EDUCATIONS

General Guidelines on

APPSPGHAN Educational Grant

PURPOSE

The APPSPGHAN Educational Grant was created to provide funding for the educational endeavors of the APPSPGHAN that serve its mission to promote knowledge and research collaboration in the fields of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition.

GRANT DONATION

• The APPSPGHAN welcomes any individual or group, whether governmental or non-governmental in nature, to donate funds towards the educational activities of the APPSPGHAN.
• The eligibility of the donors shall be reviewed by the Execom in accordance with known policies and regulations governing donations.
• All funds received shall be pooled for the sole use of the Society in its educational endeavors.
• No donor shall impose upon the Society the specific educational activity to be conducted in order to maintain the integrity of the projects.
• Any fund donated shall be acknowledged in the books of the APPSPGHAN and included in the Annual Report of the Society.

GRANT

A fund earmarked for the purpose of the Educational Grant is available for application. The APPSPGHAN is committed to generate funds continually to replenish the fund pool. Approved research projects are to be completed within 12 months from the release of funds. For longer projects, the proposals can be applied for in phases, subject to reevaluation on an annual basis.

GRANT ELIGIBILITY

• Only bonafide members of the Society, represented by the principal investigator, can avail of the educational grant.
• The research project must focus on identifying and/or proposing solutions to problems and/or issues on pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and nutrition in the Asia-Pacific region. The project may be in the form of: (1) an original research work or (2) clinical practice guidelines (or position paper or expert consensus).
• The research must be conducted in the Asia-Pacific region.
• The research study must be approved by the Institutional Research Board of the principal country where the research will be conducted.
• International collaborative study/consensus is encouraged.

APPLICATION PROCESS

• All grant proposals shall be submitted to the Secretary General who ensures that all documents (Refer to Appendices A and B) submitted are in order and then forwards them to the Chair of the Educational Grants Committee (henceforth referred to as the Grants Committee).
• All grant proposals including the budget proposal shall be evaluated by the Grants Committee. Only those items stipulated in the allowable expenses shall be approved by the Grants Committee (Appendix C).
• The evaluation of the Grants Committee including the budget proposal shall be submitted to the Executive Committee (Execom) through the Secretary General for the final approval.
• The Secretary General shall inform the applicants of the outcome of the evaluation through email once the final decision has been made.
• A Memorandum Agreement (MOA) duly signed by the grant applicant and the APPSPGHAN President, shall be executed, witnessed by two other members of the Execom.

DISBURSEMENT PROCESS

• The funds for each grant shall be disbursed in two stages: 50% of approved grant after the MOA signing and the remaining 50% after submission of the final research paper along with financial report. The grant shall only cover the actual payment of expenses approved in the budget proposal and supported by the receipts/invoices.
• All outputs of the grant must be submitted no later than 12 months after the issuance of the first tranche of the grant.
• In the event that the project will entail a longer period to complete, an interim report must be submitted before the end of the 12^th month from the issuance of the grant, detailing the work progress and the reason/s for failure to complete the project. A proposed new date of completion, which shall be no later than 6 months after the initial deadline, must be requested. Unless a final research paper is submitted on or before the new submission date, the applicant may be required to return the amount that has been received.

EXPECTATIONS

• The output of all grants must be submitted in a format that is ready for publication in peer-reviewed international journal.
• All finished papers should be submitted first for consideration in an oral or poster presentation at the APPSPGHAN Congress. However, presentation in other international academic or scholarly congresses is also accepted.
• An acknowledgement “This project was made possible through an unrestricted APPSPGHAN Educational Grant” shall be included in any print or oral presentation.

APPENDICES

Appendix A. Documentary Requirements for Research Proposals

1. Applicant's name, member affiliation and membership number
2. Background
3. Objectives
4. Principal investigator and co-investigators
5. Research methodology (including the study design, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sample size, etc.)
6. Timelines
7. Budget (itemized budget and total)
8. Potential benefits of the study
9. References
10. Institutional Review Board approval (photocopy of the original document)

Appendix B. Documentary Requirements for Proposals for Clinical Practice Guidelines/ Position Paper/ Expert Consensus

1. Applicant's name, member affiliation and membership number
2. Background
3. Objectives
4. Committee/Expert group
5. Methodology
6. Timelines
7. Budget (itemized budget and total)
8. Potential benefits
9. References

Appendix C. List of Allowable Expenses for Inclusion in the Budget Proposal

1. Honorarium for support services
2. Office supplies (office equipment excluded)
3. Communication materials and services
4. Diagnostic services or reagents
5. Transportation allowances
6. Other specific items to be decided upon by the Grant Committee

*Note: The budget proposal shall not include any provision for institutional charges.