Common pitfalls in NIH fellowship applications (and how to avoid them)
Fellowship applications are complex. Not only do you have to have a strong scientific proposal and training plan, you also have to manage multiple documents and deadlines. Here are some strategies to help you avoid some common mistakes.
- Contact your Vanderbilt grant manager early in the process. Your Vanderbilt grant manager will “route” your grant through Vanderbilt’s internal approval process and submit your approved fellowship application to the NIH. They will provide you with specific guidance, checklists, and internal deadlines that must be followed. Contact them as soon as possible, ideally no later than 6 weeks ahead of the NIH deadline you are applying to ensure you are well prepared. Read more about identifying your grant manager and working effectively with them in this blog post.
- Pay attention to grant manager deadlines. When you reach out to your grant manager, they will provide you with specific dates to pay attention to – the grant manager’s deadlines and Vanderbilt’s internal deadline. The grant manager’s deadlines will likely be ~2-3 weeks prior to the NIH deadline (April 8, August 8, or December 8). At this time, they will need a few select documents from you to set up your fellowship application for routing to Vanderbilt’s Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) for institutional approval. Your grant manager will also inform you of the specific Vanderbilt SPA deadline by which all your documents must be finalized. This varies depending on the day of the week on which the NIH deadline falls, and is usually a few days prior to the NIH deadline. These various deadlines are set by your grant manager to give them time to review your application to make sure there are no missing documents and everything is formatted correctly.
- Don’t confuse “Reference Letters” with “Letters of Support” – they are DIFFERENT. You must request 3-5 Reference Letters from scientists who are not directly involved in your application, but who are familiar with your qualifications, training, and interests. Reference Letters are submitted confidentially by referees, directly to the NIH. Letters of Support, on the other hand, are written by collaborators or significant contributors to your proposed project and training. These letters will be submitted by you as part of your application.
- Check out this ASPIRE blog post for more advice about Reference Letters.
- https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/advice-on-application-sections/reference-letters
- https://www.niaid.nih.gov/grants-contracts/letters-of-support
- Don’t wait too long to request your Reference Letters or Letters of Support. Ideally, you should ask your letter writers 2-3 months before the deadline.
- Leave plenty of time to solicit feedback on your fellowship application. Expect at least two rounds of revisions from your sponsor and peers. Allow them plenty of time to review your application materials.
- Focus your specific aims. Avoid proposing too much work for the scope of the fellowship, or presenting aims that are not clearly defined. Instead, develop hypothesis-driven aims that can be completed within the timeframe of the fellowship (generally 3 years or less). Also be sure to include benchmarks for success and discuss potential pitfalls and alternative approaches for each aim.
- Be very specific about your training plan. One of the most important aspects of your application is to highlight the training you will receive and the new skills you will gain. Reviewers evaluate your application based on your potential as a future independent scientist, so the training and mentorship components are just as important as the research proposal.
- Pay close attention to the formatting and page limit requirements. Viewing examples of previous successful applicants may be helpful, but always check the latest formatting and page limit guidelines. Of note, the NIH fellowship application changed significantly in 2025.
- Double-check that all required attachments are included. Carefully review your grant manager’s checklist to avoid a last-minute scramble or an incomplete application.
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