Call for Applications for The Schweppe Scholar Award at

Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

Chicago Medical School

Background: The Schweppe Foundation was established in 1974 by John S. Schweppe, M.D. as a memorial to his parents, Charles H. and Laura S. Schweppe. The Foundation has had a strong commitment to provide support for highly promising young faculty in the early stages of their careers in academic medicine. Further, the Schweppes Foundation’s Career Development Award Program has fostered and supported individuals with the expectation that the awardees will have long and highly productive careers in academic medicine. The Career Award has been limited to participation at the six Chicago area medical schools, and more recently has included the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Upon dissolution of the Foundation, in April 2010, the corpus of the foundation was distributed to the above participants in the Career Development Award Program. An endowed fund has been established at the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in order to establish the Schweppe Scholar Award which will be awarded on a yearly basis, for a term of one year, to an outstanding junior faculty member who has not yet obtained NIH R01 funding (or the equivalent). It is anticipated that the amount of the award will be $50,000. Applications are due by May 15th and should be submitted to the office of the CMS Vice Dean for Research. Awards will be reviewed by a committee consisting of a subset of the Basic Science Chairs, and possibly other faculty, at the discretion of the Vice Dean. The award will begin July 1st for a term of one year. The applicant qualifications and application requirements are listed below and should be carefully adhered to.

Applicant Qualifications:

1. Potential Schweppe Scholars must be a tenure-track Assistant Professor who is seeking, but has not yet obtained, their first NIH R01 grant.

2. The applicants will not hold concurrent, independent investigator NIH-R01 award or equivalent levels of national funding

3. Past recipient of Schweppe award are not eligible.

Application Requirements:

1. Cover page: Title of the research project

Candidate information (Full name, Department, e-mail address and telephone number)

2. Biographical sketch: NIH format giving the following details (maximum 4 pages)

– Education and Training table

- Positions and Honors

- Publications

- Detailed Research Support

3. A personal statement outlining future career plans and how the Schweppe Scholar Award will be utilized to enhance the candidate’s professional development

4. Proposal: Should be in the NIH grant format.

- Specific Aims (limited to 1 page)

- Research Strategy (limited to 6 pages)

This should include

Significance

Innovation

Approach

For each specific aim (same format for each)

Introductory Paragraph

Justification & Feasibility

Research Design

Expected outcomes

Potential Problems & Alternative Strategies

Timetable

Future directions

5. Budget: Provide an itemized budget (Funds cannot be used to offset the faculty member's salary)

6. Letter of recommendation:

Application must contain a letter from the applicant's department chair or institute director that highlights the department or institute's plans and commitment toward the professional career development of the applicant. This should include the reasons that the candidate would benefit from the award, outline of the plans to support the candidate’s immediate and long-term career development, a brief statement of dedicated facilities (office space, research areas, computer facilities etc) that will be provided, and list of individuals with whom the candidate will interact during the term of the award.

7. Grant Routing:

The candidate must obtain the necessary signatures through the RFUMS Office of Sponsored Research before submitting the application to the CMS Vice Dean for Research.

The Schweppe Scholar Award will not be awarded until the CMS Vice Dean for Research receives appropriate documentation indicating compliance and approval for the use of animals, radioactive materials, biohazards, recombinant DNA, human subjects and human blood and tissue samples, if applicable.

8. Reporting

The Schweppe Scholar Award will be acknowledged on all research publications and presentations supported directly by the Funds. After the completion of term of the award, the Schweppe Scholar will provide a report (to include a “lay” synopsis) to the CMS Vice Dean for Research. The report should include a brief narrative of scientific progress, the Scholar’s career development, a list of resulting papers and presentations, and a list of active and pending extramural support.

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