PREDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Deadline is Monday, March 27, 2006.

DESCRIPTION
The overall goal of the Predoctoral Research Fellowship Program is to promote medical student research in clinical investigation, basic science or health care-related disciplines. This program is intended to provide rigorous research training and thus students are encouraged to commit a minimum of 75% effort to their research project over a year. However, funds for projects of shorter duration will also be available. Awards will be based on merit of the proposed studies, the potential of the student, and the research record of the sponsor.

A list of student resources which include a link to the faculty research interests database is available from the School of Medicine, Office of the Associate Dean for Research website at: http://medresearch.ucdavis.edu/Students/students.cfm

PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM
To promote medical student research in areas of clinical investigation or basic science. The program is intended to enrich the medical school experience by enabling students to work directly with creative faculty and pursue topics of interest in a wide spectrum of disciplines.

SELECTION OF CANDIDATES AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Medical students at all levels are eligible to apply. Students interested in the program need to: 1) review the attached instructions and complete the application available at: http://medresearch.ucdavis.edu/Students/ResearchFellow/predoc.cfm; 2) identify a faculty sponsor; 3) work with the sponsor to develop a meaningful academic proposal; and 4) submit the completed application to the School of Medicine, Office of the Associate Dean for Research by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 27, 2006. Awards will be based on a) the merit of the proposed studies, b) the potential of the student, and c) the research record of the sponsor. Applications will be judged both on scientific merit and the program designed by both the student and mentor to achieve training goals. Both the student and mentor in the application must clearly and explicitly state these goals. Research projects, which involve more than one student applicant, should clearly state the roles of each student applicant. The application should primarily be developed and written by the student with input and direction from the sponsor. Applications clearly derived from existing grants of the sponsor will have less favorable consideration.

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
This program is administered through the Dean's Advisory Committee on the Predoctoral Research Fellowship Program. The committee will:
- Select Predoctoral Research Fellows
- Provide each fellow with a faculty mentor (other than the sponsor)
- Monitor progress of awardees during the funding period

PERIOD OF TRAINING
Projects of three months to a year in duration are highly encouraged. Preference for funding will be given to students that identify dedicated research time periods (e.g. one year, one summer), although shorter periods of funding are possible if funds are available.

SUPPORT AND IMPLEMENTATION
Awarded funds are to be used for student stipends. Stipends of up to $18,000 per student are available, based on a 12-month research program. Funding for the 2006-2007 year will commence on or after July 1, 2006.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
Applications must be completed in accordance with the instructions provided with the application packet. The deadline for submission is Monday, March 27, 2006.

Download Full Announcement

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF THE PROPOSAL
Use the following instructions to prepare the fellowship application. Be sure to provide all requested information.

Download Instructions

Download Application

A. APPLICANT INFORMATION

1. Name of Applicant: Self-explanatory

2. Title of Proposed Project: Self-explanatory

3. Amount Requested: The maximum amount that may be requested is $18,000.

4. Period of Support Requested: Indicate the total number of weeks or months of support requested for the proposed project and inclusive dates.

5. Percent Effort: Indicate the percentage of time that will be spent by the applicant on the proposed project for the above dates. For an effort of less than 100%, describe how the applicant's time will be scheduled over the course of the project.

6. Faculty Sponsor Approval: Provide printed name and signature of faculty sponsor.

7. Human Use: Follow the instructions listed on the application form.

8. Support from Other Sources: List all other support of the applicant. This includes past, present and pending awards. List salary support and scholarships as well as research support. Limit to post-baccalaureate support.

9. Training Goals: Describe how this program fits into your academic career goals and what you expect to learn/gain from this experience. Please be specific.

B. SPONSOR INFORMATION

1. Current Support: State current support and the sources that are available to fund the applicant's research with respect to supplies and equipment.

2. Institutional and/or Departmental Support: State what support will be available for the applicant's proposed research.

3. Sponsor's Previous Experience in Training Predoctoral Applicants and/or Postdoctoral Fellows: List previous trainees and their present professional status.

4. Research Supervision and Training: Describe the proposed research training program and how this program will enrich the research experience of the student. Include plans for providing supervision and mentoring to the student researcher. List research-related activities (e.g., laboratory meetings, seminars, research society meetings) in which the student will participate.

5. Contribution to Proposal: Describe your contribution to the proposal (original idea, writing, editing).

C. RESEARCH PROPOSAL
This section should be presented in sufficient detail to allow it to be evaluated for scientific merit. This section is to be written by the applicant in consultation with the sponsor, and is not to exceed 6 pages using a 12-point font. Use the provided forms, making photocopies of the continuation page for additional pages.

1. Process: Describe the process by which the proposal was generated and written. Specifically, delineate the contributions to the proposal of the sponsor and applicant, respectively, including hypothesis generation, experimental design, proposal writing and editing.

2. Specific Aims: State the specific objectives of the proposed research.

3. Background and Significance: Sketch briefly the background supporting the proposed research. Describe the basic biological and/or medical observations that led to the hypothesis to be tested by the proposed research plan. State the hypothesis underlying the research plan. Finally, describe the benefit of testing this hypothesis to the practice and/or science of medicine.

4. Experimental Design and Methods: Provide an outline of:

a) the experimental design for achieving the specific aims and testing the hypothesis stated in part 2
b) a tentative sequence for the proposed work
c) brief description of the procedures, including:

i. the endpoints to be monitored in the experimental design
ii. the controls for these endpoints
iii. quantitative information about the number of treatment groups, samples per treatment group, and expected variance within the control group for the endpoints that will be monitored in the experimental design
iv. the types of statistical analyses that will be performed to resolve differences between treatment groups
v. a discussion of possible outcomes and their interpretations with respect to the hypothesis/es being tested by the experimental design

Also include a discussion, where appropriate, of alternative approaches that can be taken to achieve the objectives of the research plan.

5. Literature Cited: Provide a list of literature citations. Include the names of all authors, title of the article, name of the journal, volume number, page numbers and year of publication.

For further information contact:

Saul Schaefer, M.D.
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
School of Medicine
(530) 752-0718
e-mail: sschaefer@ucdavis.edu

Submit completed applications to:

Cheryl Duncan
School of Medicine
Office of the Associate Dean for Research
2921 Stockton Blvd, Suite 1400
CRISP Bldg, UCDMC
Sacramento, CA 95817

Deadline for applications: Monday, March 27, 2006.