Have you ever wondered how Spinal Research determines who gets the money that you donate?
The Foundation is incredibly proud of our two-stage approval process. We believe this sets us apart from other research funding bodies. It has served us well for many years and was the result of reviewing the processes used by a number of national and international competitive funding bodies. Our application and assessment process reflects research sector best practice.
The Grants
The Foundation offers research grants to support our research agenda, investigating the vertebral subluxation, its effects and impacts through our chiropractic paradigm. The two major categories of funding are intended to both encourage and support new researchers and novel ideas as well as support larger projects with a stronger evidence base and researcher track record.
We fund Small Research Grants of up to $20,000 per year for a maximum of two years and Large Research Grants of up to $40,000 per year for a maximum of three years. The smaller grants mostly support small pilot projects or proof of concept studies and are frequently awarded to early career researchers. The larger studies support more well-developed projects and successful awardees would usually have a well-established track record in research and publication.
The Process
All applicants are required to submit an initial Expression of Interest (EOI). The EOI provides concise information regarding the intent of the proposed research project, the clinical and/or scientific basis of the intended research and an indicative budget. Successful applicants of the initial stage are then invited submit a full submission which builds on information provided in the EOI and provides more extensive details, particularly concerning the proposed methodology and the intended outcomes of the research project.
Both EOIs and full grant applications are subjected to the same merit-based review process. Scientific and clinical evaluation will be based on project merit and validity, likelihood of completion and delivery of intended outcomes and value for money. Applications in each stage are reviewed for clinical relevance and merit by the Clinical Review Panel and assessed by the Research Committee for overall scientific merit and feasibility.
Full applications may also be subjected to independent external peer assessment.
The overall application and assessment process is overseen by the Research Agenda Working Committee.
The Result
The Board of Governors is responsible for the funding approvals based on the recommendations of the Clinical Advisory Panel and the Research Committee via the Research Agenda Working Committee.
The Foundation often receives more projects appropriate for funding that we can financial support. It is for this reason that we have built relationships with other bodies to facilitate the funding of this important research.
We believe our grant program is ambitious, rigorous, supportive of researchers and is centred on producing research with strong, clinical relevance for chiropractors. We acknowledge our members for their commitment to research and their profession.
Information on our 2018 funding round can be found here.
