Grant Pre-Review Program

Overview

The goal of the College of Medicine (CoM) Grant Pre-Review Program is to assist faculty in preparing competitive, high-quality grant proposals. Through this program, applicants can expect to receive constructive feedback from experienced reviewers in advance of a new grant submission or resubmission to an external funding agency. The primary objective of this program is to increase the funding success rate of extramural research proposals in the CoM.

Eligibility

The program is open to all UC-paid faculty in the College of Medicine who plan on submitting the grant application through the UC CoM Operations & Finance. The CoM Office of Research accepts research proposals for pre-submission review throughout the year on a rolling basis. The program particularly welcomes proposals that have been previously submitted to a funding agency, received a score but not awarded, and are being prepared for resubmission. 

Review Process

Applicants are required, via REDCap, to submit an initial request and details regarding their grant proposal. Investigators can recommend potential external reviewers and/or request assistance to identify reviewers with appropriate expertise. A maximum of two external reviewers will be compensated ($500/reviewer) for the review of each proposal. In addition, to assist UC CoM early-career scientists in becoming more competitive as grant applicants through first-hand experience of the peer review process, when applicable, we will also request a suitable UC junior faculty member to review the proposal. Proposals will be scored independently using the NIH review criteria to provide feedback regarding the proposal’s strengths and weaknesses. Upon receipt of all reviews, a debrief conference call between the investigator and reviewer(s) will be coordinated to discuss key recommendations and to address any questions or concerns regarding the critiques. The CoM Office of Research will assist in coordinating all aspects of the Grant Pre-Review process.

Requirements

The program intends to provide expert reviews within 30 days prior to the actual grant deadline date of the application so that feedback may be taken into serious consideration prior to the final submission of the proposal to the funding agency. Thus, to maximize the potential of the Grant Pre-Review Program, investigators are advised to submit requests and have proposal documents ready for review as early as possible. Final approval of requests will be at the discretion of the CoM Office of Research. If approved, applicants will be required to provide their NIH Biographical Sketch, Specific Aims, Research Strategy, and Bibliography & References Cited as Word documents. For enhanced feedback on the overall proposal, it is advisable to include other appropriate ancillary documents in a single PDF. Resubmission proposals must include any agency reviews (i.e., summary statement) and the response to reviewers. Additionally, if the proposal is for a career development award, the investigator is required to submit the Candidate Sections.

Upon submission of a reviewed grant, participants will be required to complete a brief evaluation of the program via REDCap and update the CoM Office of Research on the funding outcome.

Should you have any questions about the program, please contact Brieanne Sheehan or Jen Veevers, PhD.

Complete a Grant Pre-Review Request!