Trans NIH Short Application Kitt 12032007

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Trans-NIH Short Application Design Team
Cheryl A. Kitt, Ph.D. Deputy Director
December 3, 2007
National Institutes of HealthU.S. Department of
Health and Human Services
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Shortening the Size of R01 Applications

• Trans NIH committee
• Input and support from internal and external
  stakeholders
• RFI and analysis
• Pilots
• Trans-NIH Short Application Design Team

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The Advantages of Shorter Applications

• Operational
• Each reviewer may read more applications
• Study sections may be smaller
• More experienced reviewers can be recruited
• Cultural
• Reviews can be more focused on impact and
  innovation and less on approach and preliminary
  results

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First Trans-NIH Application Committee

• Committee communicated with scientific community
  via a web-based Request for Information (RFI).
• Committee developed recommendations for
  shortening in an integrated way with other peer
  review initiatives.
• Committee reported RFI results and its
  recommendations to PRAC and other groups April
  2007.

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NIH RFI on Shorter R01 Applications
Survey ended on January 8, 2007
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Current NIH Short Application Pilots and
Initiatives

• Self-Contained Pilots
• Program Announcements with special features
• - Length 8, 10, or 15 page research plans
• - Biosketch e.g., 10 most relevant publications
• - Format may focus on different aspects, i.e.,
  methods, impact, etc.

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NIH Short Application Pilots Follow-up

• Develop questionnaire to gather information on
  research plan length and application format from
  reviewers and NIH staff

• Focus on ability to assess science
• Probe issues related to length of research plan
• Probe issues related to format, including
  importance of potential impact vs. approach,
  review criteria, Biosketch, etc.
• Share draft questionnaire with NIH stakeholders

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Short Application Survey
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Short Application Survey
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New Trans-NIH Short Application Design Team

• Goals
• Design Generic Short R01 Application Template
• Design Review Criteria in Concert with Template
• Design Format/Template for Written Critiques
  (Summary Statement)
• Design Evaluation Instrument
• Select members from across NIH

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TRANS-NIH SHORT APPLICATION DESIGN TEAM
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Trans-NIH Short Application Design Team

•  Action Items
• ICs examples of RFAs, Pas, PARs, etc.,  that
  have solicited R01/U01 applications that were
  less than 25 pages
• How or if these short applications were evaluated
• Other examples of short grant application formats
  (i.e, Burroughs Welcome, etc)
• Suggestions for the design of the application and
  review criteria
• Select one model short application as a template

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Trans-NIH Short Application Design Team

• Report back to PRAC in April, 2007