Investigators need an NIH eRA Commons account affiliated with Wellesley College in order to submit proposals through the National Institutes of Health ASSIST online system. Contact OSR for assistance if you have questions.

Checklists

• NIH Forms I Checklist (with annotation for AREA (R15) Proposals) – for proposal due dates 1/25/25 or after.

Institutional Letter (R15): NIH R15 Eligibility Letter_10-2025

Samples, Templates, and Guidance

• Locating Your Application Package
• NIH Application Guide 
• Formatting Attachments
• Biosketch Template and Instructions
• Detailed Budget Justification template (for detailed budgets only)
• Managing your Biosketch with SciENcv
• Writing a Strong “Specific Aims” Page 
• Help with Data Management Planning (LTS Research Data Librarian)
• NIH Sample Applications (publicly available)
• Successful Proposal Library: sample NIH proposals from Wellesley College are available by contacting OSR (Note: internal requests only)

Special Programs of Interest

• Academic Research Enhancement Awards for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (AREA R15)
• For Early Stage Investigators (incuding NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2))

Strategy/Advice/Tips

• Overview of the NIH Process
• The NIH R01 Toolkit
• NIH Grant Writing Tips
• Mock NIH Review Panel (video from NIH, 2020)
• Let’s Look at Peer Review (slides from NIH, 2020)
• Insider’s Guide to Peer Review for Applicants
• What has been funded in the past (and by what institutes)?