BHGC Step-By-Step: Phase I Proposal Review
Your team and Blue Haven Grant Consultants (BHGC) developed your SBIR/STTR application together and submitted it for review. After 3-4 months, the application will receive your review, indicating the likelihood of funding and potential next steps. BHGC will be with you the whole time, not just a mere grant writing service. In his Step-By-Step post, we explore how BHGC serves as your grant advisor and administrative team by helping you interpret and navigate reviewer feedback and how this informs our next steps along the grant writing process.
Interpreting Feedback
Once your SBIR/STTR application has been reviewed, you will receive feedback from the reviewers. This feedback primarily consists of two components: your Impact Score and the Summary Statement. Understanding how to interpret these outcomes will be key to determining your next steps.
Impact Score Interpretation
Your impact score is the numeric assessment of your application, derived from the evaluation of specific scored criteria. This cumulative score is the greater determinant of your application's likelihood of funding, with a lower score indicating a stronger application (10-90). We will help you interpret where your score falls and what it indicates about your funding prospects.
Summary Statement
Beyond the numerical score, the Summary Statement offers detailed written feedback from the reviewers. These expert insights are invaluable. They not only contextualize your Impact Score but also illuminate how reviewers perceived your application's strengths and weaknesses.
Reviewers are subject-matter experts, each bringing their unique perspective to the evaluation process. With our decade of experience, we are uniquely positioned to help you distill these summaries and your impact score into a clear, actionable roadmap. This roadmap will highlight the core strengths of your application and project, while also pinpointing areas where strategic improvements can address identified weaknesses.
Crafting a Response
SBIR/STTR grant applications are often an iterative dialogue. As an applicant, you'll have the crucial opportunity to submit a Summary Statement Response to the program officer and/or an Introduction for a resubmission. This response allows you to bolster your original application by directly addressing reviewer concerns and strengthening your overall proposal. With our extensive experience, the BHGC team will help you craft a coherent and compelling Summary Statement Response to the program officer and/or an Introduction for a resubmission. We will focus specifically on the objections or questions raised by reviewers, tackling them head-on. Our philosophy is not to conceal concerns, but instead to address them directly, enabling reviewers to get their questions answered and better understand the innovative potential of your technological development. We will highlight the impact that NIH funding will have on moving this innovation closer to commercialization and the marketplace, ultimately helping patients and advancing NIH goals.
Just In Time Documentation
Applications under consideration for awards receive requests for Just-in-Time (JIT) documentation. This crucial step allows NIH administrators to gather additional information and make fine-tuned observations, ultimately aiding in the final evaluation of your grant application. JIT requests may include agreement documentation, further information about space or team capacity, and other detailed document requests.
At BHGC, we are experts in producing and organizing these types of documents. We highlight their connection to your original application, drawing reviewers' attention to key details that underscore the validity of your proposed ideas. Our goal is to ensure your JIT submission effectively reinforces the strengths of your application.
Program Officer Meeting
At BHGC, we firmly believe that engaging with Program Officers is crucial for enhancing projects and ensuring their success. As part of our post-score review process, we facilitate further interaction with Program Officers to delve deeper into the application's feedback and strategize the project's next steps. This interaction is valuable whether it involves seeking further improvements for an already funded project or re-evaluating and refocusing a project that isn't yet ready for an SBIR/STTR grant.
Regardless of the outcome, a meeting with a Program Officer is an invaluable opportunity. We will assist you in setting up and attending these meetings, ensuring that you are well-positioned to leverage the keen insights of Program Officers for your project's benefit. They can offer nuanced perspectives on reviewer comments, clarify ambiguous feedback, and provide guidance on potential resubmission strategies or alternative funding avenues. Their insights can be particularly instrumental in understanding the "why" behind certain scores and comments, allowing for a more targeted and effective approach to future revisions or new applications. This collaborative approach ensures that your project is aligned with the NIH's evolving research goals and has the best possible chance to secure funding.
Next Steps
As your grant partner, BHGC will be there to help assess your next steps in your grant funding journey. Whether it’s initiating the first part of your project plan, or a reassessment of what your next grant application will look like or what you want to do with alternative types of funding opportunities, BHGC will be there to help produce competitive funding requests to help you get access the resources you need to advance your innovation from research to the marketplace.
In our next Step-By-Step post, we’ll discuss how BHGC can help you during your Phase I project completion and prepare you for your next funding opportunity, likely a Phase II Renewal.
And if you’re ready to benefit from the BHGC Advantage, don’t forget to schedule a free consultation through our website!