The AstraZeneca Research Grant Nigeria

Introduction The AstraZeneca Research Grant seeks medical research proposals from researchers affiliated to accredited Nigerian medical schools and research institutions who show promise of delivering medical research of high scientific merit The Grant seeks to enhance health research capacity in Nigeria by supporting local research that will advance knowledge and improve practice in various specialties The said researchers will have to meet the eligibility criteria in order to be considered.

1 Following the Call for proposals, applicants will be required to submit their Letter of Intent (LOI) to: 2.Expert review of the LOIs will be carried out by the Scientific Review Committee(SRC). The SRC members may recommend external reviewers to review the LOIs if relevant expertise is required. 3. Following the review and recommendations by the SRC, successful applicants will be informed of the outcome of their submissions and will be asked to submit their Study Proposal.

Eligibility Criteria Applicants should be Nigerian citizens or permanent residents in Nigeria and affiliated to a Nigerian medical school or recognized institution. Each proposal must be accompanied with a letter of Institutional support and ethical approval or evidence of submission to an Institutional review board (IRB). Research Proposals should focus on non-communicable and infectious diseases with a bias to epidemiology and health outcome studies. The research must be carried out in Nigeria. Researchers must provide required supporting documentation. The proposal may be submitted in the same format presented to the relevant Ethics committee. Budget must be stated in Naira. The project must be completed within 2 years with 6 monthly progress reports. Funding will be in tranches and dependent on progress report. Each project must have a Gantt chart with milestones. The funding will be disbursed to the successful applicant’s Institution which will subsequently avail the funding to the researcher. Joint funding with other funding organizations is acceptable but this would need to be declared in the application. *

Documentation required ID/Passport Current CV and proof of academic qualifications Proof of institutional affiliation Letter of Intent (LOI) Research proposal document (for Applicants successful in the 1 st round) Medical and Dental Board Registration (where applicable) Evidence of submission to Ethics Committee must be available on application. Final Ethics approval for the proposed research must be made available prior to disbursement of grants Successful applicant may forfeit the funding and the funding reallocated if Ethics approval is not received within 3 months of award announcement

Grading criteria Proposals that meet the eligibility criteria will be assigned points by the Scientific Review Committee Points will be awarded as follows: ItemNo of points awarded Title5 Introduction5 Literature review10 Justification10 Hypothesis10 Methods(includes objectives)35 Literature cited5 Budget5 General presentation (presentation includes formatting, spacing, sequence of sub-titles etc) 10 Error free bonus5 Total Maximum Points100

As guidance, the Scientific Review Committee will consider specific aspects of the proposals as follows: Title: 5 points Is the title informative and does it clearly describe the subject of the research? Is the research authentic? Introduction: 10 points Does the research address an important problem or critical barrier to progress in the field? Does the introduction clearly develop the context on the subject of the research? Is the literature quoted in the introduction relevant to the subject of the research? Is the order of information logical and does it flow smoothly from one idea to another? Is the introduction written such that a reviewer, not necessarily a specialist in the field can clearly understand the importance of the research?

Literature review: 10 points Does the literature review provide a critical evaluation of a body of literature relating to the research topic? Does the review show that the researcher is familiar with previous, relevant research? Does the review determine remaining questions or aspects of the topic in need of research? Justification: 10 points What is the rationale for the research or the reason why the research is being conducted Justification should include an explanation for the design and methods employed in the research

Hypothesis: 10 points Clear and concise Correctly reflect the research Stated correctly in the form of hypothesis statements (not as questions) Written such that a reviewer, not necessarily a specialist in the field, can clearly understand the importance of the research?

Methods (including Objective): 35 points Clear and concise Sufficient to understand how the hypotheses will be addressed by the research Not overly burdened with minute details Uses references where necessary Written such that a reviewer, not necessarily a specialist in the field,can clearly understand the importance of the research?

Literature cited : 10 points All references are consistently formatted and the numbers correspond correctly to numbers within the text. There are a minimum of 10 references. Budget : 5 points Is the costing of various elements of the research prudent and well thought out?

General presentation : 10 points Correct sequence of sub-titles Consistent and legible font Neat spacing Pages numbered correctly Error Free bonus: 5 points Paper free of spelling and grammatical errors will be awarded 5 points.

Timelines:  03 March – Applications opened  01 May – LOI (Letter of Intent) submission deadline  29 May – SRC to complete LOI Reviews and submit the list of short listed applicants  01 June – AZ to notify the shortlisted applicants that they are through to the 2 nd round and request for them to submit their Study Proposals  31 July – Study Proposals submission deadline  30 September – Decision of successful Recipients  02 October – AZ will notify the successful Recipients  04 November – Projected date for Awards Ceremony

References Grading Criteria for Proposed Research Essays (Grant Proposals) AAvailablefromhttp://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/eharp/NR495/docs/Grading%2 0Criteria%20for%20Proposed%20Research%20Essays.pdf accessed 11/04/2014http://rydberg.biology.colostate.edu/eharp/NR495/docs/Grading%2 0Criteria%20for%20Proposed%20Research%20Essays.pdf 14 Izabella du Preez | January 2015AstraZeneca Research Trust - Nigeria