The MRC’s New Investigator Research Grant helps researchers make the tricky step to independence. Aida Martinez-Sanchez tells Ashleigh Furlong how she made her bid stand out.
Aida’s top tips
- Be realistic about what you can achieve, being over-ambitious is a sign you are not ready for independence.
- Accept that the onus for clarity falls on you; if reviewers fail to understand something in your bid, that is your fault.
- After receiving reviewers’ comments, talk again to your university to see what extra support they can provide for the rebuttal.
- When writing the rebuttal, you can respond to negative comments with positive ones from different reviewers.
The Medical Research Council’s New Investigator Research Grants are career-defining awards as they support researchers for three years, covering up to 50 per cent of their salary as well as a variety of other costs such as support for additional research, consumables and equipment.
This article on Research Professional News is only available to Research Professional or Pivot-RP users.
Research Professional users can log in and view the article via this link
Pivot-RP users can log in and view the article via this link.