The VCU BIRCWH Program is not currently accepting applicants. Please contact molly.hyer@vcuhealth.org with interest or questions. 

BIRCWH General Application Requirements (for example only, may differ from application form)

  • Personal Statement (2 pages): A statement of your background and professional development goals that addresses the following: 
    • Why are you well-suited for the BIRCWH Award? Include relevant factors such as 1) summary of your career path to-date including your training (clinical or other research), 2) your previous research experience/accomplishments, 3) your current work and research interests, and 4) your funding potential.  
    • Describe your overall career goals as they pertain to women’s health and/or sex/gender differences research, both short and long term, and articulate how the BIRCWH award fits into your research career development plans. 
    • Discuss what training you seek and how the training provided by the program will help you achieve your goals. 
  • Research Statement: A research statement describing a proposed area of research related to women's health or sex/gender differences. 
    • Specific aims (1 page)
    • Background, significance, and research strategy (2 pages)
    • How the research contributes to your field and articulate the future direction of your research (½ page)
    • Must incorporate a statement on inclusion of NIH rigor and reproducibility guidelines (½ page)
    • A timeline for your work assuming that the funding period is 2 years (table or figure). 
  • Letter from proposed primary mentor - must include a statement of agreement from mentor that they will support your career development in women’s health or sex/gender differences research. 
  • Letter from department chair - must include a statement agreeing to provide 75% protected time. 
  • Letter of reference from past mentor
  • NIH Biosketch
  • CV
  • Mentor’s Biosketch