ESGAR Research Seed Grants

The ESGAR Research Committee is proud to present the ESGAR Seed Grants for Junior Researchers. The seed grant aims to support European research projects in abdominal imaging for ESGAR members younger than 40 years. Up to 5.000,00 Euro are available for a maximum of two projects per round. The projects should last a maximum of two years.

Application deadline: September 15, 2023

Eligibility:

• The grant application is open to ESGAR members younger than 40 years who are either active members, junior members or corresponding members.
• The applicant should be actively involved in research, predominantly in the field of abdominal imaging, reflected in the curriculum vitae, scientific oral or poster presentations, received grants and honours, and publications.
• The project proposed by the applicant should be fully committed to abdominal imaging but can relate to any research or clinical imaging modality.
• The project proposal can relate to preclinical research, clinical research and/or physics/computational research (including AI).
• The research should be performed at a geographically European institution; collaborations with non-European institutions is possible. The grant can be used for research performed at the applicant’s own institution or during a periodic fellowship at another European collaborating institution in agreement with the applicant’s department/employer or head of department.
• The grant can be used for a stand-alone project or for extra funding of an existing funded project. For the latter, the applicant is asked to justify the request for additional grant money as part of the application.
• The applicant should have confirmation from the chief of department or employer that the applicant’s research time will be allocated to the project; that the required hours of work needed for the project will be sufficient for successful completion of the research project; and that the costings for the grant application are appropriate for the estimated length of time that it will take to deliver the work.
• The applicant should have confirmation from the chief of department or employer that the institute’s infrastructure and staffing will allow successful completion of the research project.
   

Application:

• The standardised application form including all documents below should be sent to the Central ESGAR Office.
• The application should contain:
  1) Curriculum vitae of the applicant (please include reasons for any career breaks if relevant)
  2) Project description (including milestones timeline)
  3) A detailed budget proposal (if the proposed research project is already supported by a grant, the applicant should identify the grant, the allocated budget of this grant, and add justification for requesting additional funds / parallel grant application with other organizations is allowed, but should be stated and specified)
  4) Applicant’s publications relevant to the proposal (up to 5)
  5) Confirmation letter by the chief of department
  6) Description and confirmation of allocated research time (including confirmation that this will be sufficient for successful completion of the research project, and that the institute’s infrastructure and staffing will allow successful completion of the research project)
  7) Description of the background infrastructure and scientific expertise of the host institution
  8) Letter of motivation (why does the applicant think he/she should get this grant)

Selection criteria for the grant:

• Scientific value of the proposed project
• Soundness of the methodology for the proposed project including realistic milestones and realistic outcome measures of the project (ability to finish in 2 years).
• Soundness of the financial plan
• Curriculum vitae of the applicant (track record in research, publications, honours and grants)
• The applicants stated motivation for undertaking the research
• Track record of the research department, organization and infrastructure
   

Grant:

• Two grants each of 5.000,00 Euro (including 500 Euro for attending ESGAR annual meeting) for two separate and highest-ranking applicants/project proposals after judging.
• The ESGAR grant can be used for consumables, use of equipment, laboratory, research software etc. The grant can in part be used for reimbursement of personnel or as a travel grant, but this should be fully justified.
• Grants will be paid in two instalments: 2.500,00 Euro initially and a further 2.500,00 Euro upon receipt of a satisfactory progress report after 6 months (one-year projects) or one year (two-year projects).

Dissemination:

• ESGAR encourages scientific dissemination including scientific abstracts and publication.
• An abstract must be submitted for the ESGAR annual meeting; submission to other meetings is permissible.
• ESGAR should be acknowledged for its support in abstracts of scientific presentations and publications.
• ESGAR expects an annual progress report and a report at the end of the project, including description of the scientific progress and results, means of dissemination of the results, as well as copies of invoices to confirm the use of the allocated grant.