The goal of this program is to assist promising biomedical scientists launch their academic career by writing a K series NIH career development award proposal. The individual components of a K series career development award (or comparable foundation grant) are discussed in a step-by-step, detailed process over the 12 semi-weekly, two to two-and-a-half-hour meetings. The heart of the workshop will be peer-to-peer reviews of biweekly writing assignments of grant components: candidate, mentorship plan, career development training plan, the approach and scientific environment and institutional support. Experienced NIH-funded investigators will assist in guiding the group and illustrating the various component and of a K award from a grant reviewer's point of view, with assistance from recent successful K awardees.

Launch to K will meet every two weeks on Tuesdays at 2 to 4:30 pm from May 7th to September 10th on Zoom.

The 11th meeting will be a realistic mock NIH study section that will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each of the final proposals with a focus on the five scoring areas. The candidates will observe the mock study session but will not be allowed to interact the reviewers. A final meeting will address how to improve proposals by reviewing concerns of the three reviewers.  

At the conclusion of this program, each candidate will produce a polished K01, KO8, K22, K23 or K99 career development grant proposal that will both promote their research ideas and explicitly define their ability as a scientist to carry out the project.

Core Faculty:

Ian Davis, DVM, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Biosciences
John Christman, MD, College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine
Mark Hall, MD, Nationwide Children's Hospital
Noah Weisleder, PhD, College of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Cell Biology

Eligibility: Junior faculty members with some or all of the following qualifications:

• Confirmed eligibility for submission of a K award
• A strong publication of record with at least four first authored, peer-reviewed papers relevant to proposed research program
• Strong institutional commitment regardless of whether the K is funded or not
• Established relationship with an experienced NIH-funded mentor and member of a research advisory (RAC) mentorship committee which a proven record of successfully mentoring academicians 
• Commitment to attend 80% or more of the instructional/discussion and mock study session

Admission to course is limited to no more than 10 candidates

Application Process: Submission of a competitive proposal that includes:

• An NIH formatted Biosketch of the candidate and the proposed mentor
• A list of the potential intra and extramural members of the research advisory committee (RAC)  
• A brief description of the proposed training plan and research plan (400 to 800 words) 
• A letter committing strong support from chair of the candidate department, including a statement confirming time to prepare and attend at least 80% of the sessions
• A letter from candidate's Mentor discussing the applicant's potential for conducting research; adequacy of scientific background; quality of research endeavors and publications to date; commitment to health-oriented research; and need for further research experience and training

Application Deadline March 18, 2024 at noon

Apply Here

View the Schedule

Selection process: All proposals will be reviewed for eligibility and quality by a panel of senior investigators resulting in a cohort of no more than 10 candidates per 11-week session. 

Email any questions to: stuart.hobbs@osumc.edu