Abstract
Mentored Career Development Award Grants (also known as “K awards”) are the portals through which the majority of academic investigators take their first step into the world of NIH-funded research. Compared with Research Project Grants (“R awards”), K awards are designed to provide aspiring researchers with a period of structured, protected, and mentored time to build their research skills and portfolio. There is no single formula for drafting a successful K award. There are, however, a series of concepts and tips that can maximize the likelihood of success, including seeking the proper mentorship, crafting an individualized course of didactic study, and working together a mentor to develop an innovative yet feasible research plan. We hope that after reviewing this material young surgeons interested in an academic career will be better-equipped to develop stronger and more attractive K award applications.
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Acknowledgements
Malcolm V. Brock for his work on an earlier version of this chapter.
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Dawes, A.J., Maggard-Gibbons, M. (2017). Writing a Grant/Obtaining Funding. In: Chen, H., Kao, L. (eds) Success in Academic Surgery. Success in Academic Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43952-5_12
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