Grant proposal for undergraduate research

I have a grant proposal for developmental research studying renal stroma. I have my specific aims. I just need the grant written, I am under time constriction. All proposals must have the following format: A. Abstract/Specific Aims (1 page) Here you will briefly mention the big picture/relevance (in 1-2 sentences), background (2 sentences) your hypothesis (the major idea that you intend to test; 1-2 sentences), specific aims (2-3 sentences) and significance (1 sentence). The specific aims are the objectives of your research project and what you want to accomplish. They are categories of experiments directed towards testing your hypothesis. Your grant proposal will include three specific aims (NIH proposals typically require three-to-five aims). Specific aims generally start with active verbs: To identify… To develop… To characterize… To elucidate… To design… To examine… To measure… To compare… B. Background and Significance (4-6 pages) This section describes what has been done in the field to date and what questions remain unresolved. Here you should think about what is the essential information the reviewer (Professor McClure) needs to know to understand and evaluate your proposal. To write this section you MUST use primary literature in the field (which will probably include many articles in addition to your specific article). Be prepared to search/download/interlibrary loan additional articles. No website citations allowed. C. Preliminary Data (4-6 pages) In this section you will describe the data published in your specific article. You should put their figures in your paper to help explain the work that has already been done (although this is not necessary it does make it clearer). D. Research Design and Methods (6-8 pages) Here you will describe what you’re trying to do and exactly how you’re going to do it. Each aim will have specific sections: 1) rationale (why are you doing the following experiments, what is the unresolved problem or knowledge gap that you’re trying to tackle/fill), 2) design (details of the approach or methods used to achieve the aim), 3) expected results (what should happen in your experiments if you’re hypothesis is correct), 4) limitations (do you anticipate any problems), 5) alternative approaches (if you are wrong, what will you do, what does this mean and is there another possible hypothesis? In other words, do you have a thoughtful contingency plan). Experimental design does not equal methods only. E. Summary (1/2-1 page). Summarize your proposal, what it is your trying to do, and its overall significance. F. Literature Cited – You must use CSE format (as shown in the Handbook of Biological Investigation and can also be found at: [login to view URL]) A sample NIH Proposal has been posted on Blackboard for your information. This proposal is much longer and contains many more sections than you are required to write, but it gives you an idea of a writing style used in proposals and the level of detail needed for your specific aims.