SSCI Research Scholar Award

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Application Deadline: September 1

Award Activation: March 1

Grant Amount: $25,000 plus 10% indirect costs

Submit Application to: Pamala Schmidt, Administrative Director, pschmidt@tulane.edu

Program Description, Eligibility and Peer Review Criteria

Objective

The goal of the SSCI Research Scholar Award is to support developing physician-scientists as they undertake innovative research projects related to Internal Medicine and its subspecialties. This grant award will provide supplemental funds for a mentored career award of senior post-doctoral fellows or instructor/junior assistant professors whose extramural application in which he/she is the PI has been funded or recently received a highly meritorious score and is likely to be funded in the next 12 months. Mentored federal (i.e., K01, K08, K23, VA-CSRD) or non-federal (i.e., AHA Young Investigator Award) award applications will be considered. The duration of the award is one year.

Please note that Intramural research applications do not qualify for this program.

Focus

Basic, clinical, and population research broadly related to Internal Medicine and its subspecialties topics will be considered.

Target Audience

At the time of application, the applicant must:

• Hold a post-doctoral fellow or Instructor or Assistant Professor of Medicine appointment and be conducting research in an accredited institution
• Hold a MD, DO, MBBS or equivalent degree

While no minimum percent effort is specified, the principal investigator must demonstrate that adequate time will be devoted to ensure successful completion of the proposed project through institutional support letters, including the applicant's primary mentor and department chair's letters. Copies of the Letter of Intent and submitted grant proposal to the primary funding agency, with its score and critiques, must be included with the application.

PLEASE NOTE: To qualify for this application, it is an absolute requisite that the candidate's primary mentor is a current SSCI fellow in good standing. It is also required that the applicant is a member of the SSCI.

Apply for Membership

Citizenship

At the time of application, the applicant must have one of the following designations:

• United States citizen
• Permanent resident

The awardee must maintain one of the designations listed above throughout the duration of the award.

Location of Project

The award must be conducted at an accredited institution in the United States. Preference will be given to the SSCI geographical region. SSCI research awards are limited to non-profit institutions, including medical, osteopathic, schools of public health, universities and colleges, public and voluntary hospitals, and other institutions that can demonstrate the ability to conduct the proposed research. Applications from institutions outside the United States cannot be considered.

Budget

Award: $25,000 per year plus indirect costs
Indirect Costs: 10%

Salary/Fringe: No amount for salary and fringe of the principal investigator, any collaborating investigators, and other participants with faculty appointments is allowed.

Support for the Submitted Extramural Project: Salary supplementation for personnel without faculty appointments (i.e., laboratory technicians) is allowed, in addition to supplies (up to 20% of the total budget), equipment, and publication costs essential to the project as determined by the PI.

Travel: Up to $500 annually for travel expenses is allowed for the required presentation of the funded research at the SSCI Annual Meeting in February.

Duration: One year.

Award Activation: March of the corresponding year's application.

Matching Funds: Matching funds by the applicant's local institution/department/division are encouraged, and applications with a clear commitment to matching will be given preference. However, matching funds are not essential for submission and consideration.

Restrictions

• The awardee may not hold more than one SSCI Research Scholar Award concurrently.
• If not funded, the applicant may resubmit the same or similar application three times (the original plus two). The same or similar application submitted the fourth time will be administratively withdrawn.
• Only one project per applicant will be allowed.

Peer Review Criteria

Applications are reviewed in a fashion similar to NIH proposals (including in an anonymous fashion, and with similar scoring criteria (see below). Applicants and Reviewers are prohibited from discussion of applications. Such communication is considered to be a form of scientific misconduct and will result in removal of the application from funding consideration and institutional notification of such misconduct.

To judge the merit of the application, reviewers will review the following six criteria.

1. Significance: Does this study address an important problem broadly related to Internal Medicine or its subspecialties? How will scientific knowledge or clinical practice be advanced?
2. Approach: Are the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses adequately developed, well integrated, well-reasoned and feasible (as determined by preliminary data) and appropriateto the aims of the project?
3. Innovation: Is the project original and innovative?
4. Investigator and Mentor: Both the investigator and mentor should be appropriately trained and well suited to carry out the proposed work.
5. Environment: Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success?
6. Impact: How does this project relate to and support the mission of the SSCI?

Interim Reporting

An awardee must submit an annual progress report (for 2 years) that includes research findings, abstracts, publications, and names of trainees supported. Presentation of the funded research project at a subsequent SSCI meeting in February is an essential requirement.

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Research Scholar Award Guidelines

A printable PDF of these guidelines is available here.

• Research Scholar Award Guidelines

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Research Scholar Award Application with Guidleines

• Research Scholar Award Application

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