Project Proposal (grant writing)

Obtaining research money is the life's blood of any independent researcher. Given the importance of being able to prepare a competitive grant, we require all students to write and defend a project proposal within the first five semesters in the CMB Program.

Courses combined with a series of lectures on special grant topics provide students with the knowledge to design and evaluate a hypothesis-driven grant.

The format for the project proposal is based on a typical grant application submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for post-doctoral research support. This includes Specific Aims, Background & Significance, Preliminary Data and Experimental Design.

Specific information about this project proposal can be found in the program handbook.

Student Spotlight

Michelle Norton

Born and raised in Vermont, Michelle received her B.S. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Vermont in 2002. Following graduation she worked at UVM in the department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics studying cardiac myosin. Michelle entered UVM's MD/PhD program in 2004 and joined the CMB program in 2006. She is pursuing her dissertation research with Dr. Elizabeth Bonney, focusing on immunologic adaptations during pregnancy.