What is the objective?

• The funding will enable residents to lead a high-quality research project (under the supervision of a faculty research mentor) that would lead to a publication.

Who is eligible?

• Residents or fellows from the Department of Surgery at the University of Ottawa under the supervision of a Department of Surgery research mentor.

What is the award?

• $5k (to hire a summer student and/or fund a small projecgt)

What do you need to apply?

• Full proposal (template available) – 3 pages maximum (not including references)

• Letter of support from your research mentor

• CV

When will proposals be due?

• Annually, the first Monday of February

• The funding should enable residents or fellows to initiate the development a high-quality research project that would lead to a publication.

• The RRG will contribute $5k to support outstanding proposals employing a summer student working on a publishable project that will lead to enhanced surgical patient care.

• A competitive peer-review and transparent process will select the most deserving proposals.

• All residents and fellows within the Department of Surgery are eligible to apply with the support of a surgeon faculty member.

• A one-year delay before re-applying after success will be imposed.

• To financially support residents and fellows in the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa in gaining research experience in any of the research domains, including clinical, translational, educational, and quality improvement research.

• Funds should only be used to support the human resources necessary to implement, test, or evaluate a research question that would result in enhanced surgical care delivery.

• Proposals must be submitted by residents and fellows registered with the Department of Surgery Office of Education.

• A proposal must have the support from a research mentor (who can be any surgeon within the Department of Surgery) prior to the submission to the selection committee.

Specific proposal eligibility criteria includes:

• plans for inquiry and investigation

• plans for publication

• All submitted proposals must follow the template provided.

• The proposal itself must be submitted as a single PDF file.

• Applications will include the proposal, a letter of support from the research mentor, and up-to-date applicant CV.

• All submitted proposals will be evaluated through a competitive peer-reviewed process involving senior residents and fellows from the Department of Surgery and representatives from the Department of Surgery Research Committee.

• Residents and Fellows from the Department of Surgery, as selected by the Research Committee

• Members of the Research Committee or their division / domain delegates

• The assessment of proposals by the peer-review committee will be based on the following criteria:

  • Innovation and Knowledge Translation: creation of new knowledge, tools or innovation and creating awareness about innovation or tool studied

    • The innovation to improve surgical care and/or reduce costs must be clearly identified within the proposal.

    • A coherent knowledge translation strategy should be clearly defined and discussed.

  • Potential for Impact: the potential impact of research program within and beyond the local institution and the academic community

    • Applicants should articulate the impact on both patient care and costs of care.

  • Strengths of the PI (resident or fellow) and Team (including research mentor): the experience and skills of the research team, including: track record, historical productivity and impact, likelihood that this team can complete the proposal being proposed, time/availability to commit to the proposal, and collaborative arrangements with colleagues, if applicable.

    • The PI's CV should include publications, presentations, and grants.

    • A statement about the productivity and impact of the PI's work should be included, as well as their availability to commit to the research project.

    • The expertise (and experience) of research personnel to be supported should be stated (if known)

    • Any collaborative arrangements support the project should be identified.

  • Feasibility: clarity and realism of the research proposal with respect to the objectives, timeframe, intended outcomes and outcome metrics, and resources available.

  • Funding (Use and Potential): efficient and effective use of funds to achieve research objective, as well as the potential to attract external funders

    • Applicants should articulate how their proposal optimally uses the funding.

    • The potential for obtaining external funding will be a major consideration for the review panel. All proposals should include an external funding strategy, including the names of target funding organizations.

• At the time of the award, the awardee will be asked to supply an OHRI cost centre to which the funds will be transferred.

• The financial year of the fund is from May 1 to April 30.

• All submitted proposals must follow the template provided using 12-point font and saved as a single PDF file. The template includes the descriptions provided below.

• The CV(s) and letter(s) of support (i.e., division head) can be submitted as separate PDF files via the web portal.

• The complete the online application includes uploads for your proposal, letter(s) of support, and CV(s) via the web portal provided above.

You will be asked for all of the following information in the document template and via the web portal for submission:

• Domain of research (select one: clinical research, quality improvement research, educational research, or translational research)

• Type of research program (select one: new research program or established research program)

• Research program title (25 words maximum)

• Principal investigator(s), which will be the resident or fellow (and the name of research mentor should also be included), and include all degrees, institutional affiliation, and a CV for each investigator.

The main proposal document may include the following sections, and in total should not be more than three pages, excluding references.

• Plain language abstract (describe the proposal using non-technical language emphasizing the research question and its importance to surgical care delivery)

• Background and rationale (optional use of one table/figure/illustration to support description is allowed)

• Overall aim and hypothesis of proposal

• Specific objectives (define primary and secondary objectives as applicable)

• Methodology overview (provide a description of the approach/methodology to be employed using the suggested headings below and up to 2 optional tables/figures/illustrations)

  • Suggested sub-headings include the following:

    • Study setting

    • Study subjects

    • Study intervention(s) (if applicable)

    • Outcomes and outcome metrics

    • Sample size and rationale (if applicable)

    • Data sources and data collection

    • Data management

    • Data analysis

    • Ethics (specify plans for seeking research ethics approval

  • If your proposal includes the collection and use of data, then a consultation with the OHRI Methods Centre is strongly recommended

• Timeline/milestones (provide a target start date, the dates when each outcome/milestone will be completed and the target finishing date, use one optional table/figure/illustration such as a Gantt chart)

• Team (include the names and affiliations of the team members, with a brief statement of their roles, experience, area(s) of expertise, time commitment and planned contributions)

• Relevance and impact of research program

• Dissemination (provide plans for investigators to communicate results via conferences, publication, reporting in results databases, or other)

• Additional project funding (elaborate on existing or planned supplemental funding for the proposed program including the amount(s) and source(s); including existing (established) grant applications and dollar amount, and/or planned (new) grant applications and dollar amount)

• Budget

• List of references (10 references maximum)

• Support letter from research mentor (and partners, if applicable)

  • A proposal must have the support from its research mentor (mandatory)

  • Support/letters from partners (if applicable)

• CV