2011 MECOR RESEARCH AWARDS

The deadline for the below grant opportunities has passed. Please check back here in December 2011 for information about the 2012 MECOR Awards. 

Letter of Intent (LOI) Applications must be submitted by email to mecor@thoracic.org on or before Tuesday March 15, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. EASTERN Time (6:00 a.m. PACIFIC Time)

The awards are explained below, along with the application process, instructions, timeline for the review process, applicant eligibility requirements, and submission requirements.

ATS Letter of Intent Submission Form

Potential applicants should download the form below for all MECOR Letters of Intent (LOI) submissions to the ATS Foundation Research Program. To download the form and instructions, right click on ‘Click here’, scroll down to and click on ‘Save link as…’ and save the document to your desktop. The LOIs will be used to prioritize the number of applicants based on the merit of their LOI, in order to avoid having a large number of applicants competing for a limited number of awards.

Click here to download the MECOR LOI Application Form

Click here to download the LOI instructions

Note: If you would like to apply for another research grant in the 2011 ATS Research Program portfolio besides a MECOR Research Award, you must submit an application through the proposalCENTRAL web site. For more information about these grants, please visit the ATS Website.

Please address all questions about the MECOR Research Award to Fran du Melle, Senior Director, International Programs and Activities at fdumelle@thoracic.org.

Goals

The goal of the MECOR Research Awards is to provide small seed funds to the graduates of the ATS MECOR program with meritorious proposals to enable them to transition from trainees to investigators.

Number, size and duration of the awards

There will be a total of four awards of up to $5000 each, non renewable. 
Duration: up to 1 year with the option of 1 year no-cost extension.

Timeline for 2011 MECOR Awards

Eligibility Criteria

Please read the eligibility information below before you start your application.

• Candidates must be graduates of the ATS MECOR program (L. America, PATS, Turkey, India, and Vietnam);
• Candidates must have accomplished at least level II with preference given to level III and above;
• Candidates must not be recipients of a previous MECOR research award;
• Candidates must be employed at a research/academic/governmental institution/agency in their local country, or be able to demonstrate that they will be employed at such an institution at the time the award is granted.
• Preference will be given to projects that measure the burden of disease.

Review Process

A letter of intent will be submitted to a MECOR subcommittee composed of Sonia Buist, Stephen Gordon, Philip Hopewell, William Vollmer and Shannon Carson. The subcommittee will select the top 12 LOI and invite them to submit full applications. Selected applications will be reviewed by the ATS Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC). The membership of the ATS SAC is listed on the ATS web site. Additional adhoc reviewers will be invited to participate, as needed. Funding decisions will be made on the basis of scientific merit, novelty, and responsiveness to the purpose of the specific grant program.

ATS Policy on Additional Grant Funding

Simultaneous submission of grants with scientific overlap is allowed, but if multiple applications are funded, then the applicant must notify the ATS within one month of formal notification of award. A subcommittee of SAC will assess degree of overlap. In case of significant scientific overlap the applicant will have to choose between the ATS research grant and the other grant. Budgetary overlap is not allowed.

Submission Instructions

Applicants should submit a letter of intent using the LOI application. Please download the form. 

Please note:

• All LOI-s should be submitted by email to mecor@thoracic.org by 9am Eastern Time on March 15, 2011.  Late submissions will not be accepted.

• LOI applications must be submitted on the forms available on the ATS web site. Download the form and then complete it. Incomplete submissions will not be considered for review.

• Applicants may submit more than one letter of intent, but applicants will be invited to submit a maximum of one full grant application.

• Applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of the LOI submission within 3 business days.  If you do not receive an email confirming receipt of your LOI application, please contact Fran du Melle at fdumelle@thoracic.org.