What types of internal funding are available?
Who is eligible to apply for internal funding?
What amount of internal funding may I request?
When is IRB review required?
What if I’m not sure if my proposed research involves human subjects?
Are there other institutional regulatory requirements that I must follow?
Where can I find all the various forms that I need to complete?
How will my project be prioritized?
My manuscript has been published. How do I apply for the Published Research Award?
Are there any Federal requirements I need to be aware of when writing my grant or manuscript?
What types of internal funding are available?
Marshfield Clinic and Marshfield Clinic Research Institute (MCRI) leadership strongly believe that it is important to provide funds to support internal researchers in conducting scholarly research, scientific inquiry, or research involving inventive technology. Projects designed to subsequently generate extramural funding or other revenue are encouraged since they allow Marshfield Clinic and MCRI to continue to grow its research mission.
MCRI has established Disease Specific Restricted Funds, which are available to any staff member or employee of Marshfield Clinic or its divisions. Funds for disease specific research are received primarily from three sources:
- Patients and/or their families and friends in recognition of outstanding clinical service or as a memorial;
- Organizations interested in promoting research in a specific disease; or
- Scientists, clinicians and other professionals staff who have donated honoraria funds to a specific disease category.
Who is eligible to apply for internal funding?
Any staff member or employee of Marshfield Clinic or its divisions or St. Joseph’s Hospital is eligible for Disease Specific Restricted Funds.
Individuals with temporary positions (e.g., Post Docs, Project Scientists and Residents) who chose to serve as principal investigator on a proposal must have a regular status staff member named as a co-investigator. Individuals with temporary positions must also have plans to be on staff for the length of their proposal as defined by the proposal’s timeline plus three months.
What amount of internal funding may I request?
With rare exception, funding requests may not exceed $65,000 per project.
When is IRB review required?
Except for emergency use situations, any activity in which Marshfield Clinic physicians or staff are engaged that meets both the “human subject” and “research” definitions below must have IRB review and approval prior to beginning the research.
A “human subject” is defined as a living individual about whom an investigator conducting research obtains: 1) data through intervention or interaction with the individual; or 2) identifiable private information.
“Research” is defined as an activity that involves a prospective research plan which incorporates data collection, either quantitative or qualitative, and data analysis to answer a research question (a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.)
Additionally, to be engaged in research is to intervene or interact with human subjects for the purpose of research, or obtain individually identifiable private information about human subjects for research purposes. Investigations designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge are those designed to draw general conclusions (i.e., knowledge gained from a study may be applied to populations outside the specific study population), inform policy, or provide general, applicable conclusions. Clinical practice, in contrast is treatment for one or a small group of patients that will not be used for research purposes. For example: "off-label" use of an FDA-approved drug.
What if I’m not sure if my proposed research involves human subjects?
You can use the IRB’s Decision Charts to help you determine if your project must be submitted to the IRB for review prior to its initiation or to help you determine whether your study qualifies for exemption. Alternatively, you may contact the Office of Research Integrity and Protections.
Are there other institutional regulatory requirements that I must follow?
If your study involves animals or hazardous agents, additional review may be necessary.
The Institutional Biosafety Committee oversees research involving hazardous agents and recombinant DNA.
Where can I find all the various forms that I need to complete?
All MCRI forms are located electronically in the Policy and Handbook Library. You can access the library from the Marshfield Clinic intranet homepage by clicking on the “Policy and Handbook Library” icon and then clicking on Forms. Use the search function to find the form you need. Regulatory forms (IRB, IACUC, IBC) can also be found on the Office of Research Integrity and Protections website.
- Concept Paper - This is one of the first forms you will need to complete. It provides an outline and description of your research project, allowing staff to determine the appropriate types of assistance needed for proposal planning. It should be submitted to the Office of Scientific Writing and Publications
How will my project be prioritized?
The following criteria help MCRI to establish priority of effort:
- External submissions with impending deadlines
- Projects submitted for internal funding support designed to gather preliminary data for external submission
- Projects submitted for internal funding with high probability of publication in high impact journals
- Type of manuscript, e.g., original research will normally be given priority over case reports, review articles, and letters to editor
- Potential impact of the results to the medical and scientific communities
- Internal projects exploring outcomes at Marshfield Clinic
- Research time available to the investigator, e.g., a request from a clinician investigator without dedicated research time may receive priority over a request from a scientist or clinician with dedicated research time
- Amount of work required, e.g., a request to edit a draft manuscript before submission may receive more immediate attention than a request for the Scientific Writers to write an entire first draft
- Availability of resources by type, e.g., literature search personnel may be more available than scientific writers
My manuscript has been published. How do I apply for the Published Research Award?
Please refer to the Published Research Awards (Marshfield Clinic policy #802.5) policy to learn how to apply for payment for publication.
The purpose of this policy is to encourage and support research and publication of results that expand scientific knowledge and improve healthcare. The awards to authors for certain classes of publications serve multiple objectives. These awards serve as recognition for the investigators' contributions to the Marshfield Clinic research mission. The program especially rewards publications resulting from original research. Awards from this program can be used by investigators to fund their own research initiatives.
Are there any Federal requirements I need to be aware of when writing my grant or manuscript?
The NIH has issued a revised policy on enhancing public access to archived publications resulting from NIH-funded research. Click here to be taken to the policy. The requirements are:
Effective for manuscripts accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008, an electronic version of any manuscript that arises from an NIH-funded project must be submitted by the funded investigator to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central. The final manuscript must be submitted upon acceptance for publication (see http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov).
Beginning May 25, 2008, any investigator submitting an application, proposal or progress report to NIH must include the PMC or NIH Manuscript Submission reference number when citing applicable articles that arise from their NIH-funded research.