How to Write Multiple Grants Simultaneously
If you’re anything like the researchers I work with, you’re probably feeling a lot of pressure to secure grant funding.
One of the most common solutions for relieving that pressure is to have a lot of different irons in the fire, which usually manifests itself as researchers submitting multiple applications during a grant cycle. And the big hope is that with so many applications in the works, at least one of them has to hit, right?
If this is your method of choice for the next grant cycle, let’s talk about how to handle these stacked deadlines and write multiple grants simultaneously.
My Warning To You
Don’t do it.
If at all possible, I do not recommend submitting multiple grants simultaneously or stacked so close together.
If you can avoid it, please do—here’s why:
Working on multiple grants at the same time means you have no choice but to split your time, energy, and focus. If you’re trying to keep a bunch of plates spinning at the same time, at least one of them is eventually going to fall and break.
This is what happens when you spread yourself too thin with multiple grants. It's impossible for you to give each one the attention it deserves if you truly want to get them all across the pay line.
Remember, a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant like an NIH R01 requires a lot of deep thinking and planning and communication with your co-writers, and if you’re working on other big (or small) grants at the same time, you run the risk of undermining your main goal of securing funding.
So again, if you can, put your focus on quality over quantity so that you can submit one stellar grant that is more likely to get funded.
But for some of you, that’s unrealistic, so let’s talk about some tips to help you handle multiple grants until you can get to the point in your career where you can place your focus on a single R01 at a time.
Know When To Take The Lead
My recommendation here is that, whenever possible, be the PI or co-PI on only one new grant per cycle. That means you’re taking the lead on one project at a time.
This will be the project that requires the most deep work, deep thinking, and leadership and planning on your part. Trying to take the lead on more than one project at a time will end up being a disadvantage to those other projects, so this strategy takes care of that.
If you are able to take the lead on one high-priority grant and be a team member on the others, you will have a much easier time dividing your time, effort, and energy between your multiple R01s.
3 Tips For Working On Multiple R01s
No matter how many projects you're working on in a given cycle, here's what you want to think about. And this goes for all of the projects that you're working on in a given cycle.
1 Give Yourself A Longer Runway
This is a preventative approach so you can avoid scrambling at the last minute to get your grants out the door. The solution for this is to create an annual grant writing plan so you can chip away at those grants over a longer period of time.
Once you've anticipated those deadlines and taken the time to plan and map out how you will use your grant writing time wisely, you will be on your way to less stress and burnout while accomplishing your R01 goals.
It’s also going to give you more time for thinking and revision, which will ultimately produce a higher quality, fundable applicant.
2 Practice Clear Communication And Set Clear Expectations
This is vital whether you are PI or Co-PI because your research team needs to know their expected contributions to getting the grant out the door before the deadlines. And in turn, your team deserves to know what to expect from you.
3 Create A Clear Timeline And Project Management Plan
Never underestimate how massive a project it is to write a grant, let alone execute the project once it’s funded. An R01 is a huge undertaking, so attempting to make simultaneous submissions is a beast that’s hard to manage, even with a plan in place.
The idea of having a clear timeline and plan means that you have protected time in your calendar for writing and assembling the documents, and you know exactly what you will accomplish during each block of work.
And a pro tip here for planning your time blocks: Instead of finding time on your calendar for grant writing– make time on your calendar. Of course, you are going to have other important events and obligations on your calendar, but you have to decide what’s the greater priority and clear your calendar for grant writing.
If you don’t and instead try to squeeze in the grant writing, you’re setting yourself up for a stressful season where you try to commit to everything while being extremely tired, if not completely burned out, before you accomplish what you set out to do.
The Benefit Of One R01 At A Time
The bottom line here is that while it’s possible to work on multiple grants simultaneously, you want to avoid it as much as possible because it’s splitting your time, attention, and focus, which undermines all of the grants that you’re submitting.
If you want to get serious about getting funded, you do need to put all of your eggs in one basket when it comes to a single R01 during a specific grant cycle. This super-focused approach allows you to focus and do the deep work and really think about how to communicate the value of your research to your reviewers.
But if you do have to submit multiple projects in a cycle or with deadlines that are stacked up against one another, make sure that you have a clear plan, a clear timeline, clear expectations and communications with your team, and that you have built in enough time to get good feedback and actually incorporate it into your grant.
If you found this useful, I encourage you to sign up for our resource library. It's completely free, and it has a lot of tools and tutorials and other materials in there for you to help you write a stronger NIH grant.