Grant Writing
ORC Grant Editing Service
Have your grant edited by Dr. Brenda Birmann, part-time grant editor with the ORC. Brenda provides individual feedback, assists with English language, grammar, and writing style, and ensures formatting and content is in line with NIH guidelines. Brenda does not provide scientific review, so we recommend getting feedback from your mentor(s) before submitting to have as complete a draft as possible. You may sign up for either an ‘Aims only’ or ‘Full Proposal’ slot in the months preceding your submission date. Slots go fast, so plan ahead!
Weekly editing slots beginning on specified Mondays are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Investigators submit draft materials by noon on Monday and receive suggested edits and feedback the following week.
All investigators may directly book a slot for editing help for up to two full submissions (or one full submission and two Aims only) within a 12-month period, with a soft limit of one submission within a given NIH cycle (as marked by the Feb/March, June/July, and Oct/Nov deadlines). Additional requests for editing during those time frames will be placed on a temporary waitlist to ensure that others who have not yet received assistance have a chance to book those slots (see below).
Waitlist Policies
If a slot has already been claimed by another investigator, it will show as “Claimed” in red on the booking calendar and will not be available for you to book directly. You may instead request to be placed on the waitlist for that date in case of a cancellation. In this case, you may be contacted to submit your materials with short notice, so please plan to have your draft ready to send on Monday if you are on the waitlist.
If you have recently received ORC grant editing and are requesting help with another grant, your request will be placed on a temporary waitlist even if the slot is currently available in the following scenarios:
- You have already had any grant edited by the ORC within this NIH cycle (as marked by the Feb/March, June/July, and Oct/Nov deadlines).
- You have already had 2 full grants, or 1 full grant and 2 Aims Only grants edited by the ORC in the past 12 months.
- You have already had 1 full grant and 1 Aims Only grant edited by the ORC in the past 12 months and would like to submit a second full grant.
- If you are submitting a second Aims Only grant, you may book it directly.
If any of these apply to you, please make sure to check the appropriate box in the request form. If no one else books the slot for that week, you will be able to submit your materials on Monday at noon as usual.
Sign up to have your grant edited here.
Grant Editing Calendar
For your convenience, you can view a calendar of all grant editing slots here (view-only). The status of each slot is shown by color and also in text when you click on the individual record.
Red – Claimed (available for waitlist)
Light Yellow – Available for Aims Only
Light Blue – Available for all submissions
Career Development (K Series) Grant Writing Workshop Series
The Office for Research Careers (ORC) is pleased to offer a pilot workshop series designed to provide guidance and feedback to junior faculty applying for National Institutes of Health Career Development (K) Awards.
On pause indefinitely after Summer 2019 cycle.
Mentoring
Mentoring Circles Program
The Mentoring Circles Program (MCP) is a program created by postdocs for postdocs. Two senior postdoc mentors meet with a small group of 5-7 junior postdoc mentees on a monthly-basis to give advice and help advance their career. Applications for the 2021 – 2022 academic year are closed. Next year’s applications will open in Summer 2022.
Learn more & apply to the program.
CURE Mentoring Program
The Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences Program (CURE), administered by the Initiative to Eliminate Cancer Disparities, allows postdocs to mentor a high school or undergraduate student in their lab for 8 – 12 weeks during the summer.
BWH Mentoring Toolkit
The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Mentoring Curriculum & Toolkit was developed to help mentors and mentees in academic medical settings navigate the challenges of mentoring relationships, build effective “developmental networks” and maximize the use of mentoring in career development. It consists of a collection of learning pearls, cases, readings, resources and tools to help both mentors and mentees develop productive mentoring relationships.
Additional MGB Resources
Brigham Health Young Professionals ERG
The Brigham Health Young Professionals (BH YP) Employee Resource Group has a subcommittee for Professional Development. Examples of past related events from this ERG include: workshops to identify/apply for jobs and graduate school; panel presentations by industry leaders; reading recommendations from senior leaders; and their very popular “Coffee With” series. All BH employees who identify themselves as young professionals, regardless of age, are welcome to be a part of the BH YP Community.
Visit the BH Young Professionals website.
MGB Professional Development Series (PDS)
This series from MGB offers several classes in Spring and Fall semesters as well as options for self-led learning, including an extensive Professional Resources Library to support all employees’ personal skill development.