What grant opportunities do you have as an intramural postdoctoral research fellow? As an NICHD fellow, you can apply for various types of grants and awards, which range from small internal grants, such as the Intramural Research Fellowship, to larger grants that are available nationwide (and even some international opportunities for visiting fellows). For a comprehensive list of opportunities available to intramural fellows, visit our NICHD Wiki page. Among these, one of the most prestigious funding opportunities for both domestic and international fellows is the K99/R00 NIH Pathway to Independence Award, often called the K99.
The K99/R00 award provides research support for up to five years in a two-phase mechanism. The first phase (K99) is a mentored phase for up to two years as you continue your postdoctoral training in the DIR. The second phase (R00) is an independent phase with up to three years of extramural funding once you begin your research program in a tenure-track faculty position. Application must be within your first four years of postdoctoral training, which includes any research positions you held after completion of your PhD (for example, if you held another position before coming to NICHD as a postdoc). Throughout the calendar year, there are three application deadlines: February 12, June 12, and October 12.
I submitted my K99 application in February 2023. It would have been very helpful for me to connect with a previous applicant or current awardee as I prepared my materials. To benefit future applicants, I have therefore interviewed two NICHD postdoctoral fellows who recently earned their Pathway to Independence: Shu Yang, PhD (SY), and Jarred M. Whitlock, PhD (JW) .
Shu Yang, PhD
Dr. Shu Yang earned his PhD at Georgetown University and is currently a seventh-year postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Mary Lilly’s laboratory (Section on Gamete Development). He is studying how lysosomal-autophagic regulation affects tumor progression.
Jarred M. Whitlock, PhD
Dr. Jarred M. Whitlock earned a PhD in biochemistry, cell and developmental biology at Emory University and is currently a fifth-year postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Leonid V. Chernomordik’s lab (Section on Membrane Biology). He is studying novel protein regulators of osteoclastogensis.
When did you learn about the K99/R00 award, and before getting started, did you reach out to anyone who had already applied?
SY: During my time at Georgetown, the department hired three new tenure-track assistant professors. Two of them had a K99/R00. Before I decided to apply for the grant, I contacted faculty from my previous department (former K99 awardees) and asked them to share their applications with me. Dr. Lilly also obtained a successful application from a fellow at NIH. They were super helpful, especially the training plans.
JW: I heard about the K99 mechanism in graduate school and planned on writing one when I started my postdoc. I knew people who were also considering the K99 application process, but I did not know any current awardees.
Did you take any grant writing classes, workshops, or seminars?
SY: Yes, I took a grant writing workshop held by NICHD. Offerings of the workshop are featured in this newsletter and through emails from Dr. Erin Walsh in the NICHD Office of Education.
JW: I met with Dr. Erin Walsh quite a few times. She was an amazing point person for resources. I did take the NICHD Intramural Research Fellowship (IRF) training that is required to submit a proposal for that mechanism—and this was a useful starting point for gaining a holistic understanding of the NIH grant writing process. I would highly recommend starting with the IRF, as it provides a foundation for you to outline something similar to the K award, but is a lot lighter on requirements (and therefore less intimidating). It is a really nice bridge for getting into grant writing.
I also took some seminars about preparing for the NIGMS Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) Program, which was good preparation. A common misconception is that intramural fellows are not eligible for many grant writing opportunities. Personally, I’ve written eight grant proposals in four years while at NICHD. I’ve also helped write another ten-plus with my mentor, Dr. Chernomordik. If you want to develop grant writing expertise, there are tons of opportunities intramurally. You just have to find them.
When did you start preparing for your application and how long did the entire process take?
SY: I submitted my first application in October 2020 to NCI. I started gathering my ideas and contacted potential co-mentors back in June 2020 and the writing began in August. Also, I contacted program directors from NCI and NIGMS about my specific aims and ideas in August, to help identify which institute might be best for me to direct my application. Intensive writing and editing took about two months. Of course, all the preliminary data took more time.
Strategizing Your Application
While K99 applicants cannot directly choose the institute that will review their proposal, they can make specific requests in their package. It is strongly recommended that applicants work with program officers/directors to ensure their proposed work overlaps with the scope of the funding opportunity announcement.
JW: I started writing six months before my submission date. I had some ideas for aims before that, but I started slowly writing about six months out. I think you could do it faster. I did not take time off to write. I left lab a little early once a week to write and mostly wrote on evenings and weekends after lab. If you take a few key weeks off, you can probably do it a lot faster than I did. However, working iteratively over six months allowed me to recognize key preliminary data that I needed. It also allowed me to throw out an aim that was not coming together. If you try to abbreviate the writing period too much, you could miss that opportunity for creativity and flexibility in your proposal. You can absolutely write a K99 in a month. People do it.
You should consider applying before you are “ready”. It takes a lot of time to get your scores back and for funding decisions to be finalized (I think it took me about 14 months to get my funding letter after I submitted my proposal). I submitted my first proposal simply to get feedback to improve my resubmission before my four-year K99 clock ran out. My first proposal got funded. Don’t wait until you feel ready.
Strategizing Your Application
Successful proposals often require two submissions—one initial submission, and a re-submission that incorporates feedback from the reviewers. Both submissions must be within four years of postdoctoral training for the K99 opportunity.
How much time per day or week did you spend to prepare your application?
SY: During the intensive writing and editing phase that I mentioned earlier, I spent about three hours per day, seven days per week in writing. Then I spent the rest of my time editing, seeking feedback, and improving the application.
JW: It was a major part of my life for at least four months. I would guess that I spent hundreds of hours. So, maybe on average seven to ten hours a week. I would say that early on I spent a couple hours a week, and later I would spend close to 20 hours.
Did you receive any sources of help for reviewing your application before submission?
SY : I gave the application to all my co-mentors and reference letter writers for feedback.
JW : Dr. Chernomordik was extremely involved in giving me feedback on every document. My partner spell-checked most of them. I picked up a new co-mentor while preparing for the submission. He reviewed all of my documents. You have to put together an advisory committee of PIs to give you mentorship during both your K99 and R00 phase. Two of my advisory committee members gave me feedback on most, if not all, of my application. It was essential to have the two of them read and give me feedback. Neither of them works in my scientific area, and they were able to see problems in the experimental design that the rest of us were too close to see.
Strategizing Your Application
A strong K99 application/proposal usually includes the development of an advisory or mentoring committee; or, at least designation of a strong mentor and co-mentor. This will depend on the research and career/professional training that will be required for the candidate to be successful during the K99 phase and as they transition into the R00 phase. It should be clear to the grant reviewers why each person has been included on the mentoring team and how they will provide their mentorship in specific areas of your training and scientific development.
If your PI is “less established” as an independent investigator (for instance, a tenure track or recently tenured investigator), you will want to identify at least one other well-established mentor to help fill any mentoring and research “gaps” that could be perceived by the reviewers of your application.
How many mentors did you have, and how did you find them?
SY: I have four co-mentors, including Dr. Lilly. I found them through collaborations and cold emails.
JW: My proposal bridges two different fields. So, I have a formal mentor and a co-mentor. The co-mentor came out of a close collaboration my mentor and I developed because he has specific expertise in one of the two fields that my mentor and I know the least about. I also have three additional advisory committee members. One I met through my co-mentor and one I came to know as a new assistant professor right as I was finishing graduate school. They both had K awards, but not the K99. My mentor and co-mentor are very well-established PIs. My two advisor board members are assistant and associate professor equivalents, respectively. Then, I have a mentor from my graduate school years who specifically teaches grant writing courses to graduate students and postdocs. Identifying and building a team of mentors was one of the most essential parts of developing the application.
Can you share some tips for success?
SY: I have many tips for K99 applicants:
- Preparing a K99 application is time-consuming. It involves networking, collecting preliminary data, and of course writing, so begin early. The K99 has an eligibility requirement that you can only apply within four years after earning your PhD (NIH did ease the requirement during COVID). Also, you will need to have time to resubmit. Due to NIH’s grant reviewing rules and timeline, you can only resubmit after getting the summary statement. Depending on processing, this can elapse through two cycles after the original submission. For example, I submitted my first application in October 2020; the study section met in February 2021; and I received the summary statement in April 2021. I turned in my resubmission application in July 2021. That’s two application cycles after my original submission. Because this is a highly competitive grant, people should always be prepared to resubmit.
- Take workshops or courses on grant applications and writing. There are some specific rules and formatting that you will need to follow when applying to NIH grants.
The NICHD Office of Education offers an annual grant writing workshop (usually each summer), as well as an intensive, small-group grant writing course for those who plan to apply for the K99 within the calendar year (usually offered each spring). Stay current on announcements so you're in the loop!
- Because this is a training grant, the training plan part is essential, so don’t overlook it. Think heavily about what kinds of skills, courses, meetings, and workshops that you would consider during the K99 phase. Also, assembling a strong mentorship team is very important. So, start networking early, think heavily about what kinds of expertise you want to add to your application, and seek co-mentors and collaborators accordingly.
- A strong K99 application combines a strong research proposal and a realistic training proposal. The research aims and career development plan should serve as a cohesive training vehicle that will open opportunities for you to learn something new and lay the foundation of your future independent career. The research you propose should be distinguished from your mentor. The supporting letter from your PI should include a statement that guarantees future research independence. It should clearly state that the K99 project will be fully granted to you and will not compete with your future research program.
- The K99 application requires many letter writers. You will likely have three to four supporting letters from co-mentors (a total of six pages, so plan accordingly), one to three letters from collaborators, and three reference letters. Those letters should come from different people. Thus, you’d better have a plan and ask them early in the process.
- After finishing the specific aims, you should contact program directors from different NIH institutes to see if your research goals fit the mission of the institute. Also, different NIH institutes have different success rates regarding K99 applications. You can check online at https://report.nih.gov/funding/nih-budget-and-spending-data-past-fiscal-years/success-rates.
- Seek feedback from mentors and peers and read as many previous K99 applications as possible. Be patient! The whole grant application takes much longer than you initially think. I submitted my first application in October 2020, and I finally got the letter of award in August 2022. It took almost two years. There are many factors that will affect the process. For example, depending on which cycle you are applying, the federal appropriation process by Congress can delay the approval of your application significantly. So, be patient, and focus on your own research once you get your application out.
Strategizing Your Application
It is recommended that postdocs have these discussions with their mentor as soon as possible when they are considering an academic research career.
The K99 is one step towards establishing your independence, but it will be important for you to cultivate your vision for independent research throughout your postdoctoral training. One component of this will be discerning what work falls under your PI's research program, and what project(s) can “go with you” when you establish your own lab.
JW: I think everyone wants a quick tip for how to get a grant, but that doesn’t exist. I can give two pieces of advice:
First, the K99 is more work than almost anything I’ve done in my life, and this is something you should consider carefully when evaluating if you want to pursue this opportunity. Don’t just apply to this grant for the purpose of reaching an achievement. In my opinion, the reason to write a K99 proposal is if you have fallen in love with the questions, mysteries, and curiosities in your research, and you can’t imagine not pursuing this work further.
If you decide to write a K99 proposal, you will need to find at least three mentors to help guide you. Find a good co-mentor that views the world of science very differently than you and your Section Chief. Finally, find a junior faculty member that remembers what it was like to do these things within the last decade, and make sure they have nothing to do with your field. They will probably give you the advice that makes all the difference, even if you think that you already have a good application.