Writing Research Proposals for Grants and Fellowships (Part 1)

Semester: Summer
|
Year offered: 2026

Course Structure

This Nanocourse is Part 1 of a two-part series. Students may take Part 1 on its own or continue with Part 2, which focuses on developing these ideas into a Specific Aims page (a one-page summary of the project) for a grant or fellowship proposal. 

Course Description 

A good research proposal does more than describe your project, it convinces reviewers that your idea matters. In Part 1 of this two-part class, we’ll walk you through how to 1) come up with interesting scientific questions, 2) narrow down your list of questions to those that are most compelling for reviewers, and 3) build the skeleton of your research proposal. The class is a mix of chalk-talks and discussions, where students will analyze successful proposals and exchange feedback on their own projects in a friendly, low-stakes atmosphere. 

Course Objectives

Students will learn:

  • The universal structure of a grant, with emphasis on the NIH structure.
  • How to put yourself into the mind-space of the reviewers as they’re determining whether to fund a particular grant.
  • Strategies for managing negative emotions, writer’s block, and procrastination.
  • How to efficiently and quickly come up with scientific questions to answer.
  • How to select the questions that are most compelling to a particular set of grant reviewers.
  • How to organize those questions into aims (or work packages).

Class Schedule

Time:
10:30AM – 12:30PM

Dates:

  • Session 1: June 1st
  • Session 2: June 8th
  • Session 3: June 15th 

Classroom:
Countway L1-024 Classroom

Milestone Credit

In order to receive Milestone credit, students must:

  • Attend all 3 class sessions 

  • Complete the 3 homework assignments

    • Assignment 1: A description of your scientific topics of interest

    • Assignment 2: A list of possible scientific questions that could go into your proposal

    • Assignment 3: your curated list of questions reorganized into aims

HMS-based PhD students and select HMS Masters students can combine Nanocourses for credit. More information about Milestone Credit can be found here.

Course Team

Instructor: 

Christina Usher, PhD

Senior Science Writer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Email: christinaL_usher@dfci.harvard.edu

Guest for a Q & A: 

Nolan Kamitaki, PhD

Post-Doc in the McCarroll lab at Harvard Medical School.

Email: nkamitaki@gmail.com

HMS Curriculum Fellow (course support & inquiries)

Lorenzo Gesuita, PhD, Program in Genetics and Genomics Curriculum Fellow

Email: lorenzo_gesuita@hms.harvard.edu 

Registration

Register Here: https://hms.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1KW5lWs8JvXyiKG

Registration Deadline: Monday, May 18

Enrollment limit: 30 participants 

Registration priority will be given to HMS-based PhD students and select HMS Master’s students who are taking the course for credit. More information can be found here.

You will receive an email confirming your enrollment. If the course is full, you will be placed on a waitlist and notified by email.

Students requiring accommodations should contact the Disability Access Office upon admission to the nanocourse. Please provide the course name, instructor’s name and email, and course dates to ensure timely communication of accommodations.

 

See also: