CAIRIBU Community Opportunities for Early-Career Investigators
Learn about opportunities to catalyze connections within the CAIRIBU Community. From a presentation delivered by CAIRIBU Interactions Core director, Kristina Penniston, PhD, for the American Urological Association Early-Career Investigators Workshop: Pre-Workshop Webinar. Link to presentation below:
CAIRIBU ARCTICS Community Forums
Be part of the virtual CAIRIBU trainee community, ARCTICS (Advancing the Research Capacity of Trainees and Investigators at early-Career Stages). Virtual CAIRIBU ARCTICS Community forums provide resources and skills to the next generation of leaders in non-malignant genitourinary research.
Recordings of prior CAIRIBU ARCTICS Community forums are on the CAIRIBU YouTube channel
Materials from Prior CAIRIBU ARCTICS Community Forums:
- Fundamentals of the NIH Grants Process Slides (Dr. Christopher Mullins October 2023 presentation)
- How to Write a Scientific Paper Slides (Dr. Nicole De Nisco August 2023 presentation)
- Executive summary on preparing for post-grad career opportunities (Aug. 2022 ARCTICS forum)
- Slides from Dale Bjorling, DVM, MS (PI of the UW-Madison KURe Program; Aug. 2022 ARCTICS forum)
- Executive Summary on Becoming a Scientist – How to Know What You Need to Know (Aug. 2021 ARCTICS forum; prepared by Alexis Adrian, graduate student, UW-Madison U54 George M. O’Brien Center)
The CAIRIBU Mentorship Network was conceived by a committee of CAIRIBU trainees and ESIs. The objective is to provide an avenue beyond a trainee’s primary PI/mentor for additional individualized feedback or career advice (see the non-exhaustive list of potential topic areas below).
Potential Topics for Mentor-Mentee Relationship Discussions:
- Feedback and guidance on research questions and ideas (prior to developing specific aims)
- Feedback on portions of grant applications (e.g., specific aims page, strengths and weaknesses of approach, thoughts on how grant would be scored)
- Network building (connect mentee to others who can help their research and to key contacts in the field)
- Lab management (how to manage personnel, how to handle conflicts, etc.)
- Career advice (how to advance career, next steps)
- Negotiating salaries
- Managing expectations (how to set reasonable, achievable goals and how to avoid being overly ambitious)
- View the CAIRIBU Mentorship Packet for resources on establishing and maintaining a mentor relationship
How does the mentorship network work?
If you would like to be paired with a mentor, complete this form to specify your needs, expectations, research interests, and career goals. After you are matched with a potential mentor, you will contact the mentor to discuss whether it is a good mutual fit. If so, you will set up and maintain communications between you and your mentor.
Free Course for AUA Members
Mentors include Drs. Dolores Lamb, Li Xin, and Margot Damaser
Learn more
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GRANT WRITING
GENERAL GRANT WRITING RESOURCES
- Anatomy of a specific aims page – slides from Dr. Tracy Rankin, PhD, MPH, Deputy Director & Program Director, Division of Kidney, Urologic, & Hematologic Diseases, NIH
- Using inclusive and non-stigmatizing writing in grant applications
INSTITUTIONAL GRANT WRITING RESOURCES
Many institutions have grant writing resources to help investigators and students through the grant application process. Check out this list of institution-specific grant writing resources at CAIRIBU-affiliated institutions.
Pre-Award Resources:
- Getting started? Watch this VIDEO that covers the basics of the NIH grants process.
- Example Grant Applications – Find examples of applications including R01, R03 and K01 grants.
- Comparing Popular Research Project Grants—R01, R03, or R21 – Learn more about the different types of NIH grants including which might be right for your research idea.
- Types of Applications – Learn more about the types of NIH applications and specific submission requirements for each type.
- Contacting NIH Staff – Read more about which NIH staff member can help you at each phase of the application and award process.
- Search funding or find similarly funded projects with the NIH’s RePORTER Matchmaker tool.
- NIDDK Research Areas – Urology – Learn more about the urology-related topics and research that NIDDK supports. For additional information on clinical studies supported by NIDDK, go HERE or visit the Kidney and Urological Systems Function and Dysfunction – KUFD study section.
- Study Section Selection – Assisted Referral Tool (ART) – The Assisted Referral Tool (ART) was developed by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) to identify study sections that might be assigned to review your application. Enter your project title and a brief description to get matched with relevant study sections and review their rosters.
- All About Grants Podcast: Considerations for a Research Plan – In this NIH “All About Grants” episode a duo of NIH program officers, Drs. Lillian Kuo from the National Cancer Institute and Kentner Singleton from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, share their advice and experience on developing a research plan for a grant application. They discuss the relationship between the specific aims and research strategy, provide suggestions for when you sit down to start writing, and share common pitfalls.
- Center for Scientific Review (CSR) – Since 1946, the CSR has worked to see that NIH grant applications receive fair, independent, expert, and timely scientific reviews—free from inappropriate influences – so NIH can fund the most promising research.
- NIDDK 2021 Award Funding Policy – Find NIDDK budget data, funding guidelines, and more.
- NIH Peer Review: “Live” Mock Study Section – Learn more about the review process and get an idea of what happens during the review, during the discussion, what topics might come up
Form Help:
- PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form Walk-through – This video walks you through the FORMS-F version of the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form used for NIH grant application due dates on or after May 25, 2020. This form is used to collect detailed study-level information for the protocols included in NIH grant applications.
Post-Award Resources:
- Ever Wondered What Happens During the Scientific Review of an NIH Grant Application? – Understanding how peer review works is key to writing a good grant application. In this 44-minute video, NIH Peer Review: “Live” Mock Study Section, scientists have gathered virtually to review three fictional applications in response to a fictional Request For Applications. Watch their discussion to learn how applications are scored, what questions are commonly asked, and what mistakes to avoid in your application.
- Already funded? Find tips to stay funded.
GRANTS.GOV
- Learn the basics of grants including the grant lifecycle, grant policies, grant terminology, and more
OTHER PROPOSAL WRITING RESOURCES
- Developing Competitive Proposals – Grants Resource Center
- A Proposal Writing Short Course – Foundation Center
- Updates on recording ‘Other Support’ when applying for federal grants
Source: Office of Research and Sponsored Program, University of Northern Colorado
MENTORING
Find the mentor toolkit developed by UW-Madison Institute for Clinical and Translational Research HERE.
Get the most out of your mentor relationship. Craft an Individual Development Plan (IDP) together with your mentor to help you identify the skills, competencies, and relevant projects necessary for you to further your career goals. Find IDPs gathered by UW-Madison ICTR below:
Paper-based guides & templates:
- IDP from the University of Minnesota
- IDP from the University of Pittsburgh
- IDP from the University of Wisconsin
- Lab planning document from Yale University
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IDP Templates for Junior Faculty in Clinical and Translational Research:
- Duke Mentoring Plan Worksheet
- IDP from the UC Davis Medical Center
- UC Davis Medical Center Mentoring Worksheet
- UCSF Individual Mentoring Development Plan (IMDP)
Advancing Health Equity and Diversity (AHEAD) is a mentored professional development program for UW-Madison postdoctoral scholars working in the health sciences conducting research related to health disparities or health equity. Hosted by the Collaborative Center for Health Equity (CCHE), the AHEAD program seeks to address the gaps in professional support and training that postdoctoral scholars often experience by providing a cohort experience with supplemental mentoring. AHEAD participants can be from any department or unit across the UW campus.
OTHER RESOURCES
Connect to online resources
- New PI Slack community for junior faculty to help one another tackle common challenges
- Thriving as an Early-Stage Investigator: The Untold Do’s and Don’ts
- Hypothesis Center Live Demo, a dkNET webinar. dkNET is a search portal that helps researchers find research resources relevant to their research and keep up to date on new tools, services and mandates to support robust and reproducible science”