ACG Clinical Research Awards Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best way to get answers to my questions on the grant announcements?
Where can I get technical/login support for the ACG grant system (Cadmium)?
Where can I get answers for my questions on grant requirements or content questions?
What grant categories are offered by the College?
- Junior Faculty Development Awards
- Established Investigator Bridge Funding Awards
- Leonidas Berry Health Equity Research Award
- ACG/ASGE Epidemiologic Research Award in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
- Clinical Research Awards
- Clinical Research Pilot Awards
- Medical Resident Clinical Research Awards
- Medical Student Research Awards
What is the duration of the funding for each type of Clinical Research Award?
The Bridge Funding Awards are funding for two years. Funding begins July 1, 2025, and runs until June 30, 2027.
The ACG/ASGE Epidemiologic Research Award in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy is funded over one or two years. Funding begins July 1, 2025, and runs until June 30, 2026 (for a one-year award) or June 30, 2027 (for a two-year award).
The Leonidas Berry Health Equity Research Award is funded for up to two years. The second year is dependent on the progress of the first year (submission of a progress and financial report for review). Funding begins July 1, 2025, and runs until June 30, 2026 (for a one-year award) or June 30, 2027 (for a two-year award).
The Clinical Research Awards (and Pilot Research Awards) are funded for one year. Funding begins on July 1, 2025, and runs until June 30, 2026.
The Medical Resident Awards are also funded for one year, with funding beginning on July 1, 2025, and runs until June 30, 2026.
The Medical Student Research Award is a summer award, with funding beginning any time after May 1, 2025, for the 6-10-week project. Funding must be used during the summer.
Membership
Do I need to be an ACG member to apply for the ACG Clinical Research Awards?
I am interested in becoming an ACG member. What is the deadline for submitting a membership application?
NOTE: The next membership review is held in January, after the December 2, 2024, grant deadline, which is too late for a 2025 grant submission. Applicants awaiting final approval of their applications and members that have not paid their current membership fees are ineligible.
I’m a fellow-in-training, what is the deadline to apply for membership?
I just applied for ACG membership. Am I eligible to apply for the ACG research awards?
My ACG membership has lapsed. Can I re-apply for membership?
For the ACG/ASGE Epidemiologic Research Award in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy can you clarify the membership requirement?
NOTE: Indicate the society for which you are providing your membership ID. To look up your ACG member ID number, visit gi.org/membership then click My ACG/Log In from the Membership menu. Enter your email and password to sign in. Select My ACG/Log In from the Membership menu to see your membership information. Your Member ID is listed below Date of Birth. To look up your ASGE ID number, visit asge.org and click the member/account Log In on the upper-right to enter username/password. Once logged in, click on Welcome, [name] to go to your account information. The Member ID is listed under your name on the landing page.
For the Clinical Research Award or Pilot Award, does the PI have to be an ACG member?
If I am in residency, am I required to be an ACG member?
If I am a medical student, am I required to be an ACG member?
If I am a Nurse Practitioner or a Physician Assistant. Am I required to be an ACG member?
I am not an ACG member. Can I apply for an ACG Clinical Research Award?
How do I find my ACG Member ID?
- GO TO gi.org/membership
- Click on My ACG/Log In under Membership, on the left side of the menu.
- Enter your email and password and click Sign In.
- Select My ACG/Log In from the Membership menu on the left.
- Find Member ID.
- Enter Member ID into the online application.
Eligibility
If I have received a Career Development Award, am I eligible for the Junior Faculty Award?
I received an NIH loan re-payment grant. Am I eligible for the Junior Faculty Development Award?
Am I eligible for the Junior Faculty Development Award if I complete GI fellowship training by July 2025?
- July 2025
- 2024
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019 (last year completed fellowship)
Can you clarify whether I am eligible for the Junior Faculty Development Award? I completed my Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellowship in June 2024 and signed on as an instructor at a university with the intention of pursuing an academic research career. Unfortunately, the university classifies instructors as “exempt staff” and not faculty, and so will not proceed with my application without an exemption or clarification.
I am submitting the same Junior Faculty Development Award project to another grant-making entity. Is this allowed?
Am I eligible for the Established Investigator Bridge Funding Award?
Does ACG consider proposals based overseas, for non-U.S. applicants?
Are non-medical doctors (PhDs) eligible to apply for this award?
If I am a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant, are there specific grant types I am eligible for?
If I am a GI fellow-in-training, is there a specific grant type I am eligible to apply for?
Are international medical students eligible for the Medical Student or Medical Resident Awards?
What are the eligibility criteria for the Leonidas Berry Health Equity Research Award?
For the Leonidas Berry Health Equity Research Award, do projects which are studying gastrointestinal conditions, such as IBD, meet the eligibility requirements for this RFA?
If I have received Career Development funding, am I eligible for Bridge Funding?
Do the grants allow animal studies?
“For the purposes of these awards, patient-oriented research is defined as:
- Research conducted with human subjects
- Research on new diagnostic and therapeutic interventions
- Research on material of human origin such as tissues and specimens
- Research that is translational in nature, i.e., has direct applicability to clinical care.
May I submit the same grant (science) to both an ACG grant and another society/foundation/NIH grant category?
May I submit the same grant (science) to multiple ACG grant categories?
May I submit more than one grant application (different science) to the American College of Gastroenterology?
My application is part of a larger study, is this allowed?
Formatting and Required Elements
Where should I include the Application Checklist?
I am re-submitting an application, where should I include the re-submission letter responding to the reviewer’s feedback?
Should the entire proposal be compiled into a single PDF?
Applicants are required to submit a single Adobe PDF document comprising (but not limited to): application checklist (include the list located at the end of the grant announcements as the first page of the submitted PDF), research proposal, budget, biosketches for principal investigator and others involved in the proposed research, other funding support details, IRB forms, COI statement (if applicable), and any letters of support from Responsible Investigator, or collaborators.
Does the ½” margin include the applicant name/award type/page numbers?
Format all pages with ½” margins and use a font no smaller than 11 point. All pages must include a page number in the left header. All pages must include the PI name and grant type in the right header, in the following format:
Last name, First name
Award Type
What if the letterhead for my letter of support doesn’t adhere to the ½” margin guideline?
For the recommended headers, how should these be listed in the document?
Does the page limit for the proposal include references, budget, biographical sketches or research support?
If we are resubmitting an application, should we include a cover letter to address the changes made based on comments from last year’s reviewers? Is there a place in the electronic submission process to identify that this is a resubmission?
For the online submission process, there is a drop-down menu under the section on Research Proposal Abstract, which asks whether this is a resubmission.
Is the budget included in the proposal page limit?
Is there a standard format or template for the budget?
Is IRB approval required?
If your grant is selected for funding, you must then submit either an IRB approval letter or a letter of IRB exemption to the College before funding will be released.
Is a Conflict of Interest (COI) Statement required? Can you explain this requirement?
A potential conflict of interest (COI) exists when research involves a device from which any investigator(s) or a company may benefit. It also exists when research involves a pharmaceutical agent that is not FDA-approved for any indication. A conflict of interest exists if any investigator holds or has submitted a patent on a device or pharmaceutical agent or is a major shareholder in a company involved in the research.
If applicable, select “Yes” in the grant system, and include a detailed explanation, including names of each investigator and their potential COIs.
For the Biosketch, is there a page limit or specific format?
Is an institutional signature or cover letter required?
What is the pre-qualification application for the Bridge funding award? Can you explain this requirement?
It is strongly recommended to submit by November 4, 2024, to allow the reviewers time to respond before the application deadline for your full application (December 2, 2024).
I am currently in “trainee status” as an advanced fellow. However, I will be starting on staff at the university by July 2025. When submitting the proposal, should I indicate “trainee” or “faculty” status?
The reason for this requirement is that trainees funded by the College need a “Responsible Investigator” who commits to oversee the work, ensure the final reports are made, and sees that funds are spent according to grant agreement, etc.
Since you will be full-time faculty at the time of the award, you can apply independently. In effect, you will be your own “Responsible Investigator” as Principal Investigator (PI).
Can the Institutional Commitment Letter for the Junior Faculty Award come from the Chair of the Department of Medicine (my department) instead of my Division Chief?
For the ACG/ASGE Epidemiologic Research Award in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, how should applicants request a letter of support?
Do I need a responsible investigator for the ACG Clinical Research Award? I am currently a GI Fellow. However, I will be an Assistant Professor in March 2025. Will I need a responsible investigator?
I am a gastroenterology fellow applying for a pilot grant as the PI. I have obtained letters of support from my Program Director and co-investigators/collaborators. Do I need a letter from the Responsible Investigator as well?
I am applying for the Medical Resident Clinical Research Award. How should my Program Director submit the letter of support, and to whom should it be addressed?
What is the purpose of the Program Director’s letter for the Medical Resident Clinical Research Award?
Can you explain the pilot data requirement for the Clinical Research Awards?
What does it mean to have pilot data? Pilot data is used to evaluate the feasibility/acceptability of performing a larger-scale study. Rather than using pilot data to answer the question “does the intervention work” having pilot data allows you to answer the question “can I do this larger research study?” Pilot data and studies also allow the investigation team to appropriately hone their good clinical practice models that will be used in the research study.
How do I know if I have enough pilot data? One has enough pilot data when questions can be definitively answered about the feasibility/acceptability of the planned larger study. Examples of these metric could include: Can I recruit and randomize my target population? Can I maintain study participation to completion? Will the subjects complete the tasked asked of them? Is the overall study design too burdensome?
Budget
Is there a budget template?
Is the budget included in the proposal page limit?
Do the ACG Research Awards provide funding for indirect/overhead costs?
Are manuscript preparation costs allowed?
Please explain the travel costs for the Junior Faculty Development Award.
For the Junior Faculty Development Award, can you clarify the leadership course component? How much should be allocated for this requirement?
Examples of courses include:
https://womensleadership.hmscme.com
https://gi.org/acg-institute/early-career-leadership-program
https://gi.org/crlp – free for those selected.
For the ACG/ASGE Epidemiologic Research Award in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, how are the costs for data extraction, cleaning, and analysis for GIQuIC calculated?
For the ACG Clinical Research Award is the award limited to the full $50,000 or can applicants request funds as needed ($40,000-45,000 etc.)?
For the Medical Student Research Awards, do the funds go to the medical student or to the university?
For the Junior Faculty Award, is the entire 50% protected research time to be devoted to the specific Junior Faculty Development Award research project?
Are lab costs allowed for the Junior Faculty Development Award budgets?
For the cost to utilize GIQuIC for the ACG/ASGE Epidemiologic Research Award in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, how is this information calculated?
Medical Residents and Medical Student Research Awards
As a Medical Resident or Medical Student, am I required to be an ACG member?
I am applying for the Medical Resident Clinical Research Award. How should my Program Director submit the letter of support, and to whom should it be addressed?
For the Medical Resident Clinical Research Award, what is the purpose of the Program Director’s letter?
For the Medical Resident Clinical Research Award, can two residents apply jointly and split the grant and travel?
I am a medical student. Am I required to be an ACG member?
I am an international medical student. Am I eligible for the new Medical Student or Medical Resident Awards?
I will be a third-year medical student in rotations during the 6 to 10 weeks of the research. Will I need to solely dedicate 6 to 10 weeks to research, or am I able to complete both my required rotations as well as the research?
During what months is the medical student research going to occur in 2025?
At the end of the 6 to 10 weeks, what are you looking for the students to accomplish?
I am a medical student currently in a gap year between my third and fourth years of medical school in a Master of Clinical Research program. Am I eligible for this award based on my gap year status?