The European Society of Veterinary Dermatologists

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Research

The ESVD Research Award

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Research Award

Sponsored by the European Society of Veterinary Dermatology

Introduction

SVD wishes to encourage high standards in all aspects of veterinary dermatology and to promote the development of related research. Therefore, an annual research grant will be awarded by the ESVD for basic or clinical research in veterinary dermatology. Each grant will be for 15,000 euro. Ordinarily projects are expected to be of one to two years duration. Applicants will be expected to propose a project of scientific merit that is applicable to veterinary dermatology.

Preference will be given to novel proposals including the development of pilot studies, but applications for support of some identifiable component of ongoing research work will be considered. It is not the intention to provide funds for single items of capital expenditure. All applications will be subject to peer review and must include background information, project aims and objectives, project design and specific methods and budget together with an explanation of the relevance of the proposed work to veterinary dermatology. The description of the project excluding references and budget shall not exceed 6 pages.

Successful applicants will be expected to submit their results for publication in Veterinary Dermatology and to present their findings to ESVD members at annual congress. The funds cannot be used for travel and accommodation at the meeting but purely for research. However, the principal awardee is entitled to free registration at any annual ESVD congress at which he or she will present data generated as a result of the grant. Payment of the grant will be made into a special account and a budget report will be required by the ESVD Treasurer at the end of the study. Any funds not spent must be returned to the ESVD. Any use of experimental animals must conform to any animal welfare regulations.

Proposals should be submitted by April 1 each year for consideration by the grant awarding committee. The award will be granted at the next AGM of the Society. Annual progress reports are required and should be submitted to the current secretary at least 30 days before the Society’s AGM. Research proposals (four copies) should be sent to the current ESVD grant and publications secretary. An acknowledgement will be sent.

Proposals should be prepared according to the following guidelines. Grants are evaluated on scientific merit, feasibility, and usefulness. Please note that the Society is not in a position to support the costs of institutional overhead. As far as is practically possible, the proposals will be evaluated anonymously. Therefore, please include names, addresses and other identifying information only on the title page. The second page should also include the title of the grant proposal. Please make every effort to have no identifying information in the body of the proposal. Submitted along with the body of the proposal, as a separate document, should be one copy of the curriculum vitae of each of the principal investigators.

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Guidelines for Preparation of ESVD Grant Applications:

Applications not adhering to these guidelines may be excluded from consideration. Number of pages listed are maximum numbers. Shorter proposals are acceptable and welcomed.

Section 1 (one page maximum)
Title page should include the project title, the name and title of the investigator, the institute at which the research will be performed, and the dates of the proposed project period.

Section 2 (one page maximum)
i) Provide a brief abstract with clearly stated objectives and the importance of the research, the experimental design and the methods used for achieving the stated objectives.
ii) Specific aim(s): State in general terms the long term objective(s) and the hypothesis to be tested.

Section 3 (two pages maximum)
Background and significance: In this section, briefly review the background for the present proposal, and the gaps in knowledge that the proposed project will fill.

Section 4 (two pages maximum)
Preliminary studies: If there are preliminary data to support the hypothesis or to demonstrate that the investigator is familiar with the proposed methods, they should be included. If there are no preliminary results, then this section can be omitted.

Section 5 (four pages maximum)
i) Experimental design and methods: This section should contain a concise discussion of the experimental design and the procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims listed above. This section should be sufficiently detailed so that feasibility may be judged. This section should list a brief description of resources available to investigators. It is important to discuss the means by which the data will be collected, analysed and interpreted, and the controls that will be required to allow a proper analysis. The type of statistical evaluation to be used for data analysis should be briefly detailed. Investigators should justify the sizes of experimental groups.
ii) Animal use: Projects must fulfil the requirements of legislation in force in the country in which the work is to be performed. A statement to this effect should be included in the application. Any project proposal involving animals must be evaluated by the applicant's institution animal use committee and a statement to that effect should also be included in the proposal. If pets are to be used in the project, a permission form for the owners to complete should be appended to the proposal. Unless animal care and use has been carefully addressed, a proposal can not be considered for funding.

Section 6 (one page maximum)
A one page detailed budget should be included. The ESVD will not subsidise professional veterinary fees incurred by clients in the investigation of animals involved in clinical projects.

Section 7 (one page maximum)
References should be provided for Section 3 (background information) and section 4 (methods).

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Research Grants

The ISVD is soliciting grant proposals for the year 2009/2010.

The International Society of Veterinary Dermatopathology (ISVD) is planning to support its members for research projects up to a total of $5000. One or several small projects of one year will be funded. The proposals will be reviewed blinded by a subcommittee, including members of the board and ISVD members.

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Relevance to the field of veterinary dermatopathology
- Feasibility of the project
- Quality of background information/pilot study
- Quality of the proposal

Funds are available for direct costs only. Institutional overhead costs as well as salaries for investigators and technicians will not be supported.

Please submit your proposal (guidelines on second page) by February 20, 2009. Grants will be awarded by June 30, 2009. [Since we are announcing the grant offer so late this year, we have extended the usual January 15 deadline.]

Please note:
If the work cannot be completed within an academic year (July 2009 to June 2010), an update report needs to be submitted with justification for an extension. The final results will need to be presented within 2 years at an international meeting. If the recipients are not able to attend that particular ISVD meeting - they can present the results at an annual meeting of the ECVP, ACVP, ECVD or NAFVD and then re-present the data at a subsequent meeting of the ISVD. If the research has not been completed within 2 years - the awarded funds need to be returned to the ISVD.

Electronic submissions should be sent to:
Dr. Monika Welle
monika.welle@itpa.unibe.ch

For submission by mail - please send a file on a CD and 6 hard copies to:
Dr. Monika Welle
Past-President ISVD
Institut fuer Tierpathologie
Laengasstrasse 122
3012 Bern – Switzerland

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Guidelines for the ISVD Proposal

General:
- Text in 12 point Times New Roman; margins: 1 inch/2.5cm; 1 1/2 spaced
- Part 2 – 9: include the title of the project as a “header” or “footer”. Names of investigators or institutions should ONLY be listed on page 1. Proposal must be submitted in English

Part 1:
Title page / page 1
- Title of the project
- Name and title of the investigators
- Institution where the research will be conducted
- Dates and duration of the project
- Name, contact address, e-mail, fax and phone number of primary investigator

Part 2:
- Title of the project
- Abstract: maximum 250 words
- List hypothesis and specific aims of the study

Part 3:
- Background and significance of the study: review the background and number references within the text (reference list see below). Indicate how the current study will contribute to the understanding of the problem stated; maximum 2 pages

Part 4:
- Summarize preliminary data, if available, and indicate their support of your hypothesis; add graphs, tables, pictures if available; maximum 2 pages

Part 5:
- Describe experimental design, material and methods. List methodologies, controls, how data will be analyzed, alternative methods, statistical methods if necessary; maximum 3 pages

Part 6:
- Animal use protocol: if procedures are performed on live animals documentation of approval by the institution and appropriate organization in each country must be submitted. Permission from clients must be provided if client-owned animals are included in the study.

Part 7:
- Budget: detailed information and justification of expenses; maximum 1 page

Part 8:
- References for background information and methods used.

Part 9:
List financial support already available for study described above: if this study represents a subdivision of a larger study that has already been partially funded, please include a copy of the already accepted grant proposal.

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