NINDS's Building Up the Nerve

Building Up the Nerve Trailer

• NINDS • Season 1

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Building Up the Nerve is a podcast for neuroscience trainees that takes you through the life cycle of a grant from idea to award at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. We know that applying for NIH funding can be daunting, but we’re here to help—it’s our job! Be sure to tune in to the entire season to learn about the NINDS grant cycle from the people who make it happen!

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Funding/Training-Career-Development

Transcript: http://ninds.buzzsprout.com/558574/1799503-building-up-the-nerve-trailer

Ned Talley:

Well, first you need to recognize that you're in really good company.[Laughter] So you know, typically it's around 20% of applications that get funded and you're talking about 20%, the other 80% are from people who are outstanding. So, it's not a situation where a rejection in this case doesn't mean that your career is off to the wrong track. All it means is you didn't hit the goal this time.

Lauren Ullrich:

On this podcast,"Building Up The Nerve," we are going to talk to a bunch of different people throughout the Institute, from program directors, health program specialists, grant management specialists, the director of the Institute, deputy director--basically, everybody that is involved in the grants process at NINDS we're going to hear from them.

Marguerite M.:

And we want to help bring NINDS closer to researchers, and especially trainees, and let you know that we're here to help you and we want you to succeed. And we don't want there to be any surprises or secrets about this whole process. This should be something that maybe not fun, but is certainly a little less daunting when you're putting in your application. And that's why we've titled it Building Up the Nerve. We want to empower you to submit the great work that you're doing in your lab and to be funded. I'm Marguerite Matthews, a health program specialist at NINDS

Lauren Ullrich:

And I'm Lauren Ullrich, a scientific program manager at NINDS, and we're the hosts of Building Up the Nerve, a podcast for neuroscience trainees that takes you through the life cycle of a grant from idea to award at NINDS with the people who make it happen. We know that applying for NIH funding can be daunting, but we're here to help. It's our job.

Dave Owens:

We are here to answer questions. That's a big part of our job and we actually like to do it.

Ernie Lyons:

In my long experience. In general, reviewers really aren't out to get anyone. I think the important thing to remember is that study sections are made up of scientists. They're all humans and we basically ask them for their opinions. I think overall the process works very well and it's probably the best we have, but that doesn't mean they're always perfect.

Francesca B.:

My suggestion is not to give up, and the summary statement is your best friend and you don't have to take it personally. I know it's hard, but just try to detach you from that application and see why the reviewers formed that opinion and what can you do to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Marguerite M.:

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast app so you won't miss an episode.