UMMS Faculty Scholar Award

The goal of this award is to assist faculty during a finite period of increased family care responsibilities by providing professional assistance to continue research and/or scholarly efforts while family obligations are addressed. The award provides funding of up to $30,000. Funds may be used to support personnel, services, supplies or ‘buy out’ of clinical time to provide time for academic/ scholarly work. The award is open to both women and men, and is limited to one year, with the option to apply for a one-year no-cost extension.

The Faculty Scholar Award was created by the UMMS Women’s Faculty Committee and the Women’s Leadership Work Group. The program is funded jointly by UMMS, UMMHC, and the UMMS Clinical and Translational Science Center. It is intended to be an important element of our efforts to increase the diversity of faculty, to become a leader in gender equity, and to increase the representation of women at the higher faculty ranks. We hope that this award program will enable more junior faculty to advance to higher levels, surmounting obstacles that might otherwise inhibit their academic productivity and advancement.

Applications are due January 17 and July 15 of each year (unless date falls on a holiday or weekend).

Applications are being actively accepted June 4, 2012 - July 21, 2012.

Download detailed application instructions: UMMS Faculty Scholar Award Guide pdficon

Submit applications to kathleen.rancourt@umassmed.edu.

Example of winning application (used by permission minus reference letters): FSA Winning Application pdficon

Questions may be addressed to:
Dr. Luanne Thorndyke, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs - luanne.thorndyke@umassmed.edu or to
Dr. Judith Ockene, Associate Vice Provost for Gender & Equity - judith.ockene@umassmed.edu

Eligibility

Non-tenure-track faculty or tenure-track, but not yet tenured
Academically or professionally salaried faculty
M.D., Ph.D. or equivalent advanced degree
Academic rank of Assistant or Associate Professor
UMMS faculty appointment for at least one year
Responsible for care of children, spouse, partner or other family member(s).

Application Requirements

Formatting and Submission

Font: Calibri, Font Size: 12pt., Margins: not less than .5.
Combine the following in one pdf and in order:

1. Cover page, including:

Title of project
Applicant’s name, department, faculty rank, office address, telephone and email address

2. Project Plan (not to exceed 2 pages) including:

Specific aims
Significance
Research or project design
Preliminary or supporting data (if appropriate)
Numbers for any relevant approved IRB or IACUC protocols
References should be listed on a separate page

3. NIH Biosketch (download sample; download blank form)

4. Proposed Budget and Justification

5. Letters of Support (one from each category):

Department Chair or Division Chief – letter should include statement of the department’s or division’s commitment to the applicant
Research colleague or former mentor

6. Personal Statement (not to exceed 1 page) that describes how the award would benefit the applicant’s academic progress and assist with current family responsibilities.

Past Recipients

January 2012

Seema Adhami, MD (Assistant Professor, Pediatrics) - Project: Efficacy and Tolerability of High-Dose oral Steroids as First-Line Treatment for Infantile Spasms - Project Period: Begins 4/4/2012
Merav Socolovsky, MB, BS, PhD (Assistant Professor, Pediatrics) - Project: Mechanism and Function of Genome-Wide DNA Demethylation in Erythropoiesis - Project Period: TBD

July 2011

Kristina Deligiannidis, MD (Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Ob/Gyn) - Project: Translational Research Projects in Neuroendocrine and Neuroimaging Biomarkers for Perinatal Depression - Project Period: 9/1/2011-8/31/2012
Tiffany Moore Simas, MD, MPH (Assistant Professor, Ob/Gyn) - Project: Pregnancy and Postpartum Observational Dietary Study - Project Period: 9/9/2011-9/18/2012

January 2011

Nancy Byatt, DO, MBA (Associate Professor, Psychiatry) - Project: Perinatal Mental Illness: How Can Barriers to Treatment Be Overcome? - Project Period: 6/1/2011-5/31/2012
Susanne Muehlschlegel, MD (Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology) - Project: Intravenous Dantrolene for the Treatment and Prevention of Cerebral Vasospasm After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage - Project Period: 4/1/2011-3/31/2012
Jill Zitzewitz, PhD (Research Associate Professor, BMP) - Project: The Role of Folding and Aggregation of Fragments of TDP-43 in ALS - Project Period: 5/1/2011-4/30/2012