings AND complete the weekly reflection quizzes in Canvas will be eligible to keep this book at the end of the course. All others must return the book (if book is not return, you will be charged $100 by Lane Medicine Library).
The second textbook (A Practical Guide to Writing a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Grant) is specific for the NIH NRSA (F30, F31, F32). Check out a copy from Lane Medical Library.
