SSAI Research Grant 2016-2017

The application deadline has expired and no new applications are accepted

We aim to offer a new research grant in 2019 with application deadline in September 2018.

Please come back and follow us on twitter (@ssai-info) or Facebook to get information once the application will open again and of course about who receives funding in 2017!

SSAI research grant information – basis for 2016-2017 application and evaluation

• Link to application form
• Link to study proposal template

SSAI and The Acta Foundation support clinical research within all fields of our speciality: anaesthesia, intensive care medicine, pain treatment and emergency medicine/resuscitation. Projects involving inter-Nordic collaboration with all the Nordic countries involved are given highest priority.

The Scandinavian Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine announces that applications are open for project-based research support from the SSAI.  These grants are supplied by the Acta Anesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation, and are administered by the SSAI Research committee and the SSAI Board.  Project applications meeting the grant requirements (described below) will be considered.  Grant recipients for this round will be announced on the SSAI Congress in September 2017.

Deadline for this grant application is September 30, 2016. 

Details of the application process follow:

• Only members of the SSAI can apply for research grants from the Acta Foundation. All members of a National Anaesthesiology Society in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are automatically members of SSAI.
• Proposed projects should concern at least one of the branches of our speciality: Anaesthesia, Intensive care medicine, Pain, or Emergency Medicine.
• Projects should involve at least 2 Nordic countries.

The SSAI Research committee will assess applications for research grants.  It will also, when appropriate and possible, provide non-financial help and advice to applicants.

The application review process will give priority to the following:

1. Projects involving more than one of the Nordic countries, preferably as many as possible
2. Clinical, epidemiological, and educational projects at a stage where SSAI support would make a significant difference (young researchers encouranged to apply)
3. Scientific merit of the research proposal: relevance/novelty/originality/feasibility of the proposed research, and the clarity of the application as requested in the application instructions

Evaluation and scoring of applications

Five main fields (1-5) That are given a score of 0, 1 or 2; that is maximal points will be (5×2=) 10.

1. The relevance of the topic to the SSAI’s clinical areas
2. Clarity of hypothesis and a specific aim, with a primary endpoint and reasonable sample size estimation
3. How adequate the method is to investigate the aim
4. Feasibility – how possible it is to perform the study, and will the donation make a difference
5. Nordic collaboration 0 if only 1 country, 1 point if there are 2 countris, 2 points if theremore than two Nordic countries

Applications go to the SSAI Research Committee

The application form (very simple) is found here and consists of an online form and one document (Curriculum vitae of the first applicant and project  proposal) to be uploaded. The completed application will be automatically sendt to the Head of the SSAI Research committee (Acta Anaesth Scand Editor in Chief).  The results of the application grading process will be sent back to the General Secretary and the President of the SSAI.  At the next board meeting (January, 2017), the results of the evaluation process are presented by the chairman of the RC.  The board decides which amounts of money should be given to each of the successful applicants.

Management of conflicts of interest

The Chairman of the RC is not allowed to apply for grants, but the other members of the RC and members of the board can apply.  All members of the RC (and the SSAI Board) are required to report conflicts of interest in connection with the applications they are called upon to evaluate.  A conflict of interest, or competing interest, is any relationship which can influence one’s capacity to assess an application impartially.  Examples of conflicts of interest could be where a member of the RC works at the same institute as an applicant, or has recently collaborated closely with an applicant.  A conflict of interest can also arise from antagonism or competition between a RC member and the person being assessed.  A list of all applicants is sent to the RC, and each member of the RC will state if they have a conflict of interest or not according to the guidelines mentioned above.  These statements will be available to all of the SSAI members upon request.  In cases where a conflict of interest arises, the RC member will not evaluate applications.  This individual will be replaced during the process with either a member of the editorial board of the Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica or a member of the SSAI Board.