Strategic Grant Review
It’s clear from your summary statement that your reviewers think that you’re onto something. Now it’s time to present an airtight argument for funding—and get your R01 across the pay line.
You don’t need to go through multiple trial-and-error resubmissions to get your NIH R01 funded.
Apply for a Strategic Grant Review today.
About the
Strategic Grant Review process
Our Strategic Grant Review is a high-impact service for PIs with a previous NIH R01 that was discussed but did not score in the fundable range. These PIs are ready to get their next submission across the pay line…with our strategic grant review process.
Fixing your approach isn’t enough to get your NIH ROI funded.
Your last R01 submission was close, but not close enough. You need to get a fundable score this time.
Maybe you’ve learned some lessons from the critiques in your Summary Statement, but no matter how much you tidy up your Approach section, you’re worried that it’s still not enough.
Giving up on this project sounds tempting when it seems like R01 funding is just a game of chance. But the thing is... you need to get this R01 across the pay line—to fund your lab, of course, but—honestly? This is the project that really matters to you. This is the stuff you want to work on.
You’ve already tried…
Reaching out to your PO to see what more you can learn about the study section discussion
Addressing the (contradictory) critiques on your approach from your reviewers
Talking to your research team
Circulating your new Specific Aims page to a couple of colleagues
It’s frustrating to feel like you’re soooooo close to getting this grant funded, but you can’t be sure this time it’ll work—and you don’t know what more you can do to make your reviewers happy.
The reason those things aren’t enough to get your R01 funded is because your brilliant research idea is just what gets your R01 discussed—it’s not what gets you a fundable score.
Which means that addressing the critiques of your Approach will help, of course, but it’s not enough to get you across the pay line. And…the critiques of your other scoring criteria aren’t as clear-cut: it’s hard to know exactly what reviewers are looking for.
We’ve seen clients struggle with this over and over again, which is why we created our Strategic Grant Review service.
If you’re truly ready for R01 funding success, our Strategic Grant Review was designed specifically to help you get there.
Our Approach
Our approach is different because we make sure that your R01 is written as clearly and persuasively as possible, and we take our cues from your Summary Statement so we know that you’re addressing the concerns about scientific and technical merit that your reviewers identified last time around.
We know that to get your R01 funded, you need to generate enthusiasm among your reviewers. And you do that by handing them an exciting, airtight application that’s a pleasure to read.
When you work with us during your Strategic Grant Review, we’ll focus on the following areas and goals:
1
Assessing how well you’ve addressed the critiques from your previous Summary Statement.
2
Tightening up your Specific Aims page so that you’re confident that you’re making an indelible impression from the very beginning of your proposal.
3
Making recommendations to improve the overall argument you’re making for why your research ought to be done, why your team is the one to do it, and why your project is feasible as designed.
4
Ensuring cohesion across all the supporting documents in your proposal—so that they actually support your argument.
We work with PIs who have previously discussed but not fundable R01s for our Strategic Grant Review.
We work very closely on each grant, which is why we can only accept a very limited number of clients at any given time. And because we are promising you an outcome (see below!) we only work with those who are qualified and ready to show up, do the work, and focus so that we can get you the funding results you’re after.
Because of this, it’s imperative that every client is truly ready for our process and has the attitude and drive to make the most of their time in the Strategic Grant Review to get there.
We absolutely love helping up-and-coming PIs get their R01s funded, but we need to make sure you’re qualified (and ready) before we commit to working with you.
Which is why we ask you to go through our multi-stage application process.
Here’s what we are looking for, and how to know
if the Strategic Review is right for you:
The service is for you if:
Your last R01 got an Overall Impact score and percentile, but it was not in the fundable range
Your Program Officer has encouraged you to resubmit
You have already started to address reviewer critiques of your Approach and you feel confident about the scientific merit of your grant proposal
You’re not submitting any other grants this cycle as PI or Co-PI so that you can focus on getting this grant funded
You have a responsive research team that is willing and ready to work on improving the application
You want fresh eyes on your R01 and recommendations on how to improve clarity and competitiveness from reviewers who aren’t subject matter experts
You’re prepared to make a 5-figure investment in getting your R01 funded (through startup funds, discretionary departmental funds, etc.), with the promise of a massive return on that investment—read more about our promise below
The service is not for you if:
You’re submitting a new R01 (i.e., this grant proposal has not undergone formal external peer review on the scientific and technical merit of the research)
You’re resubmitting a previously triaged R01
You’re planning to submit multiple grant proposals this cycle
You’re looking for an editor with subject matter expertise
How we’ll work together through the Strategic Grant Review:
The format of our Strategic Grant Review is what makes it truly unique and helps you achieve results that you haven’t been able to get on your own.
Our process involves a pre-review Resubmission Strategy Session followed by a detailed review of your grant that happens over 2 rounds on an 8-week timeline.
Once you’ve applied, I’ll walk you through the entire process in detail.
For now, what’s most important to know is that we use a blend of…
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In our pre-review Resubmission Strategy Session, we take a line-by-line look at your previous Summary Statement to see where reviewers got confused, tripped up, or argumentative (hey, it happens). And we discuss how you’re planning to address the critiques of the scientific merit of your application - because we can’t do that part for you.
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In Round 1 of our review, we apply our tried-and-true rhetorical frameworks to your R01 to liven up your argument for why your research needs to be done, why you’re the team to do it, and why your project is feasible. We provide detailed recommendations on how to refine the structure of your proposal so that your argument comes through loud and clear.
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One of the biggest faults in most R01s that come across our desk is a lack of clarity and cohesion across the entire application. In Round 2 of our review process, we take a close look at all the documents in your application to make sure that you’re making a clear and consistent argument throughout.
The three biggest benefits of our Strategic Review:
1
GRAB ATTENTION WITH YOUR STELLAR SPECIFIC AIMS PAGE.
Since your previous R01 was discussed we already know that we’re starting with a pretty dang strong Aims page, but trust us—you’ll be amazed at how much more exciting and persuasive your Specific Aims will be once we’re through with it.
2
MAKE A CONVINCING ARGUMENT FOR YOUR IMPROVED APPROACH.
You and your research team put in all that work to respond to the reviewers’ critiques about your approach, and you want to make sure that the rest of the application is airtight. We’ll make sure that you’re delivering a clear, persuasive argument for why your project deserves to be funded.
3
FEEL CONFIDENT THAT YOU’RE SUBMITTING A FUNDABLE R01.
You want to make sure that you’ve addressed all of the reviewers’ critiques, but it’s hard to ask busy colleagues to do an in-depth review of your draft. That’s exactly why we’re here - you can trust us to do a thorough review and provide expert feedback that will help you submit an R01 that will get a fundable score.
Our Promise
We are 100% committed to helping you get your R01 funded.
That said, you might still have hesitations about whether this is truly possible for you and if the Strategic Grant Review is the best option to get you there. To be clear: the Strategic Grant Review is a high-touch service that requires a significant investment of time, effort, and money. Only you can decide if it’s really worth it.
So in case you’re still hesitating to apply, here’s a promise that you can bank on:
We’re confident that if you qualify to work with us in our Strategic Grant Review service, you submit your documents to us on time and you implement the recommendations we offer, your R01 will get a fundable score.
You’re ready to get your R01 across the pay line this time.
You’re ready to do whatever it takes to get your project funded.
You’re here because you’re so done with….
Chasing down your colleagues for feedback…only to get a measly “looks good” when they send back their comments.
Endless tinkering with your Significance and Innovation sections, without being sure of exactly what you need to fix to get a fundable score.
Laying awake at night focused on the possibility that it might take another couple of cycles to get this project funded—and what that means for you and your lab.
You’re tired of wasting time and effort when you don’t know if it’ll help you get where you want to go.
You’re ready for REAL support. REAL structure. REAL feedback.
Which is why you’re the perfect candidate for a Strategic Grant Review.
Because you know what happens when you finally have fresh eyes and constructive expert feedback on your R01?
You’re confident that you’ve submitted the best possible version of your R01 application and that you’ll get a fundable score this time around—because you’ve had multiple sets of eyes on your application and plenty of detailed recommendations on how to improve the clarity, argument, and flow of your grant proposal.
You know that a fundable score is possible—likely, even—because you submitted a compelling and feasible R01 that ticked all the boxes for your reviewers.
You don’t have a grant-writing hangover after this deadline because you started early and had a clear process to follow. Which means that you get to celebrate after you submit, instead of recover.
You have the peace of mind of knowing that it’s a matter of when, not if, your R01 is funded—and because of our track record it’s very likely that when is as soon as you get your next score from eRA Commons.
Results don’t happen by accident.
They happen because you’ve followed a proven process, taken the steps, done the work, and incorporated the feedback that will help you get where you want to go.
If you’re ready to finally get that R01 funded, let’s do this.
Apply for a Strategic Grant Review now:
Strategic Grant Review results
We’ve consulted on grants that have brought in more than $60 Million in funding (and counting)
We’re confident that if you qualify to work with us in our Strategic Grant Review service, we can get you a fundable score on your R01 resubmission.
But you don’t just have to take my word for it. Instead, you can hear directly from researchers just like you who’ve experienced these results firsthand:
With our Strategic Grant Review process, you’ll finally get your R01 across the pay line.
Are you ready?
This is not your basic copy edit or mock review. We go in-depth with you on strategy, clarity, and persuasion to make sure that you’re covering all your bases. We expect that you’ve done the work to address the previous critiques of your approach, so that we can focus on making sure all the other components of your application are airtight.
As a client inside our Strategic Grant Review, you’ll be guided step-by-step through the process, and you’ll be held accountable to your deadlines.
The best part is how absolutely do-able this will be, once you have the right process and support in your corner.
If you’re ready for a funded R01 resubmission, now’s the time to work with us in our tried-and-true Strategic Grant Review process.
Let our team dissect your summary statement and previous R01 to give you expert advice.
Apply for your Strategic Grant Review now.