Applying for a Grant 2023

2023 Grant Program

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (EOI)

The Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) Intensive Care Foundation is a charity, founded over 30 years ago by the peak medical and nursing associations for ICU professionals in Australia and New Zealand (ANZICS, ACCCN, and CICM).

The Foundation’s annual grant program is seeking Expressions of Interest to apply for funding grants this year. We are seeking applications from a broad and diverse range of chief investigators, project teams and project designs. Clinicians, researchers, and educators that care for ICU patients in ANZ are welcome to apply.

NEW IN 2023: GRANT CATEGORIES

Any meritorious and scholarly project that helps the Foundation better achieve our mission is eligible for our funding. Our mission is to improve the care, treatment, and quality of life of critically ill people in Australia and New Zealand through: (i) research grants, (ii) high quality professional training and education of intensive care staff, and (iii) promoting awareness and education in the general community about critical illness and the care that intensive care units (ICUs) provide.

The Foundation will be awarding grants in 3 categories this year:

• PROJECT GRANTS
  • NEW – EDUCATION PROJECT GRANTS
    We are seeking to fund the development and dissemination of educational products, and pedagogical research related to the clinical management of critically ill patients. Examples of educational products include learning packages, videos, and other online resources.
  • RESEARCH PROJECT GRANTS
    Our usual research grant program continues its emphasis on supporting early career investigators, and to provide seed money for pilot projects from research programs with great potential for major, successful future grant applications from peak funding bodies.

• NEW – PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOLARSHIPS
  • Scholarships to support the professional development of talented early career clinicians or educators who will become future leaders in health professional education. We seek to promote diversity, equity and inclusiveness, and especially encourage applicants from professional backgrounds and geographic locations that are frequently under-represented among grant recipients.

BUDGET GUIDANCE

• The Foundation will be awarding a total of up to AUD$200000 in 2023
• Education and Research project grants will be funded up to a maximum amount of AUD$50000
• Personal development scholarships will be funded up to a maximum amount of AUD$5000
• Different grant categories will be evaluated using separate processes, conducted by peers with no conflicts of interest. Each grant will be ranked in its category according to the criteria described below, and subsequently considered by the Board of the Foundation. The Board will decide how many grants from each category we can fund to maximise the achievement of our Mission and the overall goals of our funding program.

2023 CALENDAR and DEADLINES

2023 GRANT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

ALL GRANT CATEGORIES

Essential Criteria

• The applicant, or at least one member of a project team is early in their career **
• The applicant, or at least one member of the project team, is
  (i) a member of ANZICS or ACCCN (for more than 12 continuous months at the time of application, and/or
  (ii) a registered trainee or Fellow of CICM
• The team applying for a project grant must include at least two of the professions or disciplines that work together in an ICU
• Successful applicants must be willing to comply with modest marketing and promotion requests by the Foundation. These will be described prospectively in our funding agreement. Examples include photographs and quotes about the impact of your grant.

** Early career can be defined in clinician, researcher, or educator terms. Professional backgrounds and experiences vary widely among ICU health care workers. Applicants will be asked to provide a short narrative description of why they think they qualify as early career.

PROJECT GRANTS: EDUCATION and RESEARCH

Essential Criteria

• A minimum level of interprofessionalism, defined as a project team comprising more than one of the professions or disciplines that work together in an ICU to care for the critically ill.
• Project feasibility is such that it can be completed within 3 years of being awarded a project grant.

Desirable Criteria
The Foundation encourages these, none are essential.

• The chief investigator is an early career** researcher, or educator.
• Interprofessionalism. Multiple professions and clinical disciplines are needed to care for patients in the ICU. We encourage project teams that comprise as many of these as possible.
• Projects that foster diversity and inclusivity. This may apply to the project team, topic or subjects, as well as how the project’s output will be applied.
• Projects that promote fairness and equity. The Foundation especially encourages projects which include the first peoples of Australia and New Zealand, or people in neighbouring low- and middle-income countries.

Any potential EOI applicant who is uncertain if their project is eligible to is welcome to contact the Foundation prior to the submission deadline info@intensivecarefoundation.org.au

EDUCATION PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS

Application forms can be downloaded here and must be submitted to info@intensivecarefoundation.org.au by close of business 31 October 2023, along with 2 letters of recommendation as outlined on the forms.  There is no Expression of Interest stage for these grants. The application period for this grant category opens on 15 September 2023.

Eligibility will ensure that applicants are:
(i) prepared and committed to actively engage with their proposed plan for personal development
(ii) likely to make a future meaningful contribution to critical care health professions education (HPE)
(iii) favoured if their grant award will promote equity, both in terms of the diversity of participants and their likely future contributions to HPE. This may entail geographic location (across Australia and New Zealand and affiliated regions), interprofessional background, or membership of under-represented groups in scholarship and grant programs.

Examples of activities and projects that we will fund as education personal development grants:
(i) expenses that are otherwise only fundable by out-of-pocket spending by the individual applying
(ii) university qualifications
(iii) voluntary and unpaid roles that are made possible as a result of our funding support
(iv) attendance at short courses in HPE

Examples of activities and projects that we will not fund via education personal development grants:
(i) activities that are eligible for funding elsewhere such as medical specialist continuing medical education (CME) funds
(ii) activities not relevant to HPE
(iii) activities where a more cost-effective alternative exists

2023 GRANT EVALUATION CRITERIA

EOIs for project grants will be judged in three domains:
(i) merit (including significance and usefulness),
(ii) methods (including feasibility, budget, and capacity of the team to succeed), and
(iii) impact (of the project outputs, including their innovativeness, clinical uptake, and the ways in which they develop our craft and its future leaders).

A published report in a scientific journal is a usual outcome from a research project grant. For education project grants, a publication is not the only project output that the Foundation anticipates and is prepared to fund. We will fund meritorious projects that produce reusable learning objects (such as learning packages, videos, or online resources), or the development of educational offerings such as short courses.

HOW TO APPLY

• Download a copy of the 2023 Expression of Interest below
• Submit your completed form to info@intensivecarefoundation.com.au before 1700h on 19 May 2023