Founders' Grant

 
The Founders Grant will support research by a junior investigator. Applicants are encouraged to consider using the SGIM Research Dataset Compendium for their proposed research projects. This resource provides information about a number of public use datasets and provides opportunities from investigators to get mentoring and one-time consultation from senior SGIM members who are experienced in accessing and using the datasets.  Applications up to $10,000 will be entertained. Institutional overhead must be included in this amount.

Eligibility

Eligibility is limited to SGIM full or associate members who are in a research training (fellowship) program or who completed their training (clinical and/or research) less than 2 years prior to the time of application.

Term

Grants are given for a single year only. (Fiscal year July 1 – June 30th) Funds must be spent within 12 months of the beginning of the grant, and may not be "banked" for future use. Unexpended funds must be returned to the Society. If justified in writing, carryover may be approved by the SGIM President and Chair of the Founders Committee. Request for carryover of unexpended funds should be made prior to the expiration of an award.

Review Process

Each application will be reviewed by a primary and secondary reviewer from a 10 member review committee of senior SGIM clinician investigators. The applications will be reviewed for a variety of attributes, including:

• Significance of the research and potential for important contribution to the field of general internal medicineScholarly merit, creativity and innovation
• Feasibility
• Prospects for future extramural funding
• Availability of alternate funding sources; applicants who are well supported will be given a lower priority
• Career development at early stages of career
• Evidence that junior applicants will be working as independent investigators

Certain frequent weaknesses should be avoided, such as:

• "re-inventing the wheel" due to ignorance of prior published work, often in cognate fields

• a fishing expedition without a focused hypothesis

Limited critiques of applications will be provided from the SGIM office for unsuccessful applications. Please do not contact the senior investigators who volunteer their time as reviewers.

If Awarded

• Regulatory approvals must be obtained before funds are transferred to the department.
• A brief (1 to 2 pages) final report should be submitted to SGIM within one year of the date of the award.  The report should include publications, other funding, patents or discoveries which resulted because of this award. 
     

Documents Necessary for this Award:

1. Grant Proposal
2. Other Supporting Document
3. Nominee's Current Curriculum Vitae

2022 Founders' Grant Winner
Aksharananda Rambachan, BA, MD, MPH