Written by Aubrey Odom, Lina Kroehling, and Devlin Moyer (December 2022)

This is a guide intended to help BU Bioinformatics Ph.D. students write (and get!) an F31 grant. The information included herein is specifically tailored to the needs and contacts of our program.

What is an F31 Grant?

• The NIH F-series of grants is appropriate for primarily graduate-level trainees. A tremendous amount of information can be found on the NIH website.
• The NIH created the F31 award to provide promising predoctoral students an opportunity to receive mentored research training while they complete their dissertation research on human health-related topics.
• There is also a version of the F31 award (F31 – Diversity) which aims to increase the diversity of the health-related research workforce by supporting underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and those with disabilities.
• Both versions of the award can provide funding for anywhere from one to five years of graduate training.

Who is eligible to apply?

• You must be a citizen, national, or permanent resident of the United States by the time of the award, and enrolled in a research doctoral degree program.
• As it applies to BU BF Ph.D. students:
  • Being in the second or third year of your degree is ideal. Fourth year students are still eligible but should consider applying for the F99/K00 award.
  • You will be most competitive if you have passed your qualifying exam by the time you submit the proposal. This indicates that you’ve finished most of your coursework and are fully immersed in research and your dissertation work.
  • Your proposal must have the potential to impact human health. You’ll have to write a three sentence explanation in your proposal about how your research will impact public health.

Why should I apply for an F31 Grant? I already have funding!

• It will be easier to get future grants - both on your resume and in giving you proposal-writing experience. It’s valuable practice, so you can’t go wrong!
• The F31 is highly prestigious, and it is a great mark on your resume/CV when applying for academic, industrial, or government positions.
• The trainee (you!) gets to become their own principal investigator (PI)! This can provide your financial leverage with your institution.
• As Jean Fan put it: “In my opinion, if you think you may want a career in academia, a surprising portion of your life will be spent writing grants. So better to get some practice to at least see if you like it!”

Some Disclaimers

• If your award is for longer than you take to finish the Ph.D. program, your F31 will be terminated as soon as you graduate. This isn’t an issue though - it won’t be a blemish on your CV, nor will it be listed. It just ends sooner than originally delineated.
• It is important to note that a majority of accepted applications are resubmissions. Therefore, if you don’t get the grant the first time, try again! The funding payline may have been more stringent than usual, or perhaps you were unlucky with competitors or primary reviewers.
• Resubmission is a bit tricky - there are three F31 deadlines a year, but you can’t usually resubmit at the deadline immediately after your initial deadline. That is, if you submitted for the first time in December, you can’t resubmit in April unless you have your summary statement back. It usually takes 3-4 months to get the feedback from your initial submission.
• The research proposal itself is weighted in final scores as only ~25% of the actual grant. There is a lot of weight on the other aspects. The reviewers evaluate you (the applicant), your sponsor, your “potential for training,” the institutional environment’s contribution to training, and the research proposal itself. Thankfully, some of the generic institution facilities and RCR stuff can be copied from examples submitted in our program! (No, you won’t be docked for plagarism on these!)