Research Grant Guidelines

INTRODUCTION

The MSO-HNS research grant is designed to provide a platform to support research projects carried out by ENT residents, trainees and qualified surgeons which will result in publications in International ISI/Scopus Journals.

This is aimed at encouraging the ENT residents, trainees and qualified surgeons to conduct study and research.

ELIGIBILITY

The Principal Investigator must fulfil ALL of the criteria below.

• Is an ENT resident, trainee or qualified surgeon working in Malaysia.
• Is a Malaysian Citizen or Malaysian PR.
• Is a Member or Associate Member of the Society.
• Should not be holding another grant for the same proposal.

APPLICATION

The proposal of the applications should be submitted in writing to the Society by

a stipulated date and short-listed candidates may be required to present the proposal to the MSO-HNS Research Grant Committee. The committee members will consist of qualified ENT surgeons from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Defense and private sector.

The proposal should include Title, Executive summary, Introduction, Research Questions, Objectives, Hypothesis, Materials and Methods, Expected Results, Publication Potential and Expected Expenses for the study. A summary including curriculum vitae of the principal investigator (PI), previous researches, grants and publications should be submitted. The summary of CV should be in a different document from the research proposal. The research proposal has to be anonymous.

Repeat application is only allowed after publication of the previous research proposal.

The successful candidate will be required to present his/her research in the Annual Scientific Meeting not later than two years from the commencement date of the project with evidence/proof of submission to an International Journal.

In the event of failure to complete the project without a valid reason or failure to present his/her research in the Annual Scientific Meeting not later than 2 years from the commencement date of the project, the PI will have to return the entire grant money back to the Society.

The Committee may award more than one grant depending on the quality of the proposals.

AMOUNT & PROJECT DURATION

The candidate can apply for maximum of RM20,000 and maximum duration of two years for the project. The funds will be released with an official letter accompanied by original invoices.

SCOPE OF FUNDING

The funding can be utilized for the following categories:

i) Research Consumable Materials

Only expenses for research consumable materials directly related to the project should be included.

ii) Fieldtrips

Expenses are for accommodation, transportation and food or daily allowance. (Maximum of RM 100 for food/daily allowance).

iii) Minor Modifications and Repairs

Only expenses for minor modifications and repairs of the laboratory equipment or any other items directly related to the project should be included.

iv) Special Services

Services directly related to the project such as payment to respondent / research subject and laboratory analysis. (Note: Students should perform their own experiments/research. Payments of honorarium are not allowed to person who assists in the actual experiment/research).

• Publication fee
• Expenses related to presentation of research findings in a conference.

VARIATION IN PROJECT COSTING

Requests for variations in funding after a project has been approved must be submitted to the Committee for approval.

PROJECT EXTENSION

Requests for project extensions must be made to the Committee six months before completion date of the project. The maximum extension period is six months.

ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER

Applicants must accept or decline the offer within 14 days after notification. Upon acceptance, the candidate will need to sign a contract with MSO-HNS to fulfil all the terms and conditions as stated.

PUBLICATIONS

Researchers should only publish their research findings in WOS/ISI/Scopus publication. All publications must indicate and acknowledge MSO-HNS as the source of funding.

The PI must indicate in the application the number of WOS/ISI/Scopus publications expected from the project.

FINANCIAL REPORT

A financial report must be submitted at the same time as the progress report.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING

Project Implementation

All projects funded by the MSO-HNS research grant must be conducted in accordance with the rules and conditions governed by research in dedicated universities or hospitals. Projects which involve experimentation with humans or animals will require approval from the respective Ethics Committee prior to the fund being released. All PI must have Good Clinical Practice certificate. The projects will be closely monitored to ensure that they are carried out successfully.

Progress report

• The first progress report must be submitted six months after the beginning of the The second report will be 16 months after the project has started.
• Failure to submit the Progress Report by the stipulated deadlines shall result in suspension of the progress.

The End of Project Report (EPR) must be submitted three months after the completion of the Failure to submit the EPR will jeopardize future grant approval to all those involved in the project. EPR must also contain evidences of ethics approval letter and submission of manuscript to a Scopus-indexed journal.

• In addition to reviewing the above reports, the Committee may, from time to time, conduct on-site monitoring of projects and

Note: Failure to complete the project satisfactorily may result in the principal investigator being barred from making future application for the MSO-HNS research funding.