The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is offering two-year Faculty Research Fellowships to surgeons entering academic careers in surgery or a surgical specialty, through the generosity of Fellows, chapters, and friends of the College. The closing date for receipt of the completed online application and all supporting documents is November 15, 2018.
The fellowships will assist a surgeon in the establishment of their research program under mentorship, with the goal of transitioning to becoming an independent investigator. Applicants should have demonstrated their potential to work as independent investigators. The fellowship award is $40,000 per year for each of two years.
General policies
The following criteria are applied in awarding the ACS Faculty Research Fellowship:
- The fellowship is open to Fellows or Associate Fellows of the College who have done the following:
- Completed the chief residency year or accredited fellowship training within the preceding five years, not including time off for family leave, military deployment, or medical leave.
- Received a full-time faculty appointment in a department of surgery or a surgical specialty at a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in the U.S. or by the Committee for Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools in Canada. Preference will be given to applicants who directly enter academic surgery following residency or fellowship.
- Recipients may use the award to support their research or academic enrichment in any fashion that they deem maximally supportive of their investigations. The fellowship grant is to support the research of the recipient. Indirect costs are not paid to the recipient or to the recipient’s institution.
- Applications for this fellowship may be submitted even if comparable applications have been made to agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or industry sources. If the recipient is offered a scholarship, fellowship, or research career development award from such an agency or organization, it is the responsibility of the recipient to contact the College’s Scholarships Administrator to request approval of the additional award. The Scholarship Committee reserves the right to review potentially overlapping awards and adjust its award accordingly.
- Applicants who have previously received an award of more than $25,000 from another professional society or NIH are ineligible for this fellowship. Intramural K awards are permitted.
- Supporting letters from the head of the department of surgery (or the surgical specialty) and from the mentor supervising the applicant’s research effort must be submitted. This approval would involve a commitment to continuation of the academic position and of facilities for research. Only in exceptional circumstances will more than one fellowship be granted in a single year to applicants from the same institution.
- Applicants must submit a research plan and budget for the two-year period of fellowship, even though renewed approval by the Scholarships Committee of the College is required for the second year.
- A minimum of 50 percent of the Fellow’s time must be spent in the research proposed in the application. This percentage may run concurrently with the time requirements of NIH or other accepted funding.
- The Faculty Research Fellows are expected to attend the ACS Clinical Congress in 2021 to present a report to the Scientific Forum and to receive a certificate at the annual meeting of the Scholarships Committee.
For further information regarding this fellowship, go to the ACS scholarships web page.
