Tips on Meeting New NIH Requirements for Grant Proposals: Rigor, Transparency and More

March 31, 2016--In October 2015, NIH announced updates to the application instructions and review criteria for most research grants and individual mentored career development awards. These updates instruct applicants to address key areas NIH deems important for enhancing rigor and transparency in research. Additional recent changes were also implemented in the form of a new biosketch format and updated vertebrate animal requirements. 

UCLA CTSI has compiled resources to help with understanding current and future changes and provides helpful tools, tips and templates. These include:

• New NIH Requirements for 2016 Grant Proposals - a comprehensive presentation by University of Colorado School of Medicine which explains the timeline of recent and upcoming NIH changes for 2016 including rigor and transparency, vertebrate animals, biosketch developments and a summary of other recent changes.
• NIH Vertebrate Animals Template - for assistance with writing animal research into a grant proposal.
• NIH Biosketch Writing Tips - UCLA CTSI video tutorial on the latest 2016 NIH biosketch requirements. This is an update to replace the popular 2015 tutorial. Other biosketch tips can be found here.

You can also view our Funding Search Tools, Grant-Writing Tips and Templates for other information. Our Funding portal also provides samples of past applications and letters of support, boilerplate text, and information on how to receive grants submission support.