Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards 2016

Two-Year Awards for Junior Faculty Women Investigators in Basic and Clinical Research

Deadline –  5:00 pm, Tuesday, October 13, 2015

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARDS

Applications are invited for Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards from the Executive Committee On Research (ECOR) and the Office for Women’s Careers.  Each award includes funding of $50,000 per year in direct costs, plus 15% for indirect costs.  Funds may be used to support a technician, postdoctoral fellow or graduate student and supplies.  Funds cannot be used for support of the investigator’s salary, except with specific approval of ECOR.  Eligibility and other award information are provided below. 

BACKGROUND

Although women scientists are recruited to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) programs, their advancement to senior faculty positions is still far less frequent than that of their male counterparts.  In 1993, The Women in Academic Medicine Committee, originally chaired by Mrs. R. Morton Claflin, Honorary Trustee, was established to facilitate the academic careers of women in science at MGH.  Recognizing that a significant obstacle to career advancement is the difficulty of maintaining research productivity during the child-rearing years, this Committee, with the sponsorship of the Executive Committee On Research (ECOR), established the Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards.  It is intended that this transitional funding will increase opportunities for women to advance to senior positions in academic medicine.

 

AWARD EXPENDITURE AND START DATE

Awards are effective July 1, 2016 and will be for two years.  The awards are $50,000 in direct costs, plus 15% indirect costs per year.  Funds may be used for support of a technician, postdoctoral fellow or graduate student and supplies. Funds cannot be used for support of the investigator's salary, except with the specific approval of ECOR.  All applicants will be notified of the results of the review process by e-mail.  If applicable, approved Human or Animal use protocols must be current prior to award of funds.

 

ELIGIBILITY

• The MGH ECOR Claflin Awards provide funding for junior faculty women to sustain research productivity during their child-rearing years
• Both basic and clinical MGH investigators are eligible to apply
• While current recipients of the Eleanor and Miles Shore Fellowship offered through HMS are not eligible to apply for this award, the Claflin review committee will consider applications from prior Shore recipients. 
• MD, PhD, or equivalent advanced degree
• Candidate must be within 10 years of first full-time faculty appointment at the time the award is initiated, cumulative of all institutions, inside or outside the United States
• Academic appointment at the level of instructor or assistant professor at Harvard Medical School
• Primary full-time appointment at MGH
• Conducting research at MGH
• Evidence of salary support from a grant or other funding source: Applicants must be a Principal Investigator/co-Principal Investigator with active federal or non-federal funding salary support, such as K award, or foundation grant
• Submission of a project description on which the applicant is clearly the principal investigator whose academic progress would benefit from such funding support
• Evidence of strong research training, productivity, and a well-defined focus in either basic or clinical research
• Responsible for care of children

 

REVIEW PROCESS

Applications will be evaluated and ranked for funding priority by the Subcommittee on Review of Research Proposals (SRRP), whose recommendations will be submitted to ECOR for final approval.

 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The application process requires the following seven items to be submitted:

1. Statement of independence:  the applicant should write a brief statement (no more than 3 paragraphs) which provides clear evidence of how the applicant’s research project is independent of their mentor.
2. Research plan (3-page limit, excluding references). The research plan should address the significance of the project.  This section should be readily understood by reviewers who may be outside of the research field of the applicant.  This section should include:    

• Specific aims
• Background and significance
• Preliminary data
• Experimental design and methods

References    

3. NIH Biosketch of the applicant (not a CV).

4. NIH formatted Other Support. Be sure to list all current and pending research support including dollar amounts. Please click here for a sample NIH formatted Other Support.

5. Proposed Budget ($50,000 direct costs per year for 2 years maximum, plus 15% for indirect costs)

6. Letters of support (one from each category, include with application):

• Unit, Service, or Department Chief.  This letter should include a clear statement of the applicant’s potential for independence.
• Research Colleague or Former Mentor.  This letter should be from an individual outside the applicant’s current department whenever possible.

7. Briefly describe child-rearing responsibilities – no longer than 2 paragraphs.  Please note that the degree of “need” is not a primary criterion for selecting awardees.  

8. (Optional) Provide a statement of ethnicity information, i.e.: CAUCASIAN - (White, non Hispanic), BLACK - (Persons having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa - not of Hispanic origin.) ASIAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER – (Persons with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands.)  AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKAN NATIVE – (Persons with origins in any of the original peoples of North America and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.) HISPANIC – (Persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.)

 

HOW TO APPLY

ECOR is now accepting applications online via the ECOR Online Grant Management Portal.

http://ecor.mgh.harvard.edu/GrantManager/Login.aspx

This user-friendly system will allow MGH researchers to submit electronic applications to ECOR. The system has been designed to allow users to:

• Create a personal profile which will auto populate your future ECOR applications
• View current calls and apply to open opportunities
• Assign a delegate to submit an application to ECOR on behalf of the applicant (optional)
• Save and edit current applications in progress
• Submit completed applications
• View all your ECOR applications that have been submitted via the online grants system

Instructions for Applying Online

1. Create your account: Login using your Partners credentials and fill-out the profile information.
2. Complete the application: once your profile is complete, you will automatically progress through the online application. If you cannot complete the application at one time, “save” the application and return to it at a later time to finish. Before submitting your application, you will have the ability to make changes to the application.
3. Submit your application: once you have completed the application click on the “submit” button at the bottom of the page. Once you submit it, you will not be able to make further changes unless you send a request to ECOR (note that once the deadline passes, request to make changes will not be accepted).

Useful tips:

• To avoid losing your work, remember to save frequently
• You can only upload PDF documents. Limit characters to A-Z, a-z and 0-9 when naming PDF documents. Do not use periods, commas, or dashes in the file name.  
• If you previously created a profile, please ensure your information is current

 Click "Apply" below to begin the application.

QUESTIONS

Please visit the ECOR website http://ecor.mgh.harvard.edu/ and specifically the FAQ page for the Claflin awards under the Awards and Grants tab of the site. 

If you still have questions remaining, please submit them via e-mail to ecor@partners.org.