F31 Specific Aims Example: One Page, Annotated
A constructed, annotated F31 Specific Aims page for the 2025 form: 1 page, aims you finish in the funding period, and a training payoff for each aim.
F31 Specific Aims Example: One Page, Annotated
The F31 aims page is now called Research Training Project Specific Aims. It is limited to 1 page, and NIH's current instructions ask you to list the aims "to be completed by the candidate during the funding period." That phrase is what an aims page copied from a lab grant misses.
Our view: an F31 aims page is not a shrunken R01 page. Reviewers judge it under the Research Training Plan criterion, which asks whether completing the project develops you as a scientist. Aims lifted from your sponsor's grant, a second aim that only works if the first one does, or a method you have not learned with no matching training activity all weaken the feasibility case, however strong the science. Below is a constructed aims page in two versions, weak and revised, with the edits explained. When your draft is ready, the PhD research proposal and statement rubric is the closest GradPilot match.
Every NIH page quoted below was checked on October 29, 2026, including the FORMS-I fellowship instructions released December 2025, read through a text reader because NIH's site blocks scripted downloads. Your funding opportunity can set different limits; check it before you submit. The rest of the 2025 form change (renamed candidate section, no grades, new sponsor statements) is covered in our guide to the F31 Candidate's Goals, Preparedness, and Potential section; both sit in the PhD essays hub.
On this page: how it is reviewed · what changed in 2025 · anatomy · constructed example · sponsor alignment · checklist
What the F31 aims page is reviewed on
The aims page has no criterion of its own. It feeds the Research Training Plan criterion, one of three criteria "each scored 1-9" for due dates on or after January 25, 2025 (NIH review criteria). Its four bullets, verbatim:
- Assess the rigor and feasibility of the research training project and how completion of the project will contribute to the development of the candidate as a research scientist.
- Evaluate the goals of the overall research training plan and the extent to which the plan will facilitate the attainment of the goals.
- Discuss whether the research training plan identifies areas of needed development and contains appropriate, realistic activities and milestones to address those needs.
- Consider whether the sponsor(s), scientific environment, facilities, and resources are adequate and appropriate for the proposed research training plan.
The FORMS-I fellowship instructions add three sentences that set the scale of the project: it "is expected to be tailored to the experience level of the candidate", it "should be achievable within the requested funding period", and "Fellowship applications do not require preliminary data or extensive experimental detail; however, candidates should provide sufficient scientific and technical details for reviewers to understand and assess the merits of the scientific foundation and research training project."
What changed in the aims instructions in 2025
Aims templates written for R01 grants or the pre-2025 fellowship form follow different instructions. Here is the diff between the archived FORMS-H instructions (released August 5, 2023) and FORMS-I:
| Item | FORMS-H (before January 25, 2025) | FORMS-I (on or after January 25, 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Specific Aims | Research Training Project Specific Aims |
| Goals sentence | "State concisely the goals of the proposed research" | "State concisely the broader goals of the proposed research training project" |
| Aims sentence | "List succinctly the specific objectives of the research proposed" | "List succinctly the specific objectives or aims of the research training project to be completed by the candidate during the funding period." |
| Preliminary work | "Pilot or preliminary studies and routine data gathering are generally not appropriate as the focus of the Research Training Plan." | "Fellowship applications do not require preliminary data or extensive experimental detail" |
| Strategy authorship | "applicants for fellowship awards are expected to write the Research Training Plan" | Strategy "must be written in the candidate's own words. Using language written by others is not allowed in this section" |
| Activity plan | "Describe, by year, the activities …" inside the applicant's background attachment | A separate Training Activities and Timeline attachment (3 pages) |
Page limits come from NIH's page-limit table: Specific Aims 1 page, Strategy 6 pages, Training Activities and Timelines 3 pages, for "F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F37, F38, F99/K00".
The practical change: the aims now have an owner (the candidate) and a clock (the funding period), next to a training timeline reviewers can check them against.
Anatomy of a training aims page
FORMS-I asks for three things on the page, after a problem statement it leaves to you. We map each to a paragraph:
| Paragraph | What FORMS-I asks | What it should contain |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Problem and gap | Not named; it sets up the goals sentence | The question, why it matters, what is missing |
| 2. Goal and hypothesis | The broader-goals sentence (in the diff above) | One broader goal, one objective, one testable hypothesis |
| 3. The aims | The aims sentence (in the diff above) | Two or three aims, each with its approach in one sentence and an outcome that stands on its own |
| 4. Outcomes and impact | "Summarize the expected outcome(s). Include the potential impact that the results of the proposed research training project will have on the research field(s) involved." | What exists at the end, and why the field cares |
Our view: give each aim one "training payoff" sentence that names the skill it trains, using the same words as your Training Activities and Timeline. The basis is the first criterion bullet above ("how completion of the project will contribute to the development of the candidate as a research scientist") and the FORMS-I instruction to "relate the proposed research training project to the career goals". An R01 aims page has no reason to say this. An F31 page does.
The countercase: with three aims on one page, three payoff sentences may cost you the outcomes paragraph. If your Training Activities section already maps each aim to its training, one closing sentence naming the skills is enough. Just don't drop training from the page entirely.
Constructed example: one aims page, weak and revised
Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement.
Context (invented): Daniel Reyes is a third-year immunology PhD student in the lab of Dr. L. Adeyemi. The molecule "TLN-4", the mouse line and every finding below are invented; a real page would cite a source for each biological claim.
Constructed example: the weak, R01-style version
Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. (139 words)
The long-term goal of our laboratory is to define how tissue signals control regulatory T cells. Our preliminary data show that TLN-4 is required for regulatory T cell survival in the gut. We hypothesize that TLN-4 acts through a novel receptor.
Aim 1: Identify the TLN-4 receptor. We will perform a genome-wide screen in primary T cells.
Aim 2: Determine how the TLN-4 receptor signals. Using the receptor identified in Aim 1, we will map downstream pathways by phosphoproteomics.
Aim 3: Test TLN-4 receptor blockade in three disease models. We will use single-cell sequencing across colitis, arthritis and diabetes models to define the receptor's role in each.
Together, these studies will establish TLN-4 signaling as a new therapeutic target and will form the basis of a new research program in our laboratory, positioning us to compete for future funding.
Constructed example: the revised training version
Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. (340 words)
Problem. Regulatory T cells keep the gut from attacking harmless microbes, but how local tissue signals keep these cells alive is not known. Our lab found that mice lacking the invented molecule TLN-4 lose most gut regulatory T cells within two weeks. Which cells respond to TLN-4, and when, has not been tested.
Goal and hypothesis. The broader goal of this research training project is to determine how TLN-4 sustains gut regulatory T cells. I will test the hypothesis that TLN-4 acts directly on regulatory T cells, and only after they enter the gut.
Aim 1. Test whether TLN-4 acts directly on regulatory T cells. I will delete the TLN-4 receptor candidate only in regulatory T cells and compare their survival with controls. Either result is informative: survival loss supports a direct effect; no loss points to an indirect route, which Aim 2 can still measure. Training payoff: conditional mouse genetics and flow cytometry, which I will lead in Year 1.
Aim 2. Define when gut regulatory T cells need TLN-4. Using an inducible deletion, I will remove TLN-4 signaling before and after cells arrive in the gut and track survival over time. This aim does not depend on identifying a receptor in Aim 1. Training payoff: longitudinal experimental design and mixed-effects statistics, through the Year 1 biostatistics course and monthly meetings with my co-sponsor.
Aim 3 (Years 2 to 3). Profile the cells that survive without TLN-4. In collaboration with the institute's single-cell core, I will compare surviving and lost regulatory T cells in one model, colitis. Training payoff: single-cell data analysis, through the core's Year 2 training program.
Expected outcomes. At the end of this project I will know whether TLN-4 acts directly on regulatory T cells and when in their life it is needed. Both answers apply to any tissue signal that maintains these cells, and they give the field a defined window in which to test it. The project trains me in the genetic, statistical and computational methods I need to lead my own immunology research.
What changed, and why
Each edit fixes a problem a reviewer can see on the page.
- "Our laboratory" became "I". FORMS-I says "Candidates are expected to write the application, including the research training project section." For the Strategy it is explicit: "Candidates may solicit feedback and incorporate suggestions from the sponsor(s) and other scientists into the research training project strategy, but the text must be written by the candidate." The weak version reads like the sponsor's program, and its last sentence is about the lab's funding.
- Aim 2 no longer depends on Aim 1. In the weak version, Aim 2 starts "Using the receptor identified in Aim 1". If the screen fails, two aims fail. FORMS-I asks the project to include "Discussion of possible challenges and how they will be managed" and "Alternative approaches that might be tried if the initial approaches do not work." The revision makes each aim produce a result on its own and says so.
- The genome-wide screen is gone. A method with no matching training activity and no named collaborator is a feasibility risk; the criterion asks for "appropriate, realistic activities and milestones". The revision keeps methods that appear in the training timeline.
- Three disease models became one. The project "should be achievable within the requested funding period". The revision narrows Aim 3 to one model and dates it. The dates must match the Training Activities and Timeline, where FORMS-I asks you to "Describe, by year, the planned activities".
- "Preliminary data show" became one stated finding. FORMS-I says fellowship applications do not require preliminary data.
- Each aim ends with a training payoff that names the skill and when it is learned, matching the first criterion bullet.
Our count: the revised version is 340 words. Check the fit on one page in your final font and margins against NIH's formatting rules.
Check the aims against your sponsor's commitment statement
The sponsor's statement now has five headed parts. Two of them should name the same things your aims page does (FORMS-I, sponsor sections C and D; NIH changes page):
| On your aims page | Where the sponsor should match it |
|---|---|
| The methods each aim uses | Section D, Research Training Environment: "centralized research facilities or equipment needed to complete the research training project" |
| The collaborator or core you name | Section D, and letters of support |
| The meeting rhythm behind each training payoff | Section C, Commitment to the Candidate's Research Training Plan: "the frequency, duration, and nature of meetings with the candidate" |
| How the aims were developed | Your Training Activities and Timeline must "describe the collaborative process between the candidate and the sponsor(s) in the development, writing, review, and editing of the research training plan, including the research training project aims and strategy" |
Send your sponsor the final aims page before they draft sections C and D, not after.
Due dates and NIH's AI notice
F series fellowships use the standard dates April 8, August 8 and December 8 (NIH standard due dates). The next is Tuesday, December 8, 2026. NIH adds: "Not all opportunities or programs use standard due dates."
NIH notice NOT-OD-25-132, effective from the September 25, 2025 receipt date, states: "NIH will not consider applications that are either substantially developed by AI, or contain sections substantially developed by AI, to be original ideas of applicants." The full policy text, including its enforcement sentence, is quoted in our F31 candidate section guide.
Checklist for an F31 aims page
- The attachment is the Research Training Project Specific Aims, and it fits on 1 page.
- The goal sentence states the broader goal of the research training project.
- Each aim is something you complete during the funding period.
- No aim depends on another aim's positive result, or the page says what happens if it fails.
- Every method you have not used appears in Training Activities and Timeline with a year, and the years match the aims page.
- Each aim, or one closing sentence, names what it trains.
- The outcomes paragraph says what the field gains.
- The page says "I" for your work and names the sponsor's lab only as the setting.
- Your sponsor's sections C and D name the same methods, cores and collaborators.
- The page has no figures, or you accept the submission warning NIH describes.
Questions about the F31 Specific Aims page
How long is the F31 Specific Aims page?
1 page. NIH's page-limit table lists "Research Training Project Specific Aims" at 1 page for all fellowship applications, unless the funding opportunity specifies a different limit.
Can an F31 aims page include a figure?
FORMS-I does not say graphics are prohibited. It says a "Specific Aims attachment that includes graphics will generate a warning by the Agency upon submission."
Do I need preliminary data for an F31?
No. FORMS-I says "Fellowship applications do not require preliminary data or extensive experimental detail", but asks for enough detail for reviewers to judge the scientific foundation.
Is the F30 aims page the same?
Yes. The same page limits cover F30 and F31, and the same review criteria apply to "F30, F31, F32, F33, F99/K00."
Get a free review of your F31 Specific Aims page
Get a free Quick Review of your F31 Specific Aims page against GradPilot's general PhD research proposal and statement rubric, the closest match to an aims page. It reads for a specific research problem, a matching method for every question, feasibility within a funded doctoral timeframe, and evidence that you are ready for this project. The NSF GRFP research plan rubric reads a short plan for problem, approach and feasibility, with GRFP's Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts added. The PhD research proposal rubric, written for UK, Irish and Australian proposals, reads the question, methods and timeline.
More research-plan guides:
- F31 Candidate's Goals, Preparedness, and Potential: the 3-page candidate section and how its development areas tie to your aims.
- NSF GRFP Research Plan: a two-page plan for a different funder and different criteria.
- Research statement vs SOP vs research proposal: which research document does which job.
- NDSEG research proposal format: another fellowship proposal with its own format rules.
Sources
Retrieved October 29, 2026, except where noted. grants.nih.gov returned a bot challenge to direct downloads; each NIH page was read through a text reader.
- NIH, Fellowship Instructions, Forms Version I (released December 2025), F.430: Research Training Project, Specific Aims, Strategy, Training Activities and Timeline, sponsor sections C and D.
- NIH, Fellowship Instructions, Forms Version H (archived; released August 5, 2023): the old aims and Research Training Plan wording.
- NIH, Changes to the Fellowship Review Criteria: Research Training Plan criterion.
- NIH, Changes to Fellowship Applications: renamed sections and sponsor statements.
- NIH, Page Limits: fellowship page limits.
- NIH, Standard Due Dates: F series dates.
- NIH, NOT-OD-25-132: AI policy and effective date.
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