K12/Emory Mentored Clinical Research Scholars (EMCRS) Program
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Posted below are answers to a number of questions we have received
from potential applicants as well as information received from NIH
clarifying the total amount of salary support for applicants accepted
into the program.
1. When is the deadline for receipt of applications?
2. What is the maximum salary support that can be requested?
3. Should a budget be included for only year 1 or for multiple years?
4. Do indirect costs need to be included in the budget? Does the budget
need to be put on a PHS 398 form?
5. Does the proposal need to be routed through the Dean’s
Office at Emory and the Emory of Sponsored Programs (OSP)?
6. What is the maximum length of the “Research and Training Plan” part
of the application?
7. What are the eligibility requirements for the EMCRS program? Are trainees
who already have a MPH or MSCR degree eligible to apply to the program?
8. Can the Lead Mentor be someone who is not listed on the EMCRS web
site?
9. Can Appendices be included?
1. When is the deadline for receipt of applications?
March 1, 2007 [by 5 p.m.] Applications should be turned into
Cheryl Sroka (7-5096). Ms. Sroka’s office is located in
the 1525 Building (1525 Clifton Road), Room 120. Ten
complete hard copies should be turned in to Ms.
Sroka (an original and 9 copies). In addition, the EMCRS program
office is requesting
that you also turn in an electronic copy of the proposal to Ms.
Sroka or email it to her by the due date. The electronic copy
should be identical to the hard copy. The electronic copy does
NOT take the place of the hard copies. The hard copies are
due
on March 1, 2007 as noted above and are required for ALL applications.
2. What is the maximum salary support that can be requested?
Per NIH guidelines the maximum salary
support per trainee per year by the
EMCRS program is $90,000 in direct
salary support (this does NOT include
fringe benefits which will also be
supported by NIH). NIH (and thus the
EMCRS program) requires that applicants
devote at least 75% of their professional
time (clinical research and clinical
research training) to the program and
trainees may devote up to 90% of their
professional time to the program but
the amount of salary support provided
by the EMCRS program will not exceed
$90,000 in direct salary support (not
including fringe benefits). In addition
to salary support, recipients will
also receive support for fringe benefits
(the Emory fringe benefit rate as
of 9/1/06 is 25% of salary support;
this amount should be added to the
amount of salary requested). In addition,
a $30,000 technical budget should
be included in the proposal as noted
in the program announcement.
3. Should a budget be included for only year 1 or for multiple
years?
A budget for years 1 and 2 is
required. Salary
support for the mentor does NOT need to be included in the proposal.
For those
successful applicants, the 5% salary support for the mentor will
be handled by the EMCRS program office
4. Do indirect costs need to be included in the budget?
Does the budget need to be put on a PHS 398 form?
Indirect costs should NOT be included in the budget. The EMCRS Program
office will handle that issue. It is not required to put the budget
on a PHS 398 form (it is acceptable) but either way, a line item budget
and a budget justification should be included as outlined in the program
announcement.
Items that should be included in the
budget include salary support, fringe
benefits (25% of salary support),
and the details on how the $30,000
technical budget will be allocated
(as outlined in the program announcement).
For most applicants, the majority
of the technical budget in year 1 will
be needed to cover tuition costs for
the MSCR program or other didactic
courses. Please contact Cheryl Sroka (csroka@emory.edu or 7-5096) if you haven’t done so already to get information
on the tuition costs. She can also provide information on courtesy
scholarships (5 credit hours per semester) which may cover a portion
of the tuition costs.
5. Does the proposal need to be routed through the Dean’s
Office at Emory and the Emory of Sponsored Programs (OSP)?
No. Since this is an internal program, a SPAF form does not need to
be completed and the proposal should not be routed through the Emory
OSP. The application does need to include a cover letter from the applicant
and a letter of support from the Chair of their Department (and Division
Director if applicable) as well as the Lead Mentor. Additional information
about this is described in the program announcement located on the
EMCRS web site (www.medicine.emory.edu/EMCRS).
6. What is the maximum length of the “Research and Training Plan” part
of the application?
The maximum length of the “Research and Training Plan” is
15 pages. It is suggested that this be broken up into two parts. One
section “Training Plan” should be a maximum of 5 pages.
This section should describe the applicant and their goals, the didactic
training plan they wish to pursue (e.g., MSCR program), the amount
of time they plan to devote to the program (minimum of 75% and maximum
of 90%), the amount of clinical work they would pursue if accepted
into the program (i.e., be specific on number of months of inpatient
attending and/or outpatient clinics), the mentor (background, area
of expertise, history of mentoring, etc), the planned interaction between
the mentor and trainee (be very specific in describing the interaction,
frequency of interaction, etc). There can only be 1 lead mentor for
each trainee. However, additional faculty members (at Emory or other
institutions) can play a role if that is felt to be beneficial and
appropriate. If this is the case, please designate these individuals
as your “Advisory Committee” and list their names,
the role they will play and types of interactions. It would be
beneficial
to also obtain letters of support from such persons.
The second part of the “Research and Training Plan” is
a hypothesis driven research proposal. It is suggested that the
maximum length of this section be 10 pages. The outline for this section
is
described in the program announcement and includes: a section on
Hypothesis and Specific Aims; Background and Significance; Preliminary
Data (if
any, preliminary data is not required); Research Design and Methods;
Biostatistics (can be included in the Methods section); and Data
Safety and Monitoring Plan (if applicable).
One inch margins should be used for the “Research and Training
Plan” and the smallest allowable font is 10 font. The total maximum
length of the “Research and Training Plan” is 15 pages
for both sections described above.
7. What are the eligibility requirements for the EMCRS program? Are
trainees who already have a MPH or MSCR degree eligible to apply
to the program?
The eligibility requirements are fully spelled out in the program
announcement (www.medicine.emory.edu/EMCRS). As noted on the web site:
Junior faculty members at Emory (junior faculty physicians
at the rank of Senior Associate, Instructor, or Assistant Professor and PhD's
are eligible to apply to the program. Individuals who have accepted
a faculty appointment at Emory may also apply if they will be on the
Emory faculty at the date of receipt of the award (e.g., July 1). Faculty
appointments cannot be dependent upon receipt of this award. Candidates
should have completed training in a specialty and/or subspecialty and
be board eligible or certified. Candidates must be committed to a career
in clinical and/or translational investigation and be willing to commit
in writing to serve on the faculty of an academic institution pursuing
clinical research for each year of support received through the EMCRS
Program. As per NIH guidelines, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or
permanent U.S. resident. Individuals on temporary or student visas
are not eligible. Faculty candidates who are or have been former principal
investigators on NIH individual mentored career awards (e.g., K12, K23,
FIRST awards (R29), research projects (R01), subprojects of program
project (P01) or center grants (P50) or the equivalent are not eligible
for this program. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply to the
EMCRS Program.
Applicants who meet the above requirements are eligible to apply the
EMCRS program; this includes individuals who have received a MSCR
or MPH degree. Such applicants should spell out in the “Training
Plan” section what didactic courses they plan to take. All trainees
in the program are required to take or have taken MSCR courses (or
equivalent courses). Those who have received a MPH degree should compare
the list of courses they took as part of their MPH program to those
given in the MSCR program and should include any MSCR courses they
have not taken in the didactic training component of the “Training
Plan”. Additional courses can be taken as well.
Applicants who have not received a Masters degree should plan to include
the full MSCR program as the core component of their didactic training
program. Additional information about the MSCR program is available online
(http://www.sph.emory.edu/CRCA).
It is anticipated that this would occur in the first year
that they are in the EMCRS program. In the “Training Plan” section,
applicants can refer to the web site and do not need to individually
list all courses in the MSCR program for purposes of this grant
but rather acknowledge that they plan to complete the MSCR course work
in the first year in the program.
8. Can the Lead Mentor be someone who is not listed on
the EMCRS web site?
Yes. The faculty listed on the EMCRS as potential lead mentors is
not all inclusive. Other successful clinical investigators can
also serve as lead mentors. Lead mentors should be established clinical
and/or translational investigators federally funded
with significant publications in the literature.
9. Can Appendices be included?
Appendices can be included if appropriate and necessary but should
NOT be used as a way to submit a longer “Research and Training
Plan”. Specifically, the core components of the “Research
and Training Program” which has a 15-page limit should NOT
be included in an Appendix. If these core components are included
in the
appendix, they will not be included in the review of the proposal.
