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NIH K Grant Consultation Service

This consultation service offers tailored feedback to NIH K grant or equivalent career development award applicants on draft Specific Aims pages and career development plans in a peer-group setting.

This service aims to strengthen participants’ grant-writing skills, foster experience in peer review and writing groups that participants can carry back to their home institutions, and build a supportive community throughout the K grant/career development award application process.

If selected, participant support includes the following:

  • June 2026: Peer review of a draft Specific Aims (SA) page in one of the virtual two-hour group meetings listed below. Meetings and review discussions will be led by a Harvard Catalyst Distinguished Mentor (DM)
    • June 2 | 9:00am-11:00am
    • June 4 | 1:00pm-3:00pm
    • June 10 | 10:00am-12:00pm
    • June 11 | 12:00pm-2:00pm
  • June/July 2026: Second peer-review meeting to review edits to SA pages two weeks after the initial peer review, led by a DM.
    • June 22 | 10:00am-12:00pm
    • June 23 | 1:00pm-3:00pm
    • June 25 | 3:00pm-5:00pm
    • July 2 | 1:00pm-3:00pm
  • June/July 2026: Participation in a series of K grant writers’ forums
    • June 29 | 12:00-1:00pm
    • July 13 | 12:00-1:00pm
    • July 27 | 12:00-1:00pm
  • August 2026: Peer review of a draft career development plan in a virtual two-hour group meeting, led by a DM.
    • August 10 | 3:00pm-5:00pm
    • August 11 | 9:00am-11:00am
    • August 19 | 9:00am-11:00am
    • August 20 | 1:00pm-3:00pm

Participants will be placed into the above meetings, based on the availability provided in their application.

This service will help prepare NIH K grant applicants for participation in a Mock Study Section Review, hosted by Harvard Catalyst in May 2026 (application and details to be released soon).

Apply

Application will close May 8 at 11:59pm EST.

Eligibility

To be considered for this service, applicants must:
  • Be based at a Harvard-affiliated institution.
  • Be planning to submit a NIH K grant or equivalent career development award application for the October 2026 deadline.
  • Have a fully-written draft of their specific aims page ready to submit.

The service is free for Harvard-affiliated schools and institutions. Eligible applications will be selected based on completeness of their Specific Aims draft and availability for meetings. Applicants will be informed of the status of their application within two weeks of applying.

Preparation

Applicants should be prepared to attach a fully-written draft of their Specific Aims page to the application. We strongly recommend that the draft be pre-reviewed by a mentor before taking part in this service. Before applicants submit their draft Specific Aims page, they must review the recommendations laid out on the NIH K Grant Specific Aims Page Checklist (PDF).

The first component of this service is participation in a peer review of the participant’s Specific Aims page in a DM-led writing group via Zoom.

Cite Us

Have you received a consultation from Harvard Catalyst? Remember to cite us in your publications.