The K99/R00 came back – I made a very respectable 37 (although I prefer Donna’s ‘outstanding’). Only 50% of applications are scored (the other 50% considered ‘triaged’). The grants are scored from 10-90, with 10 being the very highest. 10-30 is considered ‘high impact’ and the cut-off for funding (the ‘payline’). 40-60 is ‘medium impact’ and 70-90 ‘low impact’. Yes, I am aware of NHLBI’s terrible grasp of maths there 🙂 So, I got a good score, and I am particularly pleased given that
-This was my first ever grant
-I was only a first year postdoc,
-I was entirely new to the scientific area of the grant submission
-I wrote it largely on my own, with very little scientific feedback
So, now I am going to get it ready for a resubmission. Of course, my resubmission changes will depend on the comments, which although they will be painful, I am actually looking forward to receiving. But I already know some areas to improve:
-The writing. I tried to hide behind jargon to make my trait sound more important than it was. So, instead of calling it ‘particle size pattern’, I called it ‘dyslipidemia’. To me that sounded more fancy, to scientists I think it just sounded confused. I am much better at taking the time to write about why particle size patterns are important, and then just calling it that.
-The future directions for my research. I thought that ‘future directions’ meant how will you deepen and further these findings, but actually, they want to know broader future directions. So, as an example, if I found a positive gene association, I said that the future direction was to investigate this gene finding further with more complex data. Actually, a better future direction is to use this gene finding in a predictive algorithm to predict health outcomes. So, not more targeted subsequent research directions for me, but broader implications for aiding future health.
-The power calculations. They were rubbish. I have learned to do them better.
-Candidacy. This was a big one. I had no publications in the area, had only been a postdoc for a year (with a PhD in a different area) and the personal statement of my biosketch was so bad I was told (after) that people didn’t even know where to begin in helping me change it.
So, at the ‘end’ of this round, I am feeling pretty positive. Here are things I wish I had known before writing my K99 / R00 application:
-I stood a chance. This was the biggest thing I wish I had known. I would have pushed for more help with the Science from more experienced people, if I had known this. I would have kept chasing some leads at NIH, except that I felt I was wasting their time as everyone kept telling me I had absolutely no shot. David was the only person who really encouraged me to shoot fully for it. I wish I had listened more.
-How willing some junior people are to help. That is helps them too to get an idea of what other people’s grants look like, what goes into them, so it is OK to ask for help more.
-How time consuming it was. I underestimated how very much it takes to get everything together for the first submission. It will be (and has been) much easier from here on.
-The myriad of benefits that come from putting together a grant. I met people got PIs interested in my project, developed my writing, in fact – got a whole Science project together.
Overall though, this experience has been wonderful. Just one more (less) point in 7 out of 9 categories and it would have met the payline. And I have a whole year and a half left of postdoc to make up for it.
Klaus said:
When I initially commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new
comments are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is
added I receive four emails with the exact same comment.
Perhaps there is a way you can remove me from that service?
Many thanks!
Lekki Frazier-Wood said:
I am seeing if I can do this Klaus; I have emailed wordpress.com to see what can be done. Thanks for reading x
John Chandler said:
i received my score which is not fundable but is promising. while I wait for the summary statement, i am running into an issue which is that i am close to five years of postdoc and at the next cycle, I will be over by 2 weeks. do you think nih will allow me to resubmit my k99? what is the best way to argue my case? i will appreciate any help!
Lekki Frazier-Wood said:
Speak to your PO. This is something I wish I had done before. Seriously – this is not something you can pass by NIH without them noticing, but your PO will really help you if they can. And good luck!! I do wish you the best with it 🙂
dfasdf said:
Hey Its NIMH. First I got a 35 then resubmitted got an 18. Good luck. Its one hell of a process. I highly recommend this book it saved my life!! Check out the site and tips
http://www.grantcentral.com/workbooks.html
Lekki Frazier-Wood said:
Thanks for the tip. That is a great improvement. Mine went from 36 to 28, so much closer to the payline. I am not sure I explained it very well though, as one reviewer’s comments did not reflect what I had intended to be the content of the analysis – so… I don’t know if there is anything I can do before Council Review… Yours is awesome though; well done!
dfdd said:
cool i just got mines back too 18
Lekki Frazier-Wood said:
Dude, that is rocking. That has to be below the payline and make funding, no? Which institution? I have to post my updated score… it is kinda a long story…
John Chandler said:
great job – i wish i were this smart!
i just submitted my k99 – do you remember how long after submission you received your score?
lekkiwood said:
Hey John, thank you for the kind comment. I am now going through resubmission pains, and so it was much needed. If you log into era commons, you will see the date of your IRG meeting. It is usually ~3-4 months after submission date. They will discuss your score at that meeting and post it 2-5 working days later. I was NHLBI and they were very quick – just 2 days after the meeting. However, they will NOT email you until your summary statement is ready, so you should keep checking yourself. Best of luck – keep in touch 🙂 I’ll be writing a couple of follow-up pieces later 🙂