The NIH Boot Camp is a mentoring program funded by the Dean’s Office of the Arnold School of Public Health that is designed to support and increase the success rate of ASPH faculty applying for NIH Research Project Grants (R03, R21, R01).

The NIH Boot Camp is an 9-month program comprised of the following:

• Large group events and workshops designed to provide mentees the tools and knowledge they need to be successful at developing a high-quality first submission proposal to the NIH
• Peer group activities of approximately 3 faculty mentees and 1 faculty mentor. Mentees will share ideas and review proposals, and receive constructive feedback from peers and mentors
• Small group work with Mentors who are faculty members with established track records of external funding and a commitment to mentoring, who will meet with and advise their assigned mentee peer group. Mentors will meet with their assigned mentees, at minimum, once per month to discuss progress on drafting grant sections and provide feedback on individual sections. The primary responsibility of the mentors is to facilitate the process of the mentee meeting deadlines and submitting an NIH application by the required date 

 

Program Participation Requirements

Participants agree that, if selected to be part of the NIH Boot Camp, they are required to:

• Attend the half-day workshops, AND…
• Meet, at minimum, once per month with their assigned Mentor, AND…
• Achieve the Boot Camp Milestones as indicated in the timeline, AND…
• Submit their NIH proposal developed during the Boot Camp for the June NIH Grant Cycle immediately following graduation from the Boot Camp

If you have questions about the NIH Boot Camp program, please contact Michael Beets (beets@mailbox.sc.edu, 7-3003) or Alan Decho (awdecho@mailbox.sc.edu; 7-3908).

Timeline of Events

Major dates are listed below, or review the full NIH Boot Camp timeline of events [pdf], which includes all major deadlines and milestones.

Fall 2019

Date	Topic	Speakers
September 20th	Introductions and Welcome Overview of Grant Workshop - Expectations Getting Started - NIH Reporter NIH Mechanisms Overview (Pros/Cons) Proposal Mechanics 1: Specific Aims	Beets, Decho   Pate, Thrasher, Turner-McGrievy
October 18th	Proposal Mechanics 2: Significance and Innovation Statisticians and Statistics Overview of Human Subjects, Clinical Trial Policies and Documentation	Prinz, Berger, Liese Geraci, McLain Beets
November 1st	Budget and Budget Justification, Sub-Contracts Proposal Mechanics 3 – Preliminary Studies and Approach Selecting a Study Section (Like This) and Review Panel Ins-n-Outs Identification of Co-Investigators and Developing your Team	Christmus Fredriksson, Wilcox

 

Spring 2020

Date	Milestone
January 24th	DRAFT – Specific Aims DUE to Mentor
February 7th	PRESENTATION – Specific Aims (10min presentation with 5min QA)
February 21st	DRAFT – Significance and Innovation DUE to Mentor
February 28th	PRESENTATION – Significance and Innovation (10min presentation with 5min QA)
March 27th	DRAFT – Approach DUE to Mentor
April 3rd	PRESENTATION – Approach (10min presentation with 5min QA)
April 24th	FINAL DRAFT DUE to Beets/Decho
May 8th	MOCK NIH Review Panel
June 1st	SUBMIT NIH GRANT

 

Considerations for Mentee-Mentor Effectiveness

The mentee is the key driver of the mentor-mentee relationship. The more specific the mentee’s questions, the easier it is for the mentor to provide guidance. Guiding principles of the mentee-mentor relationship include an understanding that a mentee-mentor relationship:

• Takes effort and time on the part of the mentee and the mentor
• Requires mutual respect
• Requires professional, responsible, and ethical conduct
• Is a commitment by both parties for a specified interval, although it can be extended by mutual agreement
• Can be ended at any time, by either party, in accordance with the goals set forth by the mentee

The mentee should understand the following about him/herself before entering into the mentee/mentor relationship:

• Understand his/her values, personality, temperament, strengths, weaknesses, and limits
• Understand his/her research goals and communicate them openly
• Clarify his/her goals and expectations of the relationship, including a timeline for the mentorship relationship
• Come prepared to meetings with his/her mentor (“manage up”)
• Be willing to learn and open to criticism
• Take the initiative
• Follow through on commitments