ASME Phd/Doctoral Grant Guidance

ASME Phd/Doctoral Grant Guidance

ASME PhD/Doctoral Grant Guidance

We are accepting bids from all members of ASME for one PhD/Doctoral programme.

Key dates

The closing date for bids is 30th August 2017. We expect to receive one electronic version of the application as an email attachment from the Principal Supervisor (or nominee) by noon on the closing date.

Applicants will be informed as to the outcome of their application by 31st October 2017. The studentship is expected to commence from January 2018 but there would be some flexibility for the right candidate.

Aims of the ASME 60th anniversary PhD/Doctoral grants programme

To support the over-arching aims of ASME: To meet the needs of teachers, trainers and learners in medical education by supporting research-informed best practice across the continuum of medical education” and to support internationally-excellent medical education research.

Eligibility

The Supervisory Team must have experience of successful supervision of doctoral students. The PhD studentship must be undertaken full time.The Principal Supervisor must be an individual ASME members at the point of application and maintain this through the duration of the grant. At least one other member of the supervisory team must be an individual ASME member for the duration of the grant. The student recruited for the project is also expected to join ASME as an individual member, and the funding for this can be taken from the post’s training budget. The Principal Supervisor and at least one other supervisor must have supervised a PhD to successful completion previously. It is not essential to have a student in mind at the point of application, although a plan for identifying and appointing one in the given timescales will be needed.

Supervisory Team

The Supervisory Team will comprise at least two individuals, covering topic and methodological expertise. They must have experience of successful supervision of doctoral students. Applications from a supervisory team spanning more than one institution, and/or discipline, are particularly encouraged to further collaborative opportunities and to contribute to development of the supervisory team. Additional supervisors may be justified, for example to provide a development opportunity for a new doctoral supervisor or to provide additional methodological support.

Assessment of applications

All applications will be processed by the ASME office initially. Those which have not fulfilled the guidance will be rejected (Stage 1: Screening).

The remaining applications will be reviewed internally by a Panel comprising the Director of Awards, Director of Innovations and Chair of ASME. If any of these individuals have conflicts of interest in relation to one or more applications, they will withdraw from the entire review process and other senior members of ASME will be invited onto the panel (e.g., the Chair of the Education Research Committee). The panel will review all applications and assign each to be reviewed by at least two independent reviewers who are from different institutions from the applicants and do not hold ASMEDirector roles (Stage 2: Allocation of expert reviewers).

Assessors will be selected on the basis of their expertise and we anticipate going outside the UK to recruit assessors. Assessors are asked to complete the attached assessment criteria for each project (see Appendix A), noting that all applicants will receive full feedback on their applications (anonymised if the assessor prefers this).

Reviews will be collated and returned to the panel for final decision making (Stage 3: Selection).

Terms and conditions

Applications from outside the UK will be considered but funding is available at UK home student rates only, reflecting that the majority of ASME members are UK-based. It is also expected that the PhD student will attend ASME events, such as the ASME Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) (see below). The stipend is set at the national Minimum Doctoral Stipend, which for 2017/18 is £14,553. Note that ASME funding is available for 36 months only. ASME will not fund an additional “writing up” period. Project consumables and training budget are capped at 12K over the 36 months of the grant. This includes any Open Access publishing costs.

We have adopted the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Conditions of Research Council Training Grants. Please see terms and conditions should be read in conjunction with the RCUK Statement of Expectations In this context, ASME equates to a Research Council.

ASME does not use the RCUK Je-S Student Details (Je-S SD) system but will follow the same guidance, with equivalent processes for monitoring and supervision. As general guidance, we will request a financial statement and an update on student progress and monitoring in each year of funding. The format of the latter is flexible, and can tie in with local monitoring processes. This will be discussed with the successful team, to ensure due governance but avoid unnecessary repetition.

Acknowledgement of support

Publications and other forms of media communication, including media appearances, press releases and conferences, must acknowledge the support received from ASME. Journal publications should acknowledge the funding source using the standard format agreed by ASME and publishers.

ASME PhD students receive a fee waiver for the ASME ASM, but must cover their travel and accommodation costs from their Training Budget. ASME PhD/Doctoral students will be expected to present their work-in-progress at each annual ASMs. This may be in the form of posters and short communications initially, then a plenary oral presentation as the project nears finalisation.

PhD format

PhDs by publication or thesis will be supported, depending on the host institution’s guidelines.Whichever format is followed, ASME expects the PhD student to submit, and ideally publish,their research to a high quality journal during the funding period.

Appendix A: Assessment criteria (Expert reviewers)

Name of principal applicant:

Name of administering institution:

Name of award:

Project title:

Reviewer name (omit this if you prefer to remain anonymous):

Criteriaand Grading [1]

  • The proposed work is original, rigorous and significant
  • The applicants have considered potential issues and how to address them
  • The proposed work has the potential to impact on practice and/or policy locally, nationally and internationally
  • The proposed activities, timelines and milestones of the project are realistic and achievable
  • The proposed work is good value for money
  • The ethical issues for the project have been adequately considered
  • The applicants have the necessary expertise in the relevant field
  • The applicants have the supervisory experience
  • The research environment is supportive
  • The applicants have provided sufficient details of the assessment and progression criteria, processes and milestones for PhD students
  • The institution’s processes for the selection and recruitment of PhD students are clear
  • The project has the potential to facilitate collaborations within and beyond ASME

Total score and any additional general comments[2]:

What were the strengths of this proposal?

What could have been improved?

Would you recommend funding?

[1]5-point Likert scale from 1 strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree

[2] Comments should highlight what the assessor particularly liked about the proposal and what aspects (if any) could be improved

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