Requesting a Letter from the Director
- Requests for letters from the director should be sent to Dr. Joel Maust (joelmaust@pitt.edu) and Ms. Serena Holliday (hollidaysm3@upmc.edu).
- Letters are processed first-in/first-out for a given due date. Note that there are backups in mid-September through mid-October and mid-March through mid-April for the days/weeks, when applications are due to multiple organizations (i.e., ACS, DoD, and NCI for F and K grants).
- Requests should arrive at least three weeks in advance of their due date. Additional processing time is needed for letters that include:
- one or more signatures in addition to the director.
- a commitment of institutional funds, space, or an academic promotion. Note that commitments not previously approved by the director can lead to denial of a letter or inclusion of language that is not indicative of a true commitment.
- UPMC Hillman staff do not work on UPMC or university holidays (including the 1-week Pitt winter break), so factor that into your turn-around time, as well as summer vacations.
- When a request arrives late, the PI should be prepared to write an initial draft in the style of a previously prepared letter.
Information to be provided with a request
- CV of PI (biosketch if CV not available).
- Title of application and specific aims page (abstract if no aims), and project LOI (if applicable).
- Whether the applicant has any manuscripts in press, revision, review, or preparation and any invitations to present at national or international meetings.
- URL pointing to guidelines/RFA/NOFO (or attach PDF) for application preparation/award mechanism.
- Due date at granting organization and if applicable, UPMC Hillman/Pitt OSP internal due dates.
- Names/locations of multi-PIs and names of Co-Investigators at UPMC Hillman.
- UPMC Hillman or Pitt shared resources and any other special high-end instrumentation that will be used.
- For trainees and early career faculty:
- Names of primary mentor and/or mentoring committee faculty
Additional information needed
- Any special instructions regarding:
- Formatting (e.g., page limit or placement on the ACS template).
- Submission of letter (e.g., *a separate link will be sent to the director for upload) or the requirement for a separate second letter (e.g., the director will be serving as a mentor or consultant on the project).
- Any unique or unusual review criteria for the award mechanism that should be addressed in the letter (i.e., applicant has a valid visa or can devote more than a minimum level of effort to research or the project).
*If a link for direct upload will be sent to the director, please use the email address of Serena Holliday (hollidaysm3@upmc.edu) to ensure on-time routing of the finalized letter
Content of Letters
- Applicant PIs will be asked to review and edit draft letters for accuracy. In the absence of PI approval, letters will not be finalized.
- Letters will be organized according to the type of award:
| PROJECT-FOCUSED AWARDS |
CAREER DEVELOPMENT & TRAINEE AWARDS |
| • Introduction of project and PI
• Description of project and, when appropriate, key prior publications and preliminary data • Description of PI, with focus on expertise, ongoing grant support, and national or international honors • Description of other PIs or UPMC Hillman co-investigators • Available resources for conducting the work • Conclusion |
• Introduction of PI and project
• Description of PI, to include training background and prior accomplishments • Description of project and, when appropriate, key prior publications and preliminary data • Description of mentor(s) and, when applicable, their training records • Environment for supporting career advancement or training • Available resources for conducting the work • Conclusion |
Special Circumstances
- For certain limited opportunity nomination letters, a scientific writer from Research Administration might request an opportunity to interview the candidate to collect additional background information such as motivation for becoming a cancer researcher or focusing on a specific type of cancer.
- If an aims page is found to have serious flaws in logic or language usage, the scientific writer may contact the PI with suggested changes.
- Initial drafts provided by the PI will be edited so that they do not read as if written by the applicant.
