Research Grants

Details


The ISTM Research and Awards Committee is pleased to announce that applications for the 2023-2024 ISTM Research Awards will be accepted through 31 January 2024.

 The 2023-2024 Research Awards will be available in three main categories:

  • General travel medicine projects; 
  • Projects by  investigators in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); 
  • Projects by new investigators; (< 5 years practicing travel medicine or longer travel medicine practice with no prior research funding).

It is expected that these grants will stimulate travel medicine research by providing support for pilot studies to enable researchers to collect data or test hypotheses for future larger projects. Typical awards will be in the range of USD 10,000 to USD 15,000.

Award requirements include:

  • Research must be travel medicine or immigrant/refugee health oriented.
  • Project proposal must be scientifically sound and must be in accordance with international ethical guidelines.
  • IRB approval is to be secured within 6 months of notice of award.
  • There must be no conflicts of interest for any of the investigators who apply for research funding.
  • Grant applicants must be ISTM members in good standing.
  • Projects should be able to be realistically completed using ISTM grant funding alone.
  • Studies are to begin within 1 year of notice of award.
  • A progress report will be sent to the ISTM Research and Awards Committee every year with a final report submitted at the conclusion of the project.
  • A research paper must be submitted to initially to the Journal of Travel Medicine within one year of completion of the project, it does not guarantee acceptance of the paper.

Remember – All Research Award proposals must be in the ISTM Secretariat offices at [email protected] no later than 31 January 2024 to be considered. Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Scoring of Proposals


All proposals received by the deadline will go through a peer-review process with consensus (or 75% majority) regarding the awarding of a grant.

The following system is used to score each proposal:

Details
Points
Hypothesis, and objectives
Total: 10 pts
No hypothesis or objectives
0-2 pts
Hypothesis and/or objectives are vague or not stated clearly
4-6 pts
Hypothesis clearly stated. Objectives clear, achievable, and realistic
8-10 pts
Significance
Total: 15 pts
Narrow focus; Minimal interest; Not likely to contribute to increased knowledge or practice change; Unlikely to stimulate additional studies
0-5 pts
Limited to moderate general interest; Some potential for change of practice or to support further study
6-10 pts
Study is doable and will be of wide general interest; Potential to contribute to practice change or evidence basis of current practice; Strong potential to support further studies
11-15 pts
Originality
Total: 15 pts
Lack of new ideas; No novel methods; Repeats prior work
0-5 pts
Some original elements; Some original methods; Approach offers some innovation
6-10 pts
New concepts or hypotheses; Innovative methods or ideas; Novel approach or design
11-15 pts
Research plan
Total: 25 pts
Poorly described; Approach unrealistic or impractical; Analysis plan incomplete; Ethical statement lacking; Lack of clear relationship to hypothesis; Methodologic weaknesses; Unrealistic timeline
0-10 pts
Some or most elements described clearly; Methodology acceptable; Some information about analysis plan; Ethical plan mentioned; Relates somewhat to hypothesis; Some methodologic weaknesses; Possible to accomplish in the time available.
10-15 pts
Described clearly and completely; Relates clearly to stated aims; Analysis plan clear and appropriate; Clear ethics statement; Clear relationship to addressing hypothesis; Few to no methodologic weaknesses; Realistic to accomplish in the time available
20-25 pts
Total capacity
Total: 10 pts
The research team does not demonstrate capability and expertise to execute the project, and/or lacks access to infrastructure, equipment, and facilities necessary for the project
0-3 pts
The research team has good capability and expertise to execute the project, as well as access to infrastructure, equipment, and facilities necessary for the project
4-7 pts
The research team has exceptional capability and expertise to execute the project, as well as access to infrastructure, equipment, and facilities necessary for the project
8-10 pts
Budget, budget justification 
Total: 15 pts
Unrealistic; Budget justification lacking or incomplete; Inappropriate; Too much focus on travel or senior investigator costs
0-5 pts
Mostly realistic; Justification present but limited; Most elements appropriate
6-10 pts
Realistic for the project; Justification clear and appropriate; Targeted toward appropriate expenditures
11-15 pts
Relation to ISTM
Total: 10 pts
Unrelated to ISTM goals; No statement relating to ISTM goals
0-3 pts
Some relation to ISTM goals; ISTM mentioned
4-7 pts
Clear relationship to ISTM goals; Statement of relationship to ISTM
8-10 pts
Total for Each Proposal
Maximum: 100 points