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    GEA National Grant Award Call for Educational Research Grant Proposals

    Developing A Community of Scholars: Advancing Medical Education Research

    Purpose

    In its strong encouragement and support of research in medical education, the GEA seeks to fund research projects that address important problems or questions in medical education. Proposals that foster collaboration are strongly encouraged. This includes collaborations among GEA sections (UME, GME, CPD), across GEA regions (CGEA, NEGEA, SGEA, WGEA) and/or proposals that engage multiple schools, professions or departments. High-quality research proposals on the following topics are strongly encouraged, but proposals in other areas are also welcome:

    • Professional identify formation
    • Learner wellbeing, mistreatment, and the learning environment
    • Racial justice, health equity, diversity, and inclusion
    • Faculty development 
    • Interprofessional education
    • Competency-based education, EPAs, or milestones
    • Virtual learning, COVID-related educational changes

    Multiple projects may be funded each year up to $10,000 each up to a two-year grant period. The number of proposals funded per year will depend upon the GEA budget and proposal quality.

    Eligibility

    • Applicants must belong to a GEA-affiliated institution in good standing
    • Applicants may submit only one proposal per cycle as the Principle Investigator(PI). An applicant may be an author (other than PI) on other submissions within a cycle.
    • Trainees (medical students, residents, and fellows) are not currently eligible to be listed as PIs or co-PIs on any proposals
    • The proposal is not currently receiving funding from other GEA grant programs (national or regional)

    For more information, download our FAQ

    Pre-Proposal Submission Guidelines

    Authors must use the submission template. Pre-proposals should not exceed three, single-spaced typed pages with 12-point font, 1-inch margins. The cover sheet, title page and references are not included in the three-page limit.

    As the submission template indicates, the pre-proposal must address the following sections:

    1. Rationale of the study and review of pertinent literature (including conceptual framework)
    2. Study objectives and research question/hypothesis
    3. Description of methods
    4. Anticipated outcomes
    5. Total funds requested (brief narrative justification for each budget component)
    6. Qualifications of research team
    7. References

    Download the Template

    Full Proposal Submission Guidelines

    A limited number of pre-proposals will be invited for full proposals. Full proposals must be typed with 12-point font, 1-inch margins and should not exceed five single spaced typed pages including all tables, figures and appendices (but excluding references). The full proposal must include:

    1. Rationale of the study and review of pertinent literature
      • Statement of the problem
      • Significance of need (including relevance and generalizability)
      • Conceptual framework(s) that illuminate the research question/rationale
      • Identified gaps in the literature that serve as the basis for the project
    2. Study objectives and research question/hypothesis
    3. Description of methods
      • Clearly identified research paradigms/constructs that apply to the research question/hypothesis
      • Research methods described (e.g. target population/recruitment, sampling strategy, outcome measures, analytical techniques)
      • Reference to issues of validity, reliability, and potential confounding variables
      • Power analysis and/or sample size justification (applicable to both quantitative and qualitative research)
      • Data analysis and statistical tests which are appropriate for the project
    4. Anticipated outcomes
      • Impact on medical education
    5. Plan for dissemination (regionally and nationally)
      • Includes a statement of intent to present work at the annual Learn Serve Lead within 3 years of the award start date
    6. Project timeline (not to exceed 24 months)
      • Briefly describes the proposed activities and timeline
    7. Budget
      • Anticipated budget including itemized costs and statement of justification for each budget line item (see below for more details)
    8. Necessary addendums/appendices (e.g. preliminary data, sample surveys/data collection tools)

    Additional components of the full proposal, not counted as part of the five-page limit, include:

    1. References for sources cited in the proposal
    2. Biographical sketches of PI and Co-PIs (no more than 2 pages per author – please no CVs), including relevant skills and lists of durable educational materials/publications that demonstrate knowledge/skill in the area being proposed for study (consider using the sample biosketch from NIH)
    3. Letters of support for each project author from an institutional support personnel (e.g. dean, vice chair for research, department chair) stating their commitment to the project.
      Project authors may not write a letter on their own behalf (letters should be included in the single pdf document).
    4. Human Subjects Approval. If this is a research project involving human subjects, a letter from the host Institutional Review Board (IRB) stating that the project is approved is required. IRB pre-approval is required for funds to be released to the grantees; no project work can be initiated until final IRB approval has been received.
    5. (Optional) Appendices such as surveys, interview protocols, or preliminary data.

    The GEA National Grant Award Committee must receive documentation of IRB approval prior to June 10, 2024. It is expected that the work will be completed within 3 years of funding.

    Annual Submission Deadline and Review Process

    Each year, the GEA National Grant Award Chair convenes a committee to oversee the grant process, in conjunction with the GEA and Medical Education Scholarship Research and Evaluation (MESRE) leadership.  Committee members may not be authors of proposals under consideration during the review cycle. Each committee member oversees a cadre of proposal reviewers. If a reviewer has any real or apparent conflict of interest with a specific proposal, then they will exclude themselves from the review of that proposal. Examples of conflicts of interest are being an employee at the same institution, having an active collaboration with the PI or any co-PI, as well as formally or currently mentoring or advising the PI or any co-PI.

    Review Criteria

    Each proposal will be reviewed by three reviewers based on the following:

    • Clear rationale and statement of the problem with appropriate reference to pertinent literature and a relevant conceptual framework
    • Appropriateness of methodology, including data collection/analysis, instrumentation, and sampling strategies
    • Realistic and appropriate budget justification
    • Degree of collaboration across GEA sections, regions, health professions, and institutions
    • Potential to impact medical education and serve as a model for other initiatives
    • Adequacy of research team to complete project and sustainability post-funding

    Budget Considerations

    Budget cannot exceed $10,000 per project and should include itemized costs and justification. Grant awards will only cover direct costs of conducting the research—the moneys are not intended for facility costs and salary support, but rather for resources needed to conduct the proposed research. Please note that budget items should not include direct payments to authors, funding for release time, indirect costs or fringe benefits, publications fees, or costs related to attending or presenting research at a conference.

    Fundable components include:

    • Temporary administrative or technical support to carry out the project such as data entry and clerical support, and computer programming
    • Supplies/expenses (e.g., duplication, mailings, survey instruments)
    • Data transcription
    • Reasonable incentives for research subjects
    • Hardware essential to conducting research (beyond what institutions typically provide)
    • Communication costs essential to completing project (e.g., web/phone conference beyond what institutions typically provide or that is available for free)

    Funds which are not spent must be returned to the GEA within 60 days of the award end date.

    Reports and Project Dissemination

    The PI will be required to submit annual progress reports on July 1st of each year until the project is completed. Progress reports must include progress to date, obstacles and solutions, dissemination activities and budget report.

    Projects whose PIs are no longer GEA members must submit a request for approval of a new PI with continued funding contingent on approval of the GEA Chair.

    A final report must be submitted within 60 days of project completion to the GEA National Grant Award Chair and include copies of materials developed, dissemination activity/scholarship, and sustainability (e.g., sources and amount of continued funding).

    Upon completion of the project, the PI/co-PIs must submit a proposal to present the project results at the annual AAMC Learn Serve Lead Meeting within 3 years of funding. Funding to cover travel to this meeting to present project results is not to be included in the project budget; it is the responsibility of the individuals and/or their institution to support travel to disseminate project results.

    Dissemination

    All publications, presentations and/or products resulting from this project must acknowledge the “GEA National Grant Award” as the source of funding.

    Intellectual Property

    Intellectual property of projects funded by the GEA National Grant Award remains with the investigator(s) and/or the institution depending on local institutional protocol.