Small Grants Program

The Academy of Educators and the Medical Education Research Unit (MERU) of the Washington University School of Medicine are announcing an upcoming call for proposals for grant funding for education research and scholarship projects. Projects must be focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning, rather than biomedical discovery or application. Proposals may originate from any unit within the School of Medicine. Any questions about the appropriateness of a proposal can be directed to MERU.

Up to three grants of up to $5000 will be awarded based on a competitive review process. Please reference the application requirements, and limit to 4 pages inclusive of references. The submission form is below.

Applications should include the following:

  1. Names and information about the principal investigator and co-investigators. The PI must be a faculty member at Washington University School of Medicine.
  2. A project plan that includes:
    • Goals (specific aims/ objectives/ research question to be addressed; project addresses a problem of importance in health professions and/or science education)
    • Background on need for this project (understanding of existing literature; literature is linked to the project)
    • Methods (methods are appropriate [including, for example: sampling plan, data collection, data analysis for curriculum development or research on teaching or learning; validity evidence for assessment tools; search strategy, data extraction, and data synthesis plans for a systematic review of the literature]; methods are clearly explained).
    • Anticipate results and outcomes (results to be obtained are clearly stated; outcomes are appropriate to the project; evaluation plan will make it possible to determine if outcomes have been achieved)
    • Plans for dissemination and sustainability (proposal includes a plan to share results; project is sustainable or will remain relevant after the funding period)
    • Plans for reflective critique (explain how you will review your data and progress to determine needed adjustments to your plan an lessons learned for future work).
    • Timeline (should be stated and realistic); funding period is 1 year unless a longer period is justified
    • If multiple investigators are involved, please clarify the role and contribution of each, including any mentoring relationships
  3. Budget and justification (should be stated and realistic) (allowable expenses include materials [including software], equipment, research assistant time, transcription, statistical consultation, printing or other preparation for presentation; travel allowed up to $1000; and no faculty FTE  are allowable)
  4. Reference citations – included in page limit
  5. Optional letters of support (maximum 2) -not included in page limit

Applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of Academy members and MERU faculty, who will consider the following criteria:

  1. Responsiveness of the proposal to the guidelines above.
  2. Alignment with the criteria for scholarship (clear goals, adequate preparation, appropriate methods, meaningful results, dissemination, and reflective critique; see Glassick CE, 2000, Boyer’s Expanded Definitions of Scholarship, the Standards for Assessing Scholarship, and the Elusiveness of the Scholarship of Teaching, Academic Medicine).

We anticipate an application deadline of January 18, 2022 at 5 p.m. Decisions will be made in March 2022, with funds available when applicable IRB review and approval have been completed. MERU faculty will provide mentorship and constructive peer review at project initiation. Funded projects will give an update to MERU and the Small Grants Subcommittee of the Academy of Educators every 6 months.

Questions may be directed to Melody Cox, Coordinator for the Academy of Educators (cox.melody@wustl.edu) or Ian S.Hagemann, Chair of the Small Grants Committee (hagemani@wustl.edu). For a consultation about writing your proposal, please contact the Medical Education Research Unit (MERU), by following the link HERE.

Submission Deadline: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 5pm

Eligibility: Faculty Member at Washington University at instructor level or higher

Questions: Contact Melody Cox at cox.melody@wustl.edu