2014 Seed Grant Application Form
All information will be treated as confidential. The information is furnished to the Surgery ACP Research Office with the understanding that it shall be used or disclosed for evaluation, reference and reporting purposes.
Eligibility and Award Guidelines
1. Eligibility
The Principal Investigator (PI) of the Surgery ACP Seed Grant should be:
a. Clinically qualified (i.e. with MD/MBBS/BDS) and
b. A Consultant, Associate Consultant, Clinical Associate, Registrar or Resident under Surgery ACP
2. If the PI is a Registrar or Resident, a mentor is required. A faculty can only be the mentor of one application.
3. Funding amount is capped at max of $40,000 for 1 year.
4. Each applicant will be considered for only ONE application per year as a PI.
5. “Pitch for Fund” – As part of the review process, applicants may have to present their proposal to a panel of reviewers.
6. An approved Seed Grant project may be extended till the end of the current Financial Year, without any change in the approved budget.
7. Successful grant applicants are required to submit a progress report 6 months after the commencement of funding and a final report 1 month upon project completion.
8. A Seed Grant application should not be related to any on-going and pending grants of the PI.
9. A project that was previously awarded a Seed Grant is ineligible for re-application for additional funding either as a renewal or as an extension of the study parameters of the original Seed Grant project. Seed Grant projects should aim to generate preliminary data for competitive grant applications e.g. SingHealth Foundation, NMRC and A*STAR.
10. The success of the Seed Grant project in securing subsequent competitive grants within 3 years must be reported to the Surgery ACP Research Office.
11. Successful publication of research from a Seed Grant project should be reported to the Surgery ACP Research Office.
12. Note to applicants:
If you require assistance in the followings and other areas, please approach Surgery ACP:
a. Biostatistics & data analysis
b. Database management
c. Seeking collaboration with external parties like industry, universities and polytechnics
Instructions to Applicants:
1. Please read the following instructions carefully before submitting the form. Failure to comply with all the requirements will result in the rejection of your application.
2. Use Arial font, size 10, single-spaced.
3. Complete ALL sections in the application. Indicate “NA” wherever applicable.
4. Attach all relevant documents.
5. Submission your applications by emailing the followings to Ms Arina ():
a. Scanned copy of the original signed application form
b. One softcopy (in word document and as a single file) of the application form
6. Queries can be directed to Ms Jovin Ho: 65767961 /
1. NAME OF PI: ______
2. TITLE OF RESEARCH
3. AMOUNT REQUESTED (Max SGD 40,000 per grant)
Total amount of funds applied for in SGD
4. PERIOD OF SUPPORT REQUESTED months (max. ONE year)
5. PROPOSED START AND END DATES
Start Date (Month/Year) :
End Date (Month/Year) :
6. DETAILS OF PI / CO-INVESTIGATORS (Co-I) / COLLABORATORS (CL)
Name / Role in Project / Designation/ Department / Institution / % of Effort within the Project1 / % Effort within own work commitments2PI
Co-I
CL
1 Represents percentage effort spent by each team member on the project relative to other team members. The total in this column must add up to 100%.
2 Represents percentage effort spent by each team member on this project out of the individual’s total work commitments (e.g. other projects, other clinical, teaching and administrative responsibilities).
Note:
a. PI, Co-I and Collaborators are required to provide a biographical sketch according to the format stated in Annex 1.
b. The Co-I need to hold at least an adjunct position in a local public institution. Researchers from overseas institutions or private companies can only participate as Collaborators.
7. Elaborate on their contribution to the project
Role / ContributionPI
Co-I
CL
8. ETHICS DECLARATION
Approval of the grant and fund disbursement are contingent on Centralised Institutional Review Board (CIRB) and/or SingHealth Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval or exemption if the project involves any of the following:
Project involves: / Yes / No / *CIRB / IACUC Ref No.: /Approval or Exemption Letter Attached:
Human subjects / Yes / No / PendingUse of human / animal tissues or cells from primary donors (i.e. study subjects / volunteers recruited for project) / Yes / No / Pending
Use of commercially sourced human / animal tissues, primary cells and cell lines / Yes / No / Pending
Animal experimentation / Yes / No / Pending
Requirement for containment / Yes / No / Pending
9. ABSTRACT
In less than 300 words, concisely and succinctly describe the following:
a. Project Background
b. Hypothesis / Aim
c. Significance
d. Methods
e. Future plans for this project
10. RESEARCH PROPOSAL (Maximum FOUR pages, excluding references)
a. Hypothesis / Aim
State concisely and realistically what the proposal intends to accomplish and/or what hypothesis is to be tested.
b. Significance
Briefly sketch the background of the research proposed, critically evaluate existing knowledge and specifically identify the gaps which the project intends to fill. State concisely the importance of the research described by relating the specific aims to both short term (3-5 years) and possible long-term clinical implications. Describe how your research will contribute to for example:
(i) solving the health problem
(ii) developing new knowledge
(iii) developing scientific and clinical applications
(iv) providing tangible improvements in patient care / healthcare
c. Methods
Discuss in detail the experimental design and procedure(s) to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Describe the protocols and controls to be used and the sequence of the investigations, including statistical analysis. Describe any new method and its advantage over existing methods. Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed studies and alternative approaches to achieve the aims. Point out any procedures, situations or materials that may be hazardous to personnel and the precautions to be exercised. If new equipment is requested, explain how it will benefit your project or the projects from other labs.
d. Future plans for this project
Future plans should include how this project will develop into a formal competitive grant.
e. Milestones
The propose milestones will be used to assess progress of the study which will be considered in deciding on the continued disbursements of funds.
Milestones / Targeted DurationMth
1 / Mth
2 / Mth
3 / Mth
4 / Mth
5 / Mth
6 / Mth
7 / Mth
8 / Mth
9 / Mth
10 / Mth
11 / Mth
12
Eg. Milestone 1 (please replace)
Eg. Milestone 2 (please replace)
Eg. Milestone 3 (please replace)
f. Performance indicators
Please indicate the expected targets. Please state ‘NA’ where the indicator is not applicable.
Performance Indicators / TargetPublications / Papers published in peer-reviewed journals with Journal Impact Factor value ≥ 2
Papers published in peer-reviewed journals with Journal Impact Factor value < 2
Conference Presentations / Poster/Oral presentations at international conferences
Poster/Oral presentations at local conferences
Awards / International level awards
National level awards
Others e.g. patents, manpower training
(Please specify)
g. References
Please list complete references to recent publications pertinent to this research proposal and the applicants’ publications and patents held related to this research proposal. Use of bibliography software, e.g. EndNote or Reference Manager is highly encouraged.
11. BUDGET (Refer to Annex 2 for the list of fundable and non-fundable items)
Manpower (EOM)
Budget for all manpower required for the project including part-time personnel and those to be shared with other projects. Please use salary scales provided by institutional policies, as a reference. The cost should include annual increments, National Service increment, staff welfare, medical and other related benefits as per institutional policies.
Equipment
Budget for all equipment needed. Purchase of IT equipment and computer peripherals or components is subject to approval by institutional IT policies.
Consumables
Budget for all materials and supplies required for the project such as experimental animals and consumables.
Other Operating Expenses (OOE)
This category covers other expenses directly related to the project such as publication costs, purchase of laboratory manuals, literature search and maintenance of equipment.
1. EOMStaff Category / Existing/New / No / Remarks / Sub-Total
Total for Manpower
/ $2. Equipment
Item
/Qty
/Unit Cost
/Sub-Total
Total for Equipment
/ $3. Consumables
Item
/Qty
/Unit Cost
/Sub-Total
Total for Consumables
/ $4. OOE
Item
/Sub-Total
Total for OOE
/ $Grand Total
/ $12. Justification for Budget Request (Please complete all relevant sections)
11.1 EOM
Justification
11.2 Equipment
Justification
Note: Please include supporting document(s) detailing the equipment’s capabilities and specifications. Indicate sharing of equipment with other projects where relevant.
11.3 Consumables
Justification
11.4 OOE
Justification
13. DECLARATION BY APPLICANTS
In signing this grant application, the Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator(s) & Collaborator(s) UNDERTAKE, on any grant award to:
· Declare that all information is accurate and true.
· Abide by the conditions governing the award of the Seed Grant as set out by the Surgery ACP Research Office.
· Submit supporting documents of ethics approval granted by the Centralised Institutional Review Board (CIRB) and/or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for studies involving human subjects/human tissue or cells, and animals/animal tissues or cells, respectively.
· Accept responsibility for the scientific conduct of the project and compliance with all rules and regulations on animal and human ethics, including the Singapore Good Clinical Practice guidelines.
· Not send similar versions or part(s) of this grant application to other funding agencies.
· Ensure that the requested equipment/resources are not funded by another agency or research proposal.
· Submit the required final report if a grant is awarded as a result of this application.
· Acknowledge Surgery ACP Seed Grant in all publications.
· Send copies of publications arising from research wholly or partly funded by this application to the Surgery ACP Research Office.
· Inform SingHealth Intellectual Property (SHIP) before engaging in any commercial activity that could exploit the findings of research funded by Surgery ACP Seed Grant.
Principal InvestigatorName:
Date: /
Co-Investigator
Name:
Date: /
Co-Investigator
Name:
Date: /
Co-Investigator
Name:
Date:
Co-Investigator
Name:
Date: /
Co-Investigator
Name:
Date: /
Collaborator
Name:
Date: /
Collaborator
Name:
Date:
14. MENTOR (For applicants who are registrar or resident)
Mentor’s role:
· Mentor should have adequate experience in the research field and have at least held a competitive grant as the PI.
· He / She may or may not be a subject expert in the research area of this proposal.
· Mentor will provide guidance for the applicant throughout the duration of the project. All reports (Progress/Final) to be submitted by the grant holder to the Surgery ACP Research Office have to be endorsed by the mentor.
· Mentor will have to guide the new investigator in grant writing and project planning for the entire period of the grant.
· Mentor has to sign off the application and also on annual review and at end of project.
Mentor:______
Name, Designation & Signature / Date
15. ENDORSEMENT BY HEAD OF DEPARTMENT (HOD)
In signing this grant application, the HOD UNDERTAKES, on any grant award to:
· Read, support and agree to this proposal being carried out in the Department.
· Ensure that the study complies with all laws, rules and regulations pertaining to animal and human ethics, including the Singapore Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (SGCP) and the Biological Agents and Toxins Acts (BATA) etc
· Ensure that all necessary licenses and approvals have been obtained or are being sought.
HOD:______
Name, Designation & Signature / Date
ANNEX 1
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
(A) PI
Please use the format below to provide the required information on the PI (max THREE pages)
· Name
· Title
· NRIC / Passport no.
· Office mailing address
· Contact no.
· Current position: (Please provide full details e.g. joint appointments; other academic appointments including those outside Singapore; percentage of time spent in Singapore every year, if applicable)
· Employment history
· Academic Qualifications (indicate name of institution and year degree awarded)
· Research interests
· Peer-reviewed international publications in the last 5 years
No. / Title / Authors / Journal title / Vol / Page / JIF / Year / PubMed ID· Local and international scientific awards in the last 5 years
No. / Award / Organiser / Year· ALL current / previous / pending grants received as PI
No. / Title / Grant amount / Year awarded / Funding agency· Patents held. State patent title and patent number.
(B) Co-I, Mentor and Collaborators
In max THREE page per applicant, provide the required information on Co-I, Mentor and Collaborators based on the format below.
· Name
· Title
· NRIC / Passport no.
· Office mailing address
· Contact no.
· Current position: (Please provide full details e.g. joint appointments; other academic appointments including those outside Singapore; percentage of time spent in Singapore every year, if applicable)
· Academic Qualifications (indicate name of institution and year degree awarded)
· Research interests
· Peer-reviewed international publications in the last 5 years
No. / Title / Authors / Journal title / Vol / Page / JIF / Year / PubMed ID· Local and international scientific awards in the last 5 years
No. / Award / Organiser / Year· ALL current / previous / pending grants received as PI
No. / Title / Grant amount / Year awarded / Funding agency· Patents held. State patent title and patent number.
ANNEX 2
Type of Expenses / Description /