Where to seek grant options to jump-start your research career
Early-career plastic surgeons face many challenges – completing oral boards, creating referral networks, managing patient expectations and complications, as well as balancing clinical responsibilities with other academic pursuits. For those interested in developing a career as a surgeon-scientist, the early years of practice also provide numerous opportunities for grants and career development awards that can help fund research and support protected research time. The goal of this article is to review grant and career development awards available only to early-career plastic surgeons.
Federal options
The two main federal grants for young clinicians are the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award program (K23) and the Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award program (K08). The K23 provides support for a mentored research career-development award for clinicians with a commitment to patient-oriented research, whereas the K08 provides support for clinicians with a commitment to basic science research. These grants are available to those in their first five years in practice and aim to support didactic study, mentored research and protected time for career development. Based on the research background of the applicant and career goals, the proposed time allotment may focus more on didactics or mentored research.
Critical to these grants is the selection of an established, well-funded mentor and the development of a productive career-development plan that aligns with your long-term research and career goals. The goal of these career-development awards is to allow for independent funding to be procured by their conclusion. Each NIH institute offers its own K23 and K08 with variable salary and research support. As these awards provide minimal salary support, they do require institutional commitment.
Organizational options
The PSF offers a variety of grants to plastic surgeons at all stages of their research careers – and several focused on early-career research. The PSF Pilot Research Grant, for example, is intended to support residents and junior faculty in their efforts to address focused research questions, obtain preliminary data to support larger grant proposals in the future and develop a line of research that can be carried forward into an academic career. This grant supports the preliminary or pilot phase of these research projects. Projects that are a prelude to the NIH or other external funding agencies are encouraged.
Another example is The PSF's Research Fellowship, which supports investigators from the beginning of their careers, during residency and as they advance to becoming experienced and well-established plastic surgeons, to encourage academic career development in plastic surgery. Research Fellowship grants must be used for salary support only. A complete list of the options offered by the Foundation can be found at ThePSF.org/Grants.
The American Association of Plastic Surgeons Academic Scholar Program is a two-year research scholarship available to surgeons in their first five years of practice to assist with the establishment of new and independent research programs. Although this award requires protected research time, the exact percentage is not as defined as it is for K awards. The award provides $30,000 per year for salary support and/or direct research costs and may be renewed once.
The American College of Surgeons Faculty Research Fellowship is a two-year, $40,000 annually, mentored research fellowship available to surgeons in their first five years in practice who have not previously been awarded a grant over $25,000 from another professional society or NIH. A minimum of 50 percent protected research time for the two-year duration is required for this award.
Academic institutions can also be an important resource for research funding for young investigators. These funds are often flexible and can be used to provide research funds, technician support or salary. One example is a T32 training grant, which is awarded to an institution to support pre- and post-doctoral candidates.
Support and mentoring
Writing successful grants takes time and experience – and the best way to become a good grant writer is to continually write and learn from reviewer feedback. Institutions often offer pre-submission services for grant review and critique. These internal options can be extremely helpful with the generation of well-thought and portrayed objectives and for ensuring language clarity. There are also well-known grant writing courses that teach formatting, required language and strategies for success. The PSF offers a comprehensive and free grant-writing module required for all PSF grant applicants. There are also virtual courses such as those offered through the Grant Writers' Seminars and Workshops, including "Write Winning NIH Grant Proposals" and "NIH Career Development Awards." These courses are not offered to individuals, but they are often hosted by institutions.
This article is by no means comprehensive of the grants that would be available to an early-career surgeon. Depending upon your specialty, smaller foundation or society grants may be available to early-career surgeons. With an early-career grant, you will be well-positioned to establish your career as a surgeon-scientist and apply for larger grants from societies and the NIH.