The Grant Pacing Workshops are designed to help you prepare the best possible grant. These workshops include two half-day, in-person workshop sessions.
TOPICS FOR K & R WORKSHOPS
Creating a grant preparation timeline
Using task lists to ensure momentum
Writing a Compelling aims page
Crafting a Career Development Plan
Constructing a budget & justification
Watch a mock study section
The goal of the workshops is to help you plan steady progress to completion of your application for grant submission deadlines.
Open to Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Meharry Medical College postdoctoral fellows and early career faculty.
OCTOBER 2026 SUBMISSIONS
Session 1 | May 27, 2026, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Session 2 | June 2, 2026, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Facilitator: Dr. Julie Bastarache
REGISTER FOR K WORKSHOP
OCTOBER 2026 SUBMISSIONS
Session 1 | May 26, 2026, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Session 2 | June 8, 2026, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Facilitator: Dr. Eric Austin
REGISTER FOR R WORKSHOP
Edge Review is a NIH-like internal study section by senior Vanderbilt faculty. Reviews are conducted in advance of NIH cycles for R, K, or F series, or equivalents for basic and clinical investigation.
EDGE REVIEW SURVEY ON INTENT
Due July 23, 2026
EDGE REVIEW MATERIALS
Due August 13, 2026
EDGE REVIEWER VIDEO
Received by September 8, 2026
EDGE REVIEWS
eNotebook
- available upon registration; contact Verna Wright. A registration email with exact workshop dates typically goes out one month before the first workshop of a series. Email Verna Wright to be placed on the distribution list.
Video Library
- For a link to a Timeline demonstration and/or a Budget Justification discussion (both Zoom recordings), please email Verna Wright
Checklists
- K Career Dev Plan Checklist
- K Institutional Letter Checklist
- K Mentor Letter Checklist
- Biosketches and Letters of Support Checklist
- Budget Checklist
Handouts
- Powerful Aims Grid
- Sample Detailed Budget Justification
- Excel Timeline Template
- Trello Timeline Example
- Vanderbilt Institutional Submission Process
- Study Section Scoring System and Procedure
Resource Links
- 2022 NIH Updated Resources v5
- Edge Reviews Link
- VICTR Studios
- Grant Pacing Blog – Announcement
- Grant Pacing Blog – Durango Kid series
- RCR – Counting What Counts blog
- VICTR StarBRITE Responsible Conduct of Research Calendar
- Kaizen for Rigor, Reproducibility, and Transparency Training
- NIH Rigor & Reproducibility Page
- NIH Application Guides
- NIH K-Kiosk
- NIH Human Subjects Decision Tool
- NIH Clinical Trial Decision Tool
- NIH “Open Mike” Blog– announcements from NIH Extramural Research
- NIH RePORTER & Matchmaker – database
- NIH RePORTER & Matchmaker – Edge for Scholars blog
Writing, Editorial, Personal, and Other Types of Assistance
- List of Medical Editors
- “No Help? You Can Still Delegate. Here’s How.” – Getting the most out of virtual assistance.
- Upwork and Fiverr– Lets you post task or project descriptions, receive bids, and choose the one you like best. Good for editorial jobs and writing help.
- Fancy Hands – Describe your task, let Fancy Hands choose someone for you.
- Zirtual and delegated (formerly Red Butler) – Assign you a dedicated assistant for the number of hours you choose. You then assign tasks directly during that time.
- “Rules of Thumb for Writing Research Articles” by Tomislav Hengl and Michael Gould
- “The Science of Scientific Writing” by George D. Gopen and Judith A. Swan
Email the Edge team at info@edgeforscholars.org
I cannot recommend The Fellowship Grant Pacing Workshop highly enough. From navigating the FOA, to breaking down the application into its individual components, to planning a schedule to keep myself on track while still allowing flexibility, the skills and knowledge I acquired in this workshop were instrumental in helping me submit a successful fellowship grant application.
~ Grant Pacing Workshop Participant
I participated in this workshop series for the June submission cycle and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to submit in October! Even established PIs can benefit from the scheduling techniques and timeline management we learned.
~ Grant Pacing Workshop Participant
As a new investigator with a K award, it's hard to get a grasp on all the pieces involved in submitting your first R01 proposal. The workshop really helped me get a handle on the scale and scope of this task, as well as resources available within Vanderbilt to help me as I go through the process.”
~ Grant Pacing Workshop Participant
Research Assistant Professor
- DOD
Assistant Professor
- K08 Recipient
Assistant Professor
- ASCI Physician Scientist Award
Research Assistant Professor
- R03
