NIH Proposal Preparation Program
The video below gives an overview and answers common questions about the program.
The NIH Proposal Preparation Program (P3) is geared toward early-career, assistant professor faculty members from the Medical School and allied health programs. It is best suited for faculty as they prepare their first K- or R-series NIH grant proposal or VA equivalent. P3 is a highly interactive, peer grant-writing group of 8-9 members that meets 10 times during a four-month period.
During each session, participants share drafts of their proposal sections and critique one another’s written material. Writing begins immediately. This makes P3 best suited for faculty whose project aims and approaches are reasonably well conceptualized and who are truly “ready to write.” There are a limited number of slots available for faculty from outside of the Medical School, depending on the application pool for a given P3 cycle.
The program is held three times a year, in summer, fall and winter. The summer cycle begins in May, which is designed for October NIH submission. The fall cycle starts in September to align with February NIH submission. The winter cycle begins in January, which targets June NIH submission. It is expected that faculty complete the P3 program and submit their grant proposal in the following funding cycle.
P3 Criteria for Summer Cycle 2025
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Assistant professor on any track; associate professors will be considered on a case-by-case basis
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Medical School faculty are considered higher priority but faculty from other schools and colleges are encouraged to apply and often are accepted
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Preparing NIH K- or R-series proposal or comparable, or working with a mentor to develop a proposal
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Planned submission date for October 2025 NIH deadline
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Commit to attend most or all of the program’s 10 scheduled sessions
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Attendance is required for the first and last sessions. All sessions are held remotely through Zoom
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Have not previously completed the P3 workshop
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Previous K-participants may be included but will be assigned a lower priority for acceptance relative to first-time applicants
If you plan to apply:
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Email [email protected] to inform us that you plan to submit an application. Please do this even if you’re not certain you will apply. Your complete application can be submitted at a later date, as long as it is prior to the application deadline shown below. This heads-up allows OFA to monitor the likely volume of applications for a given cycle.
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Complete the P3 application - Deadline is Mar. 24
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Complete and submit with application the SF 424–specific aims page; see template below
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Complete and submit with application the NIH-format biographical sketch; see template below
P3 meetings for the Summer Cycle will begin on May 7, 2025 and continue weekly through Aug. 6. The final meeting, the NIH Mock Review, will be held on Aug. 27. All meetings are from 3-5:15 p.m. and will be held remotely via Zoom. Duluth faculty are welcome to attend sessions remotely as well.
Upcoming 2025 Cycles
- Jan. 8-Apr. 2, & Apr. 16 | Application closed. Deadline was Nov. 25.
- May 7-Aug. 6, & Aug. 27 | Submit application by Mar. 24
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Sep. 3-Nov. 26, & Dec. 17 | Submit application by Jul. 28
Faculty Director:
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Subree Subramanian, PhD, Professor, Department of Surgery
P3 Co-Mentors:
- Andrew Busch, PhD, LP, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
- Susan Everson-Rose, PhD, MPH, Professor, Department of Medicine
- Kaylee Schwertfeger, PhD, Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology
- Diane Treat-Jacobson, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, School of Nursing
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SF 424 Specific Aims template
- Specific Aims (general description) -
NIH Early Career Reviewer Program
This initiative of the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) aims to help early career scientists become more competitive as grant applicants through first-hand experience with peer review. Its goals include:
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Training and educating qualified scientists without prior CSR review experience so that they may develop into critical and well-trained reviewers
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Help emerging researchers advance their careers by exposing them to a peer review experience that may make them more competitive as applicants
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Enrich the existing pool of NIH reviewers by including scientists from less research-intensive institutions, as well as those from traditionally research-intensive institutions
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Faculty members interested in gaining more experience in the preparation and process of academic publishing can apply to the Early Career Reviewer Program on the NIH website.
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