APPLICATIONS AWARD SUCCESSFUL · Writing Successful Award Applications F I N A L T H O U G H T S PERSIST You won't get every award you apply for and that's OK. BLINDERS ON Every research

A N M S B S S W E B I N A R

SUCCESSFULAWARDAPPLICATIONSAlison Harrill, PhD

Writing Successful Award Applications

What We WillCover TodayESSENTIA L KNOW -HOW

The extended abstractRecommendation lettersOther tips & tricksHow are applications reviewed?

APPLY FOR EVERY AWARDYOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR.

1 ST RU LE OF AWAR D APPLICATIONS

IT 'S L IKE THE LOTTERY: YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOUDON' T PLAY.


THE EXTENDED ABSTRACTAn example of a successful award application


Extended abstract1 - 2 P A GE S

PROBLEM FORMULATION1st few sentences of your applicationWhat problem is your project trying to solve?

BACKGROUND MATERI ALThis section provides the reader with some context tobetter understand why this is such an importantresearch question to tackle

STATEMENT OF PURPOSEWhat's this project for, anyway?

PARAGRAPH 1


Extended abstract1 - 2 P A GE S

DESCRIBE THE EXPERIMENTThis should be concise, with just enough detail tounderstand the experiment

FINDINGSThis section provides the reader with some context tobetter understand why this is such an importantresearch question to tackle

FINDINGS IN CONTEXTHow do your findings relate to real-world applications?

HUMAN RELEVANCE

PARAGRAPH 2


F IG U R E 1Including a figure brings your research to

life!

And, saves you text space because you cansummarize results and point to figure.

TABLE 1Similarly, a table can really drive home

your main points.

Can be very concise with an inline legend.


FinalConclusion

Explain why we should be excited about what youfound

WHAT DO YOUR RESULTS IMPLY?Whats the next step to advance this research?

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

You'll notice that the first sentence and lastsentence of the paragraph aren't materially different

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

PARAGRAPH 3

ReferencesKEEP THESE TO A MI NIMUM

They can quickly eat up space But, these can give reviewers the impressionthat your arguments are well-supported byprior data


Use restraintR E S IS T T E M P T A T ION

You want to impress the judges and mightthink: "They want to hear about everything I'veever done in this lab!!" They don't. What they want is a coherent story. You can always show your shiny new data inyour talk or poster at the meeting.



TIPS & TRICKS

R E V IE W EX A M P L ESAsk your mentors, friends, and colleaguesfor examples of successful applications.

DON'T GO IT A LONEAsk your mentors and peers to review andprovide feedback.

P L A N AH E A DCheck ALL submission dates andrequirements. It takes time to developconcise documents. Plan for a few drafts.

TAKE IT SERIOUSLYExtended abstracts are reviewed in detailand often discussed by the review panel.


Recommendationletters

THE ONE PIECE WE CAN'T CONTROL LET'S REVIEW WHAT MAKES A GOODLETTER. SOMEDAY YOU'LL HAVE TO WRITE ONE!

Key ElementsM A K E Y O U R L E T T E R PO P

EXAMPLES OF HOW THEYSTAND OUT?

"Ari is a team player - he always goesout of his way to help other lab

members with their experiments."

"Emily has actively soughtleadership opportunities in the SOT

and on campus, for example..."

HOW DO YOU KNOWEACH OTHER?

"Edgar has been a graduatestudent in my lab for 3 years"

"I've gotten to know Yoselin wellover the 6 months she has spentas a postdoc fellow in my group"

SPECIFICCONTRIBUTIONS TO

THE WORK"Sam picked up the experimentfrom a former postdoc, but has

worked tirelessly for the past year tomake it their own by updating and

implementing a new RNAseqanalysis pipeline."

STAGES OF REVIEW

2. APPLICATIONSSCORED

Blinded scoring system (often 0-10) for main elements, such as

novelty and importance of work,clarity of written elements,

strength of recommendation.

1. REVIEWERSASSIGNED

Depending on how manyapplications, they may be

divvied up across a fewreviewers.

3. APPLICATIONSDISCUSSED

Often if avg. scores are close forthe top few applicants, a call

will be convened to discuss andgain agreement on the winner.



FINAL THOUGHTS

PERSIST

You won't get everyaward you apply for

and that's OK.

BLINDERS ON

Every research projectand experience is

different. Don'tcompare your

research to another's -you have a shot!

RELATIONSHI PS

The key to a greatrecommendation

letter is to develop aconsistent positiverelationship with a

mentor.

SURVEILLANCE

Check societywebsites and social

media for awardannouncements.

Check yourinstitution's fellows'

office too!

"Give it your best!" - Alison Harrill

GOOD LUCK !

Documents

APPLICATIONS AWARD SUCCESSFUL · Writing Successful Award Applications F I N A L T H O U G H T S PERSIST You won't get every award you apply for and that's OK. BLINDERS ON Every research