Better at the Bench

Why are the specific aims important?

As Jen Wilson highlighted in her Zoom Mini lecture, there are three major reasons why your one-page specific aims may be the most important document you prepare:

1. Specific aims are the perfect document for eliciting feedback

2. Specific aims function as a “roadmap” on which you can outline your proposal

3. Specific aims will be critically assessed by reviewers, so it should be well written and well organized.

What are the instructions for writing the specific aims?

Yup, that’s it. As you can see, the instructions provided by the NIH are not very detailed.
Formatting instructions: The Specific Aims must be limited to 1 page (with one-half inch margins and on a standard letter paper size 8½" x 11”) with a font size of 11 points or larger.
Contents: Address a critical barrier/gap in knowledge, state the goals of the proposed research with expected outcomes, include hypothesis driven research objectives, and incorporate in a statement regarding how this research will impact the field.

Resources to help you get started

Books

• Hollenbach, Andrew. A Practical Guide to Writing a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Grant. Amsterdam: Academic Press, 2014. [ISBN 978-0-12-420187-3]

• Russell, Stephen W. and David C. Morrison. The Grant Application Writer’s Workbook: National Institutes of Health Version. Los Olivos, CA: Grant Writers’ Seminars and Workshops, LLC, 2016. www.grantcentral.com

• Yang, Otto O. Guide to Effective Grant Writing: How to Write an Effective NIH Grant Application. New York: Springer US, 2012. [eBook ISBN 978-1-4614-1581-7]

Online written resources

• NIH resources. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has compiled a great tutorial on how to draft your specific aims and has provided sample application and summary statements from a wide variety of NIH grants (Fs, Ks, and Rs). Definitely a great resource to check out and it’s appropriate for non-NIAID researchers.

• BioScience Writers. NIH grant applications: the anatomy of a specific aims page. I found this online resource a long time ago and found it helpful when writing my first specific aims. Briefly, it’s a short instructional document that walks your through writing your specific aims paragraph by paragraph. I really like this resource because it colors each sentence to help you understand its purpose. Through the use of colored sentences, this resource really helps you to systematically structure your first draft.

Online written resources from the Stanford Grant Writing Academy

• For those enrolled in the 2020 Spring Bootcamp, previous NIH grants should now be available for viewing on Stanford Box.

• Jen Wilson also uploaded the slides from her short talk on Canvas.
  How to access the slides: Log onto Canvas —> Modules —> Writing the 1-page specific aims document —> Week_1_Slides_short

Videos from the Stanford Grant Writing Academy (some of these require a SUNet login for viewing)

• Getting to the heart of the matter: Crafting specific aims (42 min) by Professor Martha Cyert
  A presentation from the 2017 Stanford Science and Art of Grant Writing Symposium. A clear and thoughtful introduction to the specific aims. At the end of her talk, Dr. Cyert walks your through her own specific aims (sentence by sentence) and in doing so provides insight into the thought process that goes into the crafting of this document.

• Your research idea in one page (28 min) by Director Crystal Botham
  A presentation from the 2015 Stanford Science and Art of Grant Writing Symposium. Also a great informational video, but very similar to the talk by Martha Cyert (above).

• Writing your specific aims (12 min) by Director Crystal Botham

  A quick introduction to writing the specific aims (I included notes on this talk below)… This is really the CliffNotes video version of the longer specific aims talks above).

• A formula for the big picture (27 min) by Professor Russ Altman

  A presentation from the 2017 Stanford Science and Art of Grant Writing Symposium. Dr. Altman provides 6 tips for writing a successful grant — these tips include, but are not limited to the specific aims.

• Optimizing your ideas (39 min) by Professor Russ Altman
  A presentation from the 2015 Stanford Science and Art of Grant Writing Symposium. I really enjoyed this video, Dr. Altman is very entertaining and discusses the important topic of how to develop a compelling research strategy. This video is specifically helpful with regards to how to craft the first (introduction of the problem) and second (how to solve the problem) paragraphs of your specific aims.

• Making your idea worth it (22 min) by Professor Latha Palaniappan

  A presentation from the 2017 Stanford Science and Art of Grant Writing Symposium. An interesting (and very interactive) talk that discusses strategies for making your research come across as compelling — definitely great tips for writing the introduction of your specific aims.

notes and handout from the video “writing your specific aims” by dr. crystal botham

If you don’t have a lot time and want to quickly learn the details of how to technically write and structure your specific aims, then I would definitely recommend watching “Writing your specific aims” by Dr. Crystal Botham available on Stanford University’s Grant Writing Academy website. The video is short (12 minutes) and efficiently guides you through the process. I’ve included some of my notes below and the Stanford Grant Writing Academy has prepared a specific aims handout here.

In the video, Dr. Botham breaks down the Specific Aims writing process, dividing the task of writing this very important document into four digestible pieces. A majority of the video is spent describing in detail what each of these four sections should contain and how these sections can be written up by addressing a small set of questions.

• Section #1: Introduction of the large overlying problem
  Questions — Is the research question important? Is there an important gap in your field that is holding your field back?
  Content — The introduction must grab the attention of the reviewers and directly address the mission of the funding source. This section also includes a large overlying problem in the form of a knowledge gap or unmet needs statement.

• Section #2: Introduction of the sub-problem
  Question — What is the overall goal of your proposal?
  Content — This second paragraph is like a funnel, where you transition from the big knowledge gap (that you presented in the first paragraph, above) to the specific aims (that you will present in the third paragraph, below). This second paragraph will introduce the sub-problem, a component of the larger overlying problem that the applicant will propose to solve in their grant.

• Section #3: Specific Aims
  Question — What will specifically be done?
  Content — This is the specific aims. Dr. Botham notes that the applicant should include broad aims that are achievable regardless of how the hypothesis tests. This section should also briefly include the methods that will be used to test the hypothesis.

• Section #4: Conclusion and payoff
  Question — What is the expected outcome and impact of the proposed work?
  Content — A brief, but well written conclusion that addresses the expected payoff of the project. Dr. Botham mentions that the conclusion should again address the mission of the funding agency and directly address what the return on the investment (aka. the applicant) will bring to the funding agency.

All in all a great formula for writing your Specific Aims.