SABBATICALS
AND PILOT GRANTS
A key feature of
this National Capital Area Rehabilitation Research Network at Georgetown
University and the National Rehabilitation Hospital is the visiting rehabilitation
research scholars program. The goal of the visiting scholars program is
to attract bright young investigators poised to launch independent careers
and more senior faculty interested in changing their research direction
to spinal cord injury rehabilitation research or conducting specific collaborative
research projects using the research resources provided by this NCARRN,
and to provide them with the opportunity to pursue in-depth training and
collaborative experiments with the NCARRN faculty.
OVERVIEW
Sabbatical participants
may select from one of three placement options:
- Year-Long Placement: This
component provides 12 months of on site research activity at Georgetown/NRH
as part of this NCARRN.
- Semester-Long
Placement: This component provides a six-month research sabbatical
at Georgetown/NRH.
- Periodic Visits
to NCARRN: These brief but intense visits enable the sabbatical
fellow to remain on the home institution for most of the year, with
one-month long visits to the NCARRN, three or four times per year.
Individuals participating in the periodic visits sabbatical program
may extend the intermittent sabbatical for a second year.
The year long sabbatical
program is likely to target more senior investigators wishing to develop
specific collaborative research experience in activity-based approaches
to rehabilitation. Junior faculty who are just establishing their independent
research careers may find it more advantageous to use the intermittent
sabbatical program. This would allow the fellow to establish her/his research
and academic teaching credentials simultaneously. The intermittent sabbatical
program will also provide an attractive option for rehabilitation investigators
from across the nation who wish to take advantage of some of the unique
resources provided by this NCARRN, such as the Imaging Technology core,
for example. This would allow participants to make use of resources less
easily transferred to their home institution to gather pilot data or to
conduct extramurally funded rehabilitation research projects.
During their sabbatical
at Georgetown University / National Rehabilitation Hospital, the investigators
will have access to all of the Core Facilities provided by this NCARRN
(see various research cores). This includes full access to the NCARRN
facilities to enable them to conduct pilot experiments to obtain preliminary
data for their independent grant applications. In addition, a strong mentorship
program for the scientists at an early stage of their careers has been
established. We expect that the individuals taking part in our sabbatical
program will also take advantage of the educational initiative provided
by this NCARRN, such as the seminars, journal clubs, and the research
development interest group (RDIG) presentations (see Events).
Investigators are also encouraged to take part in the grant-writing mentorship
programs available through this initiative. The visiting scholars will
participate in the active neuroscience academic research environment at
Georgetown University and the National Rehabilitation Hospital during
their tenure. A number of opportunities to meet with visiting scientists
in formal and informal settings has been setup. Importantly, they have
the opportunity to generate preliminary data for independent and collaborative
research grant applications. The facilities of the NCARRN can be used
to generate pilot data and the NCARRN faculty and staff will consult on
the analysis and interpretation of the data. The ability to develop expertise
in the execution, analysis and pitfalls of the various approaches used
in rehabilitation research requires more in-depth experience than that
provided by workshops and short courses. It is the goal of the visiting
scholars program to meet this need and to enable a cadre of well-trained
scientists to focus their research programs in spinal cord injury.
APPLICATION
PROCESS
Consultation:
interested candidates should contact Drs. Bregman or Hidler to determine
if the resources provided by this NCARRN will meet their research and
career needs.
Eligibility:
Individuals with junior faculty appointment (research or tenure track)
at a University or Research Institute are eligible for the sabbatical
and for the pilot grants program. Senior faculty who wish to switch their
research programs to rehabilitation related projects or to take advantage
of the unique resources provided by this NCARRN are also eligible to apply
for these programs. These pilot grants are not intended for the support
of postdoctoral fellows. Salary support of the PI is not allowed on these
pilot grants projects, although some of the funds may be used for technical
support salary.
Application:
Investigators interested in applying for either the sabbatical program
or a pilot grant should contact Drs Bregman or Hidler for detailed information.
The sabbatical program has a rolling application deadline. Contact Drs. Bregman or Hidler if you have a project that is related to the focus of the center.
Review process:
Some of the
criteria that will go into the evaluation of the sabbatical and pilot
grants projects include:
* Potential
of applicant for future independent career in rehabilitation research.
* Use of the unique core resources of this NCARRN.
* Scientific merit of the proposal.
* Significance and/or importance of the proposed study
* Feasibility of success based on (a) adequacy of scientific method
(b) qualifications of the applicant.
* Relevance of the proposed study to rehabilitation research.
Sabbatical fellows
selected will work with their NCARRN advisor and with their home institutions
to design their off-campus learning experience at this NCARRN. This plan
includes a clear description of the research training program to be conducted,
and a clear definition of extramural grant submission target dates. This
aspect of program is intentionally designed to help the sabbatical fellow
achieve concrete research skills and information that they can then take
back to their home institution upon their return. This NCARRN and the
pilot grants program is designed to support research related costs only.
Salary for the fellow is the responsibility of the home institution. Housing
costs are also the responsibility of the individual. Georgetown University
has a strong housing referral program for potential visiting rehabilitation
scholars. As host institution this NCARRN will supply priority access
to the Core resources of this program, and access to office space, phones
and computers while on campus.
The pilot grants
program provides funding to individuals who are not currently part of
this NCARRN in order to expand the number of junior faculty with rehabilitation
research programs. The pilot grant awards will be in $25,000 modules over
a 1-year period.
Based upon the experiments involved, applicants will be eligible to renew
for a second module/ year of funding. We anticipate funding 4 to 6 pilot grants per year. We accept applications on a rolling basis. Contact Drs. Bregman or Hidler if you have any questions..
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