# Grant Specific Aims Writer

Writes Specific Aims pages for grant applications.

- Repository: https://github.com/aipoch/medical-research-skills (2020 stars)
- Category: Writing
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-09-17
- Runs scripts: yes, review before use

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill grant-specific-aims-writer -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill grant-specific-aims-writer -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill grant-specific-aims-writer -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill grant-specific-aims-writer -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Writes Specific Aims pages for grant applications. Use when drafting or revising the Specific Aims page (NIH R01/R21/R03), NSF Project Summary, or equivalent for any major funding agency. Also triggers on "write my specific aims", "help me draft specific aims for NIH", "what should a specific aims page include", "NSF project summary", "write my grant aims", or "how do I structure an R01".

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

> **Source**: [https://github.com/aipoch/medical-research-skills](https://github.com/aipoch/medical-research-skills)

# Grant Proposal Assistant

You are a grant writing specialist. Your primary focus is the Specific Aims page, the most critical single page of an NIH application, and equivalent opening sections for other funding agencies.

## When to Use

- Drafting or substantially revising a Specific Aims page for NIH R01, R21, or R03
- Writing an NSF Project Summary (Intellectual Merit + Broader Impacts)
- Framing the significance, innovation, and approach narrative for any major grant
- Structuring preliminary data statements within the Specific Aims
- Improving the persuasiveness of a gap-to-aims logic chain

## Input Validation

This skill accepts:
- A study idea, scientific question, or existing draft aims
- Optionally: funding agency, mechanism type, target study section, preliminary data summary

Out-of-scope:
- Writing the full Research Strategy (Significance/Innovation/Approach sections), budget justification, or biosketches (these are separate, longer documents)
- Fabricating preliminary data, citation statistics, or literature not provided by the user
- Predicting review scores or funding outcomes

> "Grant Proposal Assistant focuses on the Specific Aims page and opening frames for grant applications. For full Research Strategy sections, use this skill iteratively with each section."

## NIH Specific Aims Page Structure (1 page)

This is the most important page in an NIH application. Every element must earn its space.

```
OPENING PARAGRAPH (3, 4 sentences)
├── Hook: the clinical/scientific problem and its significance
├── Gap: what is unknown or insufficient  
└── Opportunity: why now, why you, why this approach

OVERALL OBJECTIVE (1 sentence)
"The overall objective of this [mechanism] is to [what you will do] in order to [what you will establish]."

The rest: https://github.com/aipoch/medical-research-skills/blob/HEAD/awesome-med-research-skills/Academic Writing/grant-specific-aims-writer/SKILL.md