The Association for Surgical Education

Impacting Surgical Education Globally

The ASE Surgical Education Research Committee (SERC) aims to support multi-institutional research projects (≥3 geographically distinct sites) that will advance scientific knowledge and aim to improve undergraduate, graduate, or continuing surgical education. Selected submissions will be given complimentary assistance from the SERC for questions related to gaining IRB approval for multi-institutional studies, research methodology issues, and recruitment of additional partner sites, if needed.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applicants must be an MD, DO, or PhD with a full-time clinical or research position in a medical center where the research will be conducted. Applicants must also be an ASE member in good standing. If the applicant is currently in residency training, they must obtain a sponsor letter from an ASE member or program director at their primary research institution.  Please contact [email protected] to confirm your member status.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications are due November 7, 2022. We request brief applications of intended research proposals. Proposals must be formatted in Arial or Times New Roman font of at least 11 font size, single-spaced, and at least half-inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right) for all pages.  Applications will be reviewed by members of the ASE Surgical Education Research Committee.

All initial applications must include the following components:

  1. Research plan (4 pages maximum)
    1. Background and Aims
    2. Research strategy with summary of proposed analytic strategy
    3. Up to 12-month timetable (projected start date for funding is June 1, 2023)
    4. References
    5. NIH-formatted biographical sketch for the Principal Investigator and any co-Principal Investigators. Please note: Biosketches are not included in the 4 page limit. 
  2. All research sites should have one designated project coordinator and/or co-PI. The role that this person will play in the study at each site should be clearly indicated in the application.
  3. Letter of Support
    1. Letter from any applicable groups that will be studied from each institution (e.g., medical student clerkship or residency program director[s])
  4. Appendices (no limit), including any research or survey instruments you plan to use
  5. Budget (1 page maximum)
    1. Grant monies can be used for salary support of research assistants or other study staff.
    2. Please note that the budget cannot be used for indirect costs, administrative or travel costs, publication costs, or salary support for the Principal Investigator, Co-PIs, or collaborators.

SHARK TANK STYLE PRESENTATION

Selected proposals will be invited to present their research “Shark Tank” to ASE members during the ASE 2023 Annual Meeting. The audience will have the chance to vote for their favorite proposal, and this information will help the Surgical Education Research Committee reviewers to choose the winning proposal. Additionally, presenters will be able to seek additional sites interested in participating in well-defined multi-institutional surgical education research projects. The presentations at the spring meeting will help researchers in the following ways:

  • Solicit additional sites for participant recruitment
  • Elicit feedback on research questions and methods
  • Learn about other ongoing multi-institutional research efforts

Applications are due November 7, 2022. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

Apply Now!

REPORTING

Progress reports are due to the Research Collaborative at 6-month intervals after the start date of the grant until the final report is received. Final reports are due one month after completion of the project. The Research Collaborative will pass along all summary details of the research projects to the ASE Executive Board at its regular meetings. Update forms for the grant are available below.

MERG Grant: Six Month Update Form

MERG Grant: Final Update Form

PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH

All projects supported by the Research Collaborative must be submitted for presentation at the ASE Annual Meeting. If accepted, a submission to publish in Global Surgical Education- Journal of the Association for Surgical Education (GSE-JASE)  is required. If rejected by GSE-JASE then submission can occur to an alternative journal of the researchers choosing. Subsequent analyses can be submitted to GSE-JASE or other journals but the title of the manuscript should include wording such as “An ASE Multicenter Study.” All participants in the MERG Grant must acknowledge the Research Collaborative of the ASE in any presentations or publications resulting from a supported project. Authorship guidelines and required acknowledgement statement are below.

Multi-Center Authorship Guidelines

Acknowledgment Statement: This work was supported by the Association for Surgical Education [insert name] Grant. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Association for Surgical Education (ASE).

DEADLINE

Applications are due November 7, 2022. No late submissions will be accepted. Corrections of oversights/errors discovered after the deadline will not be allowed. Please contact [email protected] with any questions. Apply today!

MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS

Applicants may submit more than one proposal as long as they are sufficiently different from each other.

ANNOTATED RESOURCES

  1.  Stefanidis D, Cochran A, Sevdalis N, Mellinger J, Phitayakorn R, Sullivan M, Barney L; Multi-Institutional Educational Research Group of the Association for Surgical Education.  Research priorities for multi-institutional collaborative research in surgical education.  Am J Surg. 2015 Jan;209(1):52-8. PMID:  25454954 → Needs assessment of current surgical education research problems that could be addressed through multi-institutional research.
  2. http://sbsirb.uchicago.edu/page/multi-institutional-research → Great overview of IRB issues when conducting multi-institutional research
  3. http://ebics-dev.mit.edu/content/module-3-ethical-issues-conduct-multi-institutional-collaborative-interdisciplinary-research → Written for basic scientists, but has some lessons on ethical issues associated with multi-institutional research that can be applied to surgical education research

SPECIAL SITUATIONS/CIRCUMSTANCES RELATED TO THE GRANT

No-cost extensions:  Six month to one-year no-cost extensions may be given for unexpected situations.  Written requests for extensions must be received ninety (90) days before the expiration of the original grant period and are subject to approval by the Chair of the SERC committee and the ASE Executive Board.

Additional Funding: The Principal Investigator is encouraged to apply for additional funding from other sources besides this ASE Grant.