NIH Boot Camp Frequently Asked Questions

Participation is limited to faculty members and career researchers (not postdocs or graduate students) who have not yet served as Principal Investigators on NIH R01 grants. Participants should be ready to submit an application to NIH within one year, i.e., they should already have a well-conceptualized research plan, preliminary data and foundational funding.

Mentee applications will be vetted by UCI leadership and selections will be made in collaboration with Department chairs and others as appropriate. While we expect most applicants will be early-career faculty members (i.e. Assistant or Associate Professors), this is not a requirement. 

By signing up for the UCI NIH Boot Camp as a mentee, you will receive:

• Specialized Training: Enhance your ability to prepare a more impactful and competitive NIH proposal
• Guidance: Assess your strengths and build a research plan to become recognized in your field
• Camaraderie: Connect with interdisciplinary peers and experts; jumpstart your research funding 

You will be expected to attend several large group events/workshops (e.g., grant writing seminar, biostatistics and budget workshops, rigor and reproducibility panel) and monthly small-group team meetings (you and your coaches and peers will decide the times) and meet with your own internal subject matter expert (ISME) who will have specialized insight into your scientific field of study. You will also be required to conduct a Chalk Talk, an exercise designed to help you present and refine your specific aims. A basic timeline is below:

Large Group

• April – Opening Event
• May – Grant Writing Sessions
• June – NIH Review Process-Rigor & Reproducibility
• July – Biostatistics Support at UCI
• August – Budgeting for Federal Grants
• Sept/Oct – Data Management Plans
• Nov/Dec – 
• Jan –
• Feb – Closing Ceremony and BC Reunion

Team & ISME Meetings

• April – Chalk Talks planned & presented: Finalizing Specific Aims
• May – Chalk Talks planned & presented: Finalizing Specific Aims
• June – Chalk Talks planned & presented: Finalizing Specific Aims
• July – Significance/Innovation writing, reviewing
• August – Significance/Innovation writing, reviewing
• Sept/Oct – Focus on writing and presenting proposal sections for feedback
• Nov/Dec – Focus on writing and presenting proposal sections for feedback
• Jan – Get proposals out to ESMEs
• Feb – Proposals due

Between large group events, and as part of your monthly team meetings, you will:

• Be led through exercises to identify the skills and resources you need to be competitive
• Devise a plan to obtain those skills and resources
• Write and refine the sections of an NIH research grant proposal
• Provide and receive feedback throughout the development process

Before submitting to NIH, you have the option to obtain a review from an external subject matter expert (ESME).   

Two coaches lead a team of 4-8 mentees; the mentees and coaches often share a general common research interest (i.e. cancer, infectious disease). The number of teams is determined by total mentees accepted to the NIH Boot Camp. Each mentee works with an internal subject matter expert (ISME, a UCI faculty member); each mentee can obtain additional proposal feedback from an external subject matter expert (ESME, faculty member at another institution). 

At the completion of the program, you will have: 

• A plan to fortify your research skills and resources 
• A competitive, well-reviewed NIH grant application. Together with your coaches and subject matter experts, you will determine a realistic deadline for your proposal submission and will agree to submit by that deadline 
• Working in small interdisciplinary groups of faculty members will offer additional benefits of learning about other scientific fields and technologies, developing new perspectives, possibly enriching your own study, and providing potential research collaborators

The deadline for proposal submissions will be between February and June 2025 as determined by the mentee, coach, and subject matter experts, in partnership with additional leadership as appropriate. 

Earlier deadlines will vary from mentee to mentee depending on the status of the research program, preliminary data, and the proposal draft. Submission is a requirement of the program and will be verified by the Boot Camp Manager.

Small group peer mentoring fosters camaraderie, support, and cooperation. Several articles have described the success of peer mentoring (e.g., Johnson KS, Hastings SN, Purser JL, Whitson, HE. 2011. The Junior Faculty Laboratory: An innovative model of peer mentoring; Academic Medicine, Vol. 86, No. 12). 

An additional benefit is stimulation of interdisciplinary and translational research. We will assign 4-8 faculty members who share some scientific commonality with the coaches (e.g., clinical research, chronic health conditions, etc.), but who come from different departments and represent different scientific perspectives, disciplines, or methodologies. 

While coaches are only committed to attending one small group meeting per month, team members may decide to meet more often on their own. 

Prior to the start of the program, mentees will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to confirm their commitment to the Boot Camp. Department chairs will also sign the MOU as acknowledgment and support of mentees’ participation in and completion of the program. Additionally, in the middle and at the end of the program, the Boot Camp Manager will develop an activity report for each mentee and send a copy to both the Chair and co-coaches. 

Check our website for details. 

Standard

• Attend the Opening Ceremony and lead table discussions/introductions of assigned peer groups (1.5 hr) 
• Attend Coaches' Meeting (May) with Boot Camp Manager (1hr) 
• Coordinating and cooperating with a co-coach 
• Attend small peer group (team) meetings once per month (in coordination with co-coach) and lead group through activities and discussions. Cc the Boot Camp Manager so s/he is updated and can include them on mentees' activity reports. (10 hrs) 
• Review mentees’ research roadmaps, specific aims, and final proposals (10-20 hrs) 
• Attend one mid-program progress meeting with other coaches and Boot Camp Manager (1-2 hrs) 
• Contact the Boot Camp Manager immediately to communicate any unmet needs of the group 
• Communicate with mentees' Chairs regarding progress as desired/requested 
• Attend Closing Ceremony (1 hr) 
• Evaluate program experience 

Optional

• Attend Grant Writing Seminar in Spring 
• Attend mentees’ departmental Chalk Talks 

Total estimated time commitment is approximately 30-40 hours over 10 months (excluding optional components). 

Small group peer mentoring fosters camaraderie, support, and cooperation. Several articles have described the success of peer mentoring (e.g., Johnson KS, Hastings SN, Purser JL, Whitson, HE. 2011. The Junior Faculty Laboratory: An innovative model of peer mentoring; Academic Medicine, Vol. 86, No. 12). 

An additional benefit is the stimulation of interdisciplinary and translational research. Teams of 3-5 mentees will be assembled according to scientific commonality with the coaches (e.g., clinical research, chronic health conditions), but who come from different departments and represent different scientific perspectives, disciplines, or methodologies. 

While coaches are only committed to attending one small group meeting per month, team members may decide to meet more often on their own. 

The RDU will send out a monthly email to mentees advising them of steps they should be taking (elements of proposals to be tackling, upcoming workshops, etc.) Coaches will be CC'ed as the suggestions can be talking points during the meeting. Mentees will be attending an extensive grant writing seminar and coaches are welcome to attend. At the workshop, each mentee will receive a copy of a grant writing workbook and coaches may receive a copy upon request. 

It’s expected that chairs will be interested in the progress of their mentees, and coaches are encouraged to contact them, as well as the Boot Camp manager with progress reports or concerns. 

In addition, coaches may contact the Boot Camp Manager to request assistance with locating resources to meet needs identified by the group throughout the program (e.g., names of biostatisticians, speakers from IRB, IACUC, etc.).

The Boot Camp Manager forms the teams. Co-coaches are likewise selected to meet group research characteristics. Some factors include type of research (e.g., clinical, basic, outcomes), subject area, and common methodologies. 

The coaches and mentees are responsible for content. Often it is best to decide who presents at the next meeting during the current meeting. It is expected that much of the time will be devoted to individual proposal sections as they are developed by the mentees. Coaches should oversee the discussion to ensure that it is respectful and constructive. 

One of the primary purposes of the small group is to review sections of the mentees’ proposals as they are developed. Have the mentees circulate their sections in advance and plan ahead for these reviews. 

Additional topics that should be covered as scheduled by the coaches: 

• Contacting the NIH Program Officer (PO) – how to select, contact and prepare 
• Selecting Study Sections (e.g., match with expertise) 
• Biases of Study Sections (e.g., methodology preference) 
• Identifying primary reviewers and researching their subject expertise and biases (e.g., look at publications) 
• Selecting collaborators 
• Time management and maintaining a writing schedule 
• Communicating with the Scientific Review Officer or PO after the review 
• Tips to write and present information/data succinctly and clearly 

The Boot Camp Manager will also provide mentees and coaches with a recommended list of topics and other resources to facilitate discussion. 

Coaches will be asked to take attendance during small group activities and to provide general information about mentees’ progress. In the middle and at the end of program, the Boot Camp Manager will develop an activity report for each mentee and send a copy to both Chair and co-coaches. In addition, any concerns regarding mentees’ participation and progress should be communicated to the Boot Camp Manager and mentees’ Department chairs as appropriate. 

While the biggest compensation will be the satisfaction of contributing to the success of new investigators, each coach will receive $5,000 discretionary funding, plus $900 for hosting expenses per team.

With the advice of his/her department and other leadership as appropriate, each mentee will identify and contact an ISME prior to the start of the Boot Camp program. The ISME (i.e., a "personal scientific trainer") will advise an individual mentee on the scientific content of his/her NIH grant proposal. 

Specifically, the ISME will: 

• Help the mentee identify collaborators, resources, and skills that the mentee needs in order to be competitive in a precise field of research 
• Work with mentees to plan Chalk Talks, an exercise designed to help mentees present and refine their specific aims 
• Attend the mentee's departmental Chalk Talk 
• Review proposal drafts and provide feedback 
• Help the mentee identify an external (outside of UCI) reviewer to critique a final draft of the proposal 
• Prior to submission, review the entire research strategy to ensure it is cohesive and in optimal form for submission. 
• Help the mentee strategize his/her response to the summary statement if the proposal requires resubmission to NIH. 

The mentee – together with his/her department and other leadership as appropriate – will generate names of ISMEs who would be a good fit for the mentee’s needs. Prior to the start of the program, the mentee should approach the ISME to ask about his/her willingness to participate in the Boot Camp program. 

The Boot Camp Manager will follow up with you and provide a copy of the ISME service MOU for you to review and sign. 

Through the experience of serving as an ISME, you will be able to: 

• Help guide the success of new investigators 
• Contribute to the mentee’s research design and rationale 
• Share your wisdom and insight as an experienced researcher, reviewer, and faculty member 
• Have the opportunity to learn about new technologies or methods 
• Gain access to some of the other Boot Camp program activities 
• Contribute to the research mission of UCI 

Total estimated time commitment is approximately 16-20 hours (excluding optional components). 

While the biggest compensation for serving as an ISME will be the satisfaction of contributing to the success of new investigators, ISMEs will receive $1,000 in discretionary funding for their service. 

Mentees are encouraged to identify an ESME through consultation with their Internal Subject Matter Experts, coaches, or chairs. The ESME should not only be familiar with your science (i.e., funded and published in that area), but should have some experience as an NIH reviewer, and be someone you can trust. 

ESMEs may not be collaborators on your proposal-in-progress (e.g., consultants, co-investigators). 

One option is to have your Internal Subject Matter Expert contact the ESME prior to you contacting them. Otherwise, you can contact the Boot Camp Manager for additional resources. 

You should have a near-complete draft of the project description (i.e., Aims and Strategy) as well as an NIH biosketch. You should have all collaborators identified. It is optional to include other sections for the EMSE review (e.g., Budget, Human Subjects). 

Yes, the ESME will sign an agreement stating that the proposal information received is confidential. The information will not be usurped for the reviewer’s scientific use without discussion with the Principal Investigator (e.g., potential collaboration). 

Yes, either may be reviewed. If you choose to have your A1 reviewed, be sure to include the one-page Introduction. 

Discuss the review with the ESME to clarify the critique and review possible revisions. Discuss the review with your coach and Internal Subject Matter Expert to amend your proposal as needed prior to the NIH deadline.