The Grant Academy offers training and support that, when combined over a period of time, aims to steadily build understanding and skills in competitive grant writing.

• Cohort meetings and workshops: Content workshops will focus on aspects of proposal development, including step-by-step guidance on developing competitive extramural proposals, research and project design, persuasive communication and writing, grant submission, and building and maintaining relationships with the funder. Additional topics will focus on compliance and clinical trials.
• Intensive proposal review: All Grant Academy faculty participants will have their proposals reviewed by an external panel/individual reviewers before submission.
• Individualized support and technical assistance: Each cohort member receives one-on-one assistance with strategy, content and copyediting from our research development staff until the proposal is submitted and beyond.

The Spring 2021 Grant Academy formal workshop sessions will take place from March 2021 to November 2021 (with continued proposal support through individual funding deadlines). Cohort workshops will meet for approximately two hours (usually Tuesdays from 3 to 5 p.m.), with additional individual support meetings with research development staff. Participants are expected to attend all scheduled cohort meetings. Participants are also encouraged to meet with each other, instructors and facilitators, or attend other related workshops at other times to supplement their training. A fully detailed schedule will be distributed to faculty cohort participants.

Spring 2021 Grant Academy schedule
(tentative and may be subject to change)

Please note: All workshop sessions will take place virtually via Zoom.

To participate in the Spring 2021 Grant Academy, faculty must meet the eligibility criteria below:

1. Possess a concrete research project idea, with identified research questions
2. Be positioned to submit a full grant proposal in 2021-22, including the identification of a funding opportunity
3. Have identified a funding opportunity that will have a transformative impact on their career if awarded (e.g. NIH R- or K-series grant, NSF CAREER or other NSF grant, NEH grant, other federal grant, or significant foundation grant)
4. Identify a VCU senior faculty mentor

Grant Academy faculty participation in cohort workshops, individual meetings with the research development team, as well as out-of-class proposal preparation is estimated at 10 hours per month (for 11 months). Therefore, all applicants will have to secure a departmental endorsement. This endorsement assures that the investigator will receive the necessary time to participate.

Grant Academy cohort members will be expected to:

• Participate in all Grant Academy cohort workshops and sessions
• Complete all assignments and meet milestones
• Actively engage with cohort peers, including providing oral and written proposal feedback to peer partners
• Complete internal review with senior faculty mentor
• Submit proposal for external review
• Submit a completed proposal to their identified funding opportunity during 2021-2022
• Provide feedback for the Grant Academy program evaluation

Grant Academy application link

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 5, 2021. Selected applicants and faculty mentors will be notified of selection decisions via email by March 16, 2021.

The application consists of five brief parts:

1. Faculty applicant information
2. Faculty research and proposed project information
3. Proposal submission information (including identified funder, title of funding opportunity and any collaborators)
4. Senior faculty mentor information
5. Required support documents (upload all documents as a single PDF file labeled "lastname_YYYY-SemesterApplied" (i.e., Smith_2021-Spring):
   1. Full faculty applicant CV – The application must include the proposed faculty participant’s full CV (do not upload agency biosketch).
   2. One-page research project abstract – The application must include a one-page abstract of your proposed research project (Arial, 11-point font, single-spaced).
   3. Co-PI, Co-I, and/or collaborating partner CV(s), if appropriate – The application must include full CV for any proposed faculty collaborators (do not upload agency biosketches).
   4. Full senior faculty mentor CV – The application must include a full CV for the participant’s senior faculty mentor (do not upload agency biosketch).
   5. Grant Academy Attestations and Endorsements Form – A form outlining the terms and conditions of participation in the Grant Academy must be signed by both the proposed faculty participant and the designated faculty mentor/reviewer. It must also be endorsed by the department, by way of the department chair/designee’s signature. Once all signatures are secured, the document must be scanned and saved as a PDF and included in your full application package PDF.