‘Fellowships’
Flow Chart of NIH Fellowship Submission Process
Oct. 31, 2025—The flow chart below provides a high-level overview of the fellowship submission process for Vanderbilt and VUMC applications. You will need to work closely with your Grant Manager throughout this process. Click here to go back to the main Fellowship Project Management blog series.
Conquer Your Fellowship: A Project Management Tool and Guide for Your NIH Fellowship
Oct. 24, 2025—Applying for an NIH fellowship can feel overwhelming, but the right guidance makes all the difference. This collection of resources walks you through every stage of the process – from identifying the right funding opportunity to preparing your application and understanding what happens after review. Whether you’re just getting started or refining a resubmission, these...
NIH Fellowship Grant Pacing Project Management Trello Board
Oct. 24, 2025—How to use and customize the ASPIRE Grant Planner Trello Board Applying for an NIH fellowship can feel like you are juggling dozens of moving parts at once. The ASPIRE grant planning Trello board helps you manage these tasks in one visual, flexible workspace. Throughout this blog, we will walk through how the board is...
Effective Strategies for Working with your Sponsor
Oct. 24, 2025—Your fellowship sponsor (your PI) plays an important role in your fellowship application, especially for fellowship applications to the NIH. Beyond supporting you as a scientist, they are responsible for writing key sections of the application to demonstrate their commitment to your training and career development. Sections of an NIH NRSA application written by the...
Understanding the NIH Alphabet Soup
Oct. 24, 2025—Applying for NIH fellowships comes with a whole new set of acronyms. Here’s a quick guide to the ones you’re most likely to encounter: Funding Announcements FOA – Funding Opportunity Announcement The official notice that describes eligibility, objectives, requirements, and deadlines for a grant or fellowship. NOFO – Notice of Funding Opportunity The newer term...
Resubmission (if needed) and Next Steps
Oct. 24, 2025—Not all fellowship applications are funded on the first try, but many successful fellows are awarded after resubmission! If you plan to resubmit your application, consider the following: Read your summary statement carefully. The reviewer comments highlight strengths and weaknesses, so look for common themes across reviewers. These will be important to address in your...
Contacting your NIH Program Officer (PO)
Oct. 24, 2025—After you have figured out which FOA to apply to, verified your eligibility, and decided which institute to apply to, the next step is to contact your target institute to verify their institute is a good fit for your proposal. The “Program Officer” (PO) is your main NIH point of contact for questions about the...
Contacting your Vanderbilt Grant Manager
Oct. 24, 2025—A VU or VUMC Grant Manager is your primary institutional contact for submission requirements, internal deadlines, and routing. They manage the submission of your fellowship application to the NIH and will need to begin working with you weeks in advance of the NIH deadline to meet VU’s or VUMC’s internal deadlines. They will also assist...
Common pitfalls in NIH fellowship applications (and how to avoid them)
Oct. 24, 2025—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...
Guide to NIH Fellowship Reference Letters
Oct. 24, 2025—Reference Letters are a required component of NIH fellowship applications (and they are different than Letters of Support!) Key points about Reference Letters: You must have at least 3 reference letters, but up to 5 can be submitted. You may want to request more than the minimum number in case one of your recommenders does...
Understanding the NIH Peer Review Process
Oct. 24, 2025—After you submit your application, the review process may seem mysterious. Here is a step-by-step guide to understand what is going on behind the scenes. Cycle Due Date (F Series) Scientific Review Council Round Earliest Start Date I April 8 June – July August or October September or December II August 8 October –...
Identifying the “right” NIH fellowship opportunity
Oct. 24, 2025—Before you start writing a fellowship application to the NIH, it is important to identify the right funding opportunity and connect with the institute staff who manage that funding opportunity to ensure your project aligns with the institute’s priorities. Understand the different types of NIH NRSA fellowships that support research training (a.k.a. “mechanisms”). F30: For...
Effective Strategies for Working with you Sponsor/Mentor
Oct. 21, 2025—Your fellowship sponsor (your PI) plays an important role in your fellowship application. Beyond supporting you as a scientist, they are responsible for writing key sections of the application to demonstrate their commitment to your training and career development. Sections of an NRSA application written by the Sponsor: Mentoring Approach and Candidate Mentoring Plan Prior...
2026 St. Baldrick’s Foundation Grants
Sep. 5, 2025—2026 St. Baldrick’s Foundation Grants The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a nonprofit organization raising funds for childhood cancer research with two grant types. The Scholar (Career Development) Award is meant to help develop the independent research of highly qualified individuals still early in their careers. The Research Grants are for specific two-year research projects which...
Jill Hruby Fellowship 2026
Sep. 5, 2025—Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs: Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide Extraordinary co-workers...
The Knight Science Journalism Program apps open for 2025-2026 Cycle
Dec. 4, 2024—KSJ Opens Application Cycle for 2025-26 FellowshipsThe Knight Science Journalism Program opens applications for two of its fellowship programs. Every year, the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT offers fellowships to science journalists from around the globe, giving them an opportunity to learn at some of the top research universities in the world and explore...
AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship
Nov. 20, 2024—AAAS works every day to increase public understanding of science and technology and to enhance communication among scientists, engineers, and the public. As one of AAAS’ immersive fellowships, the AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship aims to strengthen the community of scientists who are well-versed in communicating complex ideas to a general audience and to...
2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pharmaceutical Law and Health Services Research
Oct. 6, 2024—The Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School is now accepting applications for their 2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pharmaceutical Law and Health Services Research! About PORTAL Founded in 2012, PORTAL is one of the largest non-industry-funded research centers in the US studying drug pricing, drug policy, and the...
Journalism Fellowship Opportunity: The Open Notebook
Sep. 24, 2024—Are you an early-career science journalist looking to take your skills to the next level? Look no further than The Open Notebook (TON)! Founded by the dynamic duo of Siri Carpenter and Jeanne Erdmann, TON is a non-profit organization dedicated to elevating the craft of science writing. TON is your go-to resource for insightful articles...