I’m applied for several grants, fellowships, etc. Most recently, I've tried for the NIH NRSA Postdoc and a NSF Minority Postdoc. Im going to try to synthesize the process..

NIH NRSA: Outline of the process

1. Several Months before deadline (the NIH has 3 submission deadlines pre year (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm))
   • Identify a potential sponsor and develop a project
   • Do some research about the program, eligibility, etc.
   • get an eCommons logon (you need to get this through your Universities SPO)
2. A month or so before the deadline
   • Start Writing
   • ask 3-5 people for letters of ref
3. 1 week before deadline
   • Submit to RES/SPO

Abstract for my proposal:

The maintenance of water balance in humans is one of the most important physiologic processes. Indeed, humans and most other mammals are exquisitely sensitive to changes in osmolality, with slight derangement eliciting physiologic compromise. When the loss of water exceeds dietary intake, dehydration occurs. Dehydration is an important source of morality, and can lead secondarily to several common clinical conditions including Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and End-Stage Renal Failure (ESRD). Unlike most mammals, animals living in desert habitats are subjected to long periods during which no source of extrinsic water is available. As a result, animals living in these environments have evolved mechanisms through which physiologic homeostasis is maintained despite severe and prolonged dehydration. A better understanding of the mechanisms allowing desert-adapted mammals to survive without water intake is directly relevant to human health, with new insights providing fodder for the development of novel strategies aimed at the treatments and prevention of conditions caused by, or associated with, dehydration. Because dehydration can lead to kidney disease, (which affects millions of people (USRDS 2010)), finding effective strategies for its treatment and prevention is urgently needed. Here, I propose to study the genomic underpinnings of functional anuria, an adaptation to the absence of extrinsic water in desert-adapted rodents— using a comparative approach at the intra- and inter-specific levels. This study has important implications for human health and medicine, as uncovering the genetic mechanisms underlying desert-adapted rodents unique ability to tolerate dehydration will broaden our understanding of why humans can’t.

NIH NRSA: Link to all the gory details.