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Health Services Research Center Health Services Research Investigator Initiated Grant Scheme (HSRIIG) – Application Guidelines Academic Health System BACKGROUND The Health Services Research Center (HSRC) is part of the Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute (HHQI), supported by the Academic Health System (AHS). One of the core functions of the center is to fund high‐quality research that generates new knowledge about the delivery, access, and cost‐effectiveness of health care in Qatar. Health services research1 is an important area of scientific enquiry that is distinct from quality improvement or audit and is essential to delivering the Qatar National Health strategy. We are looking to support both early career and senior investigators (up to 1m QR) to undertake rigorous and relevant health services research. INVESTIGATOR INITIATED RESEARCH We are particularly keen to support research that addresses national health priorities:  Mental health  Cancer  Metabolic disorders  Cardiovascular disease  Population health ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND PROCESS Applicants will submit an outline application that will undergo an internal review process. Principal Investigators will be informed if they have been shortlisted by mid June 2015. Shortlisted applicants will be given at least 8 weeks to submit a full proposal that will be subject to external peer review. Investigators will be notified of the outcome of this process in September 2015. It is expected that projects will start within six months of the award of the grant. Selection Criteria In assessing proposals, we will use the following criteria:  Scientific justification  Methodological quality  Feasibility of the study  Cost  Ability of the research group to deliver the project2  Relevance of the project to meeting the health needs of Qatar 1
Health services research is the multidisciplinary field of scientific investigation that studies how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, health technologies, and personal behaviors affect access to health care, the quality and cost of health care, and ultimately our health and well‐being. Its research domains are individuals, families, organizations, institutions, communities, and populations. 2
It is expected that research groups will be multidisciplinary and involve partnership across the AHS. Extra credit will be given to groups that demonstrate strong patient and public involvement in the development of the project. 2 GENERAL GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS Applicants should be aware that projects should not commence without appropriate organizational and ethical approval. Eligibility We will accept applications on topics or research questions that meet the criteria outlined on page 2. Applicants are required to join the health services research network in order to be eligible to apply for this scheme. Follow the link to register: http://ahs.hamad.qa/en/program/research/hsrn/hsrn_register/hsrn_register.aspx Stakeholder involvement Applicants should demonstrate involvement of all relevant stakeholders (including, where appropriate, patients and the public, carers as well as clinicians and managers) during the planning, execution and communication of the research. Projects should explicitly outline how the proposed work could lead to enhanced public and community engagement. Partners The HSR Center is part of the Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute and has been developed by the Academic Health System (AHS). The AHS is a Partnership of 8 organizations and successful research proposals are likely to involve more than one AHS partner. Research governance Applicants should ensure their planned project complies with appropriate governance arrangements. Data Protection You should be aware that information given to us might be shared with other bodies for the purposes of statistical analysis and research management. We also reserve the right to share, in confidence, details of your application with other approved research funding organizations in order to coordinate research activity in Qatar. Information collected from you will not be given to any third party except as detailed above or where we are required to do so by law. Data Security about you Personal information will be held on a password‐protected database. Your details and those of your joint applicants will be retained by us to facilitate the running of the HSR program. If your application is successful at any stage of our process your name and the details of your organization will appear on the HSR website. Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) 3 We recognize that the nature and extent of active patient and public involvement is likely to vary depending on the context of each study. The term involvement refers to an active partnership between patients, members of the public and researchers in the research process. This can include, for example, involvement in the choice of research topics, assisting in the design, advising on the research project or in carrying out the research. On the application, it is important that you describe how patients and the public have been involved in the development of the application as well as plans for involvement in the proposed research. Please note that this does not refer to the recruitment of patients or members of the public as participants in the research. Intellectual Property (IP) The Medical Research Center’s policy on IP will apply to projects funded by this scheme. TIMELINE 27th April Registration for briefing workshop* Briefing workshop about the HSRIIG scheme 3 pm on 3rd May 2015 Submission deadline for outline applications 3 pm on 31st May 2015 Internal screening and review of outline applications 1st to 11th June 2015 Investigators informed Mid June 2015 Shortlisted Investigators invited to submission a full applications Mid June 2015 Submission deadline for full applications Early August 2015 External peer review Early August – mid September 2015 Announcement of awards 3rd week of September 2015 Projects expected to start From January ‐ March 2016 *Workshop attendance is optional and not required in order to apply for grant scheme. Registration is required in order to attend the workshop. Register here: http://ahs.hamad.qa/en/program/research/hsrn/funding_initiative/hsrn_workshop.aspx COSTS AND AWARD RESTRICTIONS  Awards up to QR 1 million in total spread over a maximum period of 3 years spent on the study.  Applications to supplement projects with existing funding will not be supported (e.g. projects already funded by MRC internal grants or Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)).  Applications in conjunction with external collaborators (both within and outside of Qatar) are encouraged. However, 60% of the activity and funding should be within HMC. The LPI (Lead Principal Investigator) of the study should be an HMC employee and a member of HSR Network.  Investigators within AHS Partner organization will not be compensated for their efforts on the awarded grants (i.e. their time should not be included in the budget).  The expected costs and total budget requested needs to be identified in the application.  Explain each component of the budget requested with justification. Amounts should always be entered in Qatari Riyals (QR).  Personnel: 4 Breakdown to indicate costs per patient or per hour and total or a total monthly cost with justification. Where this section relates to patient activities, they should be budgeted by per patient costs. o If there are any external consultants, they will be reimbursed as per HMC policy for reimbursement of consultants. This means a maximum of QR 1800/day. o Consultants’ efforts cannot be more than the PIs on the project. Consultants cannot be paid employees of AHS Partner organizations.  All equipment budgeted for should be for use in HMC and will remain the property of HMC.  Additional costs: o We support the costs associated with providing Open Access in journals with an impact factor greater than 1. You can request funding for up to two publications from the project to follow this route. o Miscellaneous costs o Any patient costs to be included in this section. Any other miscellaneous costs budgeted cannot exceed 5% of the total budget and will be reimbursed only upon submission of proper bills/receipts/invoices.  A maximum of 40% of the budget can be used for collaborations external to HMC. Pre‐award  Applicants must discuss their proposed ideas with the appropriate person and obtain their approval prior to submission. You must have the support of any department(s) that will be involved in the research.  Please note that incomplete submissions may be disqualified.  You are required to adhere to all research policies of your organization. Post‐award  Research teams are required to adhere to all research policies/guidelines of their organization.  Funding will not be released until all Investigators have completed CITI training (see further details on CITI certification on pg 6).  Funding will not be released until IRB approval is obtained.  Funding will not be released and start date announced until the HSRC provides a final budget approval letter, signed by the Executive Director of HSR or their designate.  Funded projects should have all ethical approvals and budget approval process by HSR completed within six months from the date of award announcement. Failure of a project to start within three months of award announcement may lead to us withdrawing the grant.  A written progress and financial report is required every 6 months for the duration of the study and a final report is required upon completion of the project. Failure to submit timely progress and final reports will result in suspension or termination of the grant as deemed necessary.  All outcomes of the funded project including publications, oral/poster presentations etc., should include proper acknowledgement to the Health Service Research Center. Budgets  We will review the budget in detail and ask for budget modifications and justifications as required during review and again if awarded.  Note that compensation for investigator time and overhead is NOT allowed. o
5 SUBMISSION PROCESS/DOCUMENTS REQUIRED When your Application is submitted, you will receive a confirmation email and an HRSIIRG project ID number. This number will be unique to your proposal and will follow you through the entire funding cycle, please make sure that you use this reference number in all correspondence. Please make sure that all parts of your proposal are completed. Late or incomplete submissions may be disqualified. A. General Application conditions  A PDF version of the outline and full application MUST be sent by email (before the published deadline) to Health Service Research Center. Our email address is [email protected]  Applicants must also send a signed hard copy of the proposal (full application only) to the Health Services Research Centre within 7 days of submission deadline.  The complete research plan should be submitted using the template provided. B. Curriculum Vitae  Abbreviated CVs are required for each investigator (use page 5 of the Outline Application). C. CITI certification:  All investigators should have completed CITI training as per HMC policy. D. IRB/IBC approvals:  If awarded, applications requiring approvals from the Joint HMC/Weill Cornell Institutional Review Board (J‐IRB) and/or Institutional Bio‐safety Committee (IBC) will need to be obtained before funding is released. FURTHER INFORMATION AND CONTACT DETAILS Full details regarding closing dates, guidance on completing the application form, and other relevant information are available on the website. We strongly recommend that you read all relevant information on our web page http://ahs.hamad.qa/en before completing your application form. Any queries regarding this scheme should be sent by email to [email protected]. Contact: Health Services Research Grants Program Office of the Academic Health System, New Portacabin Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City P.O.Box: 3050 Doha, Qatar Tel: 44390694 Email: [email protected] Web: www.ahs.hamad.qa/en
6 Appendix 1: Applica on process
Outline applica on
Internal screening
Reject (with feedback)
Shortlis ng (internal review)
Reject (with feedback)
Feedback/full proposal
External peer review
Funding recommenda on
Reject (with feedback)
Fund
Fund (amendments)
Amendments agreed
Contract
7 APPENDIX 2 The Health Services Research Program – Tips for applicants completing the outline or full applications forms Importance to the HSR Center Justify why the research is needed by the HSR Center. This might include:  Indicating how the research study is likely to make to make a difference to existing knowledge;  Demonstrating how the research findings could be translated to other conditions or scenarios;  Making sure you have discussed it with health professionals working in the area, and that you know what their research needs are;  Analyzing and describing the links to national priorities;  Providing evidential arguments to highlight that there is a gap in knowledge around the proposed research question. Assessing the problem to be investigated Ensure you have identified the research problem clearly and in detail before embarking on further research. This may be achieved through a review of the literature on the subject or may require some initial groundwork. Do a detailed review of the existing evidence; ensure that a synopsis of this is encapsulated in the proposal and that the research proposal draws from it. Ensure that you know about all existing, relevant data sources. There may be data already collected that can be used, instead of collecting data afresh. Planning your study HSR funds research projects, not programs of work or ongoing work. You must have clearly defined research questions. Provide clearly defined objectives for your work. Describe how the planned methodology is likely to achieve these objectives. Provide a clear and detailed description of your methodology and why you have chosen to use it – including at outline stage. Provide a justification for sample sizes (whether qualitative or quantitative) explaining why this number has been selected and how it will lead to robust results. Provide power calculations if relevant and include a reasonable data collection plan, taking into account the skills needed from the team, recruitment and timetabling, as required. 8 Your research plan should be well thought out: for example, whether you are planning a trial, a pilot, a feasibility/exploratory study or another type of research you need to think of the sources of support that you can rely on. If possible engage a Clinical Trials Unit for support in addition to other sources of support. If your research involves an intervention explain it clearly and in detail even if it is at the developmental or at an initial idea stage. Justify why your research offers value for money. Does if offer the potential for future cost savings? Ensure you have budgeted accurately with a detailed breakdown of operational costs. Explain key terms simply – avoid jargon and acronyms. Ensure that your timetable is realistic and achievable to carry out the research activity. There should be flexibility to cope with unexpected problems and enough slack in your timescales to cope with delays. Make arrangements for suitable project management support. The research team Make sure the team includes people with relevant expertise – you may need to think about including clinicians, statisticians, methodologists, economists, managers, patient representatives and others. Their involvement should be at an appropriate level, whether part of a steering or advisory group or the research team. Ensure appropriate public involvement. Even if your proposal is technical in nature and opportunities for public involvement are not obvious, think about how the work affects or could affect patients and the public and identify ways of involving them. 9