University Internal Medicine Research Foundation

The Department of Medicine (DoM) has established a Research Fellowship Award for postgraduate clinicians and PhD scientists in the Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, with funding from the University Internal Medicine Research Foundation (UIMRF). The main purpose of this award is to attract and foster the development of promising individuals as researchers. The Research Committee reserves the right not to award a grant in a given year.

DOM RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP AWARD CATEGORIES

INTERNAL

The applicant will do their training at Dalhousie University, and the proposed work will take place within the settings of DoM/Nova Scotia Health. The supervisor must be a member of the DoM, Dalhousie University. DoM residents seeking DoM financial sponsorship for the Clinician Investigator Program (CIP) at Dalhousie University may apply via the DoM Research Fellowship (Internal).

EXTERNAL

The applicant will do their training at a facility external to Dalhousie University. The external supervisor must be supported by the Division in the DoM under which the applicant is applying for the fellowship, and the Division must assign a co-supervisor who must be a member of the DoM, Dalhousie University.

The Research Fellowship will commence the first of July (or a mutually agreed upon date) and continue for 12 months. The award may be renewed for a second 12-month term, based on significant progress made by the applicant and availability of funds. Extension beyond the two-year limit may be permitted under special circumstances, with specific approval of the Department Head and DoM Research Committee. Application for renewal must be made annually via a letter of support from the supervisor(s) and a progress statement from the applicant. During tenure, the Fellow shall devote not less than 75% of his/her time to the purposes of the award in the chosen field of endeavour.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The applicant must have an MD or a PhD degree. Applicants with an MD degree must be eligible for Royal College certification in Internal Medicine or one of its disciplines, and may apply for the award to undertake graduate studies leading to a Master’s or PhD degree. This fellowship will normally be the first fellowship held by the applicant. Ideally, the successful applicant will be within five years of obtaining professional qualifications (MD, PhD, FRCPC).

Brief Overview [PDF - 170 kB]

Guidelines [PDF - 200 kB]

REQUIRED APPLICATION FORM

DoM UIMRF Research Fellowships application form [.DOCX - 200 kB]

A grant competition sponsored by the Department of Medicine University Internal Medicine Research Foundation (UIMRF) will be held on an annual basis to support research activities amongst members of the Department of Medicine. The Research Committee reserves the right not to award a grant in a given year.

PRINCIPLES

Subject to availability of funds, application will be accepted for bridge funding for department members who have held external funding which has been terminated and plan to seek external funding in the near future / or for individuals who require funding for pilot projects prior to submission of a grant to an external peer review granting agency. Note: Applicants must submit a grant for external funding to an external peer review granting agency within the calendar year following receipt of this award.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

This competition is open to individuals whose primary academic appointment at Dalhousie University is within the Department of Medicine and who have been either:

• a Department member for at least a three-year period OR
• a new department member working for three or more years since the completion of their highest level of post-graduate education.

Please note: department members who are principal investigators of active external grant support are not eligible for the bridge/pilot competition.

FUNDING AND GRANT DURATION

1. The maximal award is usually $25,000 subject to availability of funds.
2. Funds may be used for operating support and/or equipment.
3. The duration of bridge/pilot funding is for a one-year period.
4. Barring exceptional circumstances, department members will not be eligible to receive this award more frequently than once in every five years.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Successful applicants will be required to submit a progress report to the Department of Medicine Research Committee within one year of the award that outlines the status of the research (including proposed presentations and publications) and details on how funds have been spent. For bridge or pilot project funding, the report must contain a copy of the external grant submitted by the applicant and any abstracts, preprints or published reports related to work supported by the UIMRF grant.

APPLICATION PROCESS

• There will be one application deadline per year, October 15th.
• DoM UIMRF Grant-in-Aid application form [.DOCX - 200 kB] must be used.
• DoM Bridge and Pilot Guidelines [PDF - 300 kB]

A grant competition sponsored by the DoM University Internal Medicine Research Foundation (UIMRF) will be held on an annual basis to support research activities of junior members of the Department of Medicine. Eligible members are encouraged to apply as soon as is feasible after their appointment to maximize research opportunities. The Research Committee reserves the right not to award a grant in a given year.

*NEW in 2021*: This competition is no longer used for matching funds for the NSH Research Fund Early Career Researcher grants, due to changes in requirements from NSH RF. For any competition requiring marching funds, including NSH RF, please refer to the DoM Matching Research Funds Guidelines and Application Form.

PRINCIPLES

1. Grants are to be used for start-up funds for new investigators beginning their research careers.
2. Applicants are expected to submit a national external peer reviewed grant within one year of receiving this award.
3. Grants are meant to foster the research environment within the Department of Medicine.

ELIGIBILTIY CRITERIA

This competition is open to individuals with a primary and major academic appointment (ordinarily at least 0.5 FTE) within the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie and who have been faculty members at Dalhousie (or previously at any other university) for less than a three-year period.

FUNDING AND GRANT DURATION

1. The maximal award is usually $50,000 subject to availability of funds.
2. Funds may be used for operating support or equipment.
3. The duration of funding is usually for a one-year period.
4. Department members are only eligible to receive this award once.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Successful applicants will be required to submit a progress report (including proposed presentations and publications) at the completion of funding (one year) to the Department of Medicine’s Research Office that outlines the current status of the research and details how funds have been spent. Applicants are also required to submit any abstracts or publications and peer-reviewed grant applications that are the result of this funding.

APPLICATION

Applications are to be submitted electronically using the UIMRF Grant-in-Aid application form [.DOCX - 200 kB]. The deadline for applications is October 15 annually.

Guidelines [PDF - 200 kB]

Increasingly, matching funds are required as part of research funding agency opportunities. In order to support the viability of applying for these funds, the Department of Medicine (DoM) University Internal Medicine Research Foundation (UIMRF) offers a matching funds program to eligible DoM investigators. Subject to availability of funds and success in the external application, a maximum of $25,000 per year for a maximum of three years may be granted to an application for matching funds. The DoM Research Committee reserves the right not to award a grant in a given year.

*NEW in 2021*: This funding includes NSH Research Fund applications requesting matching funds. This change was implemented following the NSH Research Fund’s 2020 competition in which matching was no longer mandatory for application. The DoM Research Committee will monitor any ongoing changes to NSH Research Fund requirements, and may make adjustments as needed.

Applications must be submitted no later than four weeks prior to the external application deadline; however, applicants are encouraged to advise the DoM Research Office of matching funds requirements as soon as this requirement is known.

The lead DoM investigator must fill out the attached form and submit it to domresearch@nshealth.ca for the review and consideration of the DoM Research Committee.

Requests will be reviewed and assessed based on the requirements and guidelines listed below. Matching funds are not guaranteed and are subject to budget availability. Matching funds awards are subject to the approval of the application by the external funding agency, and the approval of appropriate institutional committees for research ethics, human subjects, care of animals, biological/chemicals hazards, etc., as applicable.

REQUIREMENTS

1. For this competition, matching funds must be a requirement and explicitly stated a priori as a condition of the awarding of the grant. Please note: These funds cannot be used as leverage or bridge funds. For NSH Research Fund applications only, requests can be made for optional matching funds.
2. The lead investigator/applicant must have a primary appointment in the DoM.
3. The proposed research must support the mandate and mission of the DoM Strategic Plan.
4. The budget must explicitly state how the matching funds will be used and include all relevant in-kind contributions.
5. The application must include a list of other institutions partnering on the application, and other institutions and/or partners providing matching funds to the application. Identify other funding sources that have been or will be sought.

OTHER GUIDELINES

• Ordinarily, the lead investigator/applicant may receive a maximum from this competition of up to $25,000 per year. Each application may request funding for a maximum term of 3 years.
• Funding release is at the discretion of the Department of Medicine and is contingent upon the lead investigator/applicant receiving the funding for the grant application requiring the matching funds.
• Should the matching requirements of the funding agency and/or application change due to receipt of additional research funding or a cut in proposed budget/funded award, the approved matching funds amount may be revised.
• Barring exceptional circumstances, department members will not be eligible to receive this award more frequently than once in every five years.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Successful applicants will be required to submit a progress report (including proposed presentations and publications) to domresearch@nshealth.ca. For single-year funding, the report will be due at the completion of the term. For multi-year funding, the report will be due 2 months prior to the end of each year term – funding for subsequent years will be dependent on receipt of this report. This report is to outline the current status of the research and detail how funds have been spent. Applicants are also required to submit any abstracts or publications and peer-reviewed grant applications that are the result of this funding.

APPLICATION

Applications are to be submitted electronically to domresearch@nshealth.ca using the Matching Research Funds application form [.DOCX - 200 kB].

Guidelines [PDF - 165 kB]

The first program of its kind in Canada, Research in Medicine is a mandatory program that introduces Dalhousie medical students to research from the start of their medical training. From first year on, it fosters their research and critical thinking abilities as they complete independent research projects.

UIMRF sponsors up to five RIM summer studentships annually, including the Dr. Tom Marrie DoM Endowed Studentship Award.

For more information on this program managed by the Faculty of Medicine, please contact the RIM program.