Research Award FAQ

Student Research Awards require that applicants be in good standing at an accredited medical or graduate school, or residency program in North America (United States, Canada or Mexico).

Early Career Research Awards require that applicants have an MD, PhD and/or equivalent degree (e.g., MBChB, MBBS, DO) and a full-time faculty or equivalent position at an institution in North America (United States, Canada or Mexico). Examples of faculty-equivalent positions include research associate, research scientist, and research investigator.

If you are an MD (or equivalent), no more than seven years shall have elapsed following the completion of clinical training (GI fellowship or its equivalent) and the start date of the award you are applying to.

If you are a PhD (or equivalent), no more than seven years shall have elapsed following the awarding of the PhD degree and the start date of the award you are applying to.

Proposals must be relevant to celiac disease. CDF accepts applications across the research spectrum, including basic, translational and clinical research. CDF defines these research categories as follows:

• Clinical: Research involving direct contact with human subjects or using clinical data to address problems related to the prevention, diagnosis treatment or outcome of human diseases (e.g., clinical epidemiology). This category also includes research related to health care delivery (e.g., health services, health IT).
• Basic/translational: Research with the primary goal of understanding basic biology or disease mechanisms. This category can involve animal subjects, cell culture, human biospecimens or human data as resources for laboratory- or informatics-based investigation.

When you are ready to apply, you can access the award application on CDF’s Research Award page. Select the award you are interested in to read the specific requirements and limitations. If the award is accepting applications, it will have a blue “Apply Now” button at the top of the page. All submissions are completed online through CDF’s Awards Management System; hard copies and email attachments are not accepted.

A sponsor takes responsibility for the quality assessment of the proposed research, the quality of the research environment the project will be conducted in, and the credentials of the principal investigator and other key researchers/staff involved in the project.

A mentor supervises the principal investigator’s research activities. In the Personal Statement section of their Biosketch, the mentor should note their relationship with the Principal Investigator and the proposed research project.

The research plan should include three distinct sections: Significance, Innovation and Approach (including preliminary data). The research plan should include sufficient information needed for evaluation of the project independent of any other document. Be specific, informative and succinct.

Yes. The specific aims, research plan, references, career development plan (if applicable), Biosketches and budget justification should all follow these guidelines:

FILE TYPES

• All supporting materials uploaded with your application must be in PDF format.

DOCUMENT LAYOUT

• Uploaded documents must be standard letter size, measuring 8.5 by 11 inches (21.59  x 27.94 cm), and in portrait orientation.
• Margins must be 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) or larger.
• Avoid use of footers and page numbers. Avoid use of headers except for labeling separate application uploads with their category and your last name (e.g., LastName_Specific_Aims, LastName_Research_Plan).

FONT TYPE

• Use Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman or Helvetica fonts.
• Font size must be 11 points or larger in the main text. Smaller font sizes are allowable in tables, figures, diagrams or other supporting information, but must be no smaller than 8 points. Any smaller fonts must be legible when the page is viewed at 100 percent zoom.

REFERENCES

• No specific citation format is required.

Yes. A letter of recommendation form your Division Chief or Department Chair is required.

Yes. You may download it here.

Yes. For all awards, indirect costs and costs for mentors/sponsors are not allowed.

Yes. You may enter the information all at once or enter it in stages and save your progress.

No. Once an application is submitted, you cannot alter its contents. Please thoroughly review your application materials to ensure it is correct before submitting.

Members of the Celiac Disease Foundation Research Committee review all applications and select Research Award recipients.

All applicants will be notified whether or not they have been chosen to receive funding within three months of the application deadline.