THE JEAN SHANKS FOUNDATION & PATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY (JSPS) CLINICIAN SCIENTIST AWARD 2018

The Jean Shanks Foundation and the Pathological Society (JSPS) together will make a JSPS Clinician Scientist award to a fully trained academic pathologist (based in United Kingdom or Eire) intent on pursuing a predominantly research orientated academic career in Pathology. The JSPS Clinician Scientist Award is a post-doctoral research fellowship of up to 5 years designed to provide research programme support for the applicant, including covering the applicant’s salary costs and meeting the costs of a research programme over this period. This scheme covers the research programme costs and will increase the number of academic research-trained senior pathologists in United Kingdom or Eire capable of leading academic development in Pathology in the future.

The applicant must already have obtained a PhD or MD in a pathology or pathology-related research area and be fully trained as a pathologist (having passed the FRCPath Part II examination or equivalent, or will have passed by the time of taking up the award). It is expected that applicants will either hold a conventional National Training Number (NTN) in Histopathology or the equivalent in Eire and be within 12 months of obtaining a CCT in Histopathology or have already obtained a CCT in Histopathology and hold honorary consultant status or consultant status. The applicant should have the support of an appropriate research group and advisor / mentor.

It is expected that the applicant will spend between 20% and up to a maximum of 50% of the time (or 2 - 5 Programmed Activities or PAs) on clinical activity. The proportion of time to be spent on clinical activity requested must be justified in the application. If the applicant requests either 20% or 30% clinical activity time, then the JSPS award will cover the full salary costs. If the applicant requests 40% clinical activity time, then the JSPS award would cover 60% of salary costs and the NHS would cover 40% of salary costs. If the applicant requests 50% clinical activity time, then the JSPS award would cover 50% of salary costs and the NHS would cover 50% of salary costs. If the applicant requests either 40% or 50% of the time to be spent on clinical activities, then the applicant must provide written evidence of an agreement with the NHS to support this arrangement including specific commitments by the NHS for coverage of either 40% or 50% respectively of the applicant’s salary costs by the NHS for the full duration of the award (normally 5 years).

Awards must be hosted in a UK or Eire University or research institute. Requests will be considered to undertake part of the research outside the UK for a period of up to 12 months of the award. Applicants should describe an original programme of tissue-based research on a pathological theme. Awards will be for a maximum of 5 years on a full-time basis or equivalent for a part-time basis and will cover the appropriate salary of the applicant, together with the salary for one research post (either a postdoctoral, graduate research associate or a research technician) and up to £30,000 (£15,000 per person for two scientists) bench costs per year for up to 5 years.

Applicants will upload the following files to the Pathological Society grants online system to apply for a JSPS Clinician Scientist award:

  • Research proposal (as described in the accompanying guidelines).
  • Responsibilities and experience (as set out in the guidelines).
  • Applicant’s CV including personal qualities, motivation and potential (following the structure set out in the guidelines)

Justification of proposed time to be spent on clinical activities, including the written agreement with the NHS for the proposed arrangement (with NHS agreement to provide salary costs if 40% - 50% time is to be spent on clinical activities)

  • Main advisor’s / mentor’s CV with description of research group and environment & infrastructure (following the structure set out in the guidelines)
  • Cover letter to set out the benefits to Pathology
  • Suggested peer reviewers

Applications will be judged by an evaluation and review process that will focus on:

  • Scientific quality - there must be a strong scientific rationale to support the proposed research programme with emphasis on quality, originality and novelty with an appropriate publication track record to support the programme.
  • Pathology-relevance - the value to Pathology of the proposed work in advancing the fundamental understanding of pathological conditions or pathological processes.
  • The applicant’s track record, personal qualities, motivation and potential to produce outstanding results.
  • The strength of the applicant’s research team, advisor / mentor, research environment and infrastructure.
  • The benefits to the individual, to Pathology, to the Pathological Society and to the Jean Shanks Foundation.

This evaluation and review process will involve members of the Pathological Society Research Subcommittee, Finance and General Purposes committee, nominees of the Jean Shanks Foundation and invited reviews from selected external reviewers (coordinated by the Chair of the Pathological Society Research Subcommittee). The applicant will be called to interview if the application is considered to be sufficiently strong enough by the Research Subcommittee and the interview panel may include the above Society committee members, nominees of the Jean Shanks Foundation, external reviewers and/or co-opted experts.

The Pathological Society will administer the financial arrangements of the award. The award will be jointly funded (50:50) by the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Jean Shanks Foundation.

The terms and conditions of the JSPS Clinician Scientist scheme are as follows:

1. Applicants must have been members of the Pathological Society for at least 3 years, based in UK or Eire, either in a recognised Specialist Trainee 4-6 post in Histopathology or equivalent in other tissue specialty within Pathology or within the first 5 years of holding honorary consultant status or consultant status.

2. Application forms including all additional components must be completed or uploaded online no later than 1 October (noon).

3. Awards will normally last for up to (but not exceeding) 5 years. Applicants must submit to the Deputy Administrator of the Society a one-page structured report on the progress of the research within one month of the completion of each year (for end of years 1, 3 and 4), and a four-page structured report within 2 months of the end of year 2 and of year 5 (final year of the award). There will be a face-to-face interview, with presentation and discussions based on the end-of-year-2 report, to monitor progress after two years, to be arranged by the Chair of the Research Subcommittee. All reports will be monitored by the Pathological Society Research Subcommittee; the end of second year report and interview will be monitored by a specially convened monitoring committee (organised by the Chair of the Research Subcommittee) to include members of the Research Subcommittee, the Finance & General Purposes Committee, nominees of the Jean Shanks Foundation and invited external experts if considered appropriate. Failure to provide any of these reports will preclude future support in this and other schemes run by the Society and may trigger premature termination of the award to be decided by the monitoring committee. The two year monitoring point (report and interview) represents a major monitoring stagepoint of the award and if the monitoring committee deems that the awardee has failed to achieve critical success by the 2 year monitoring stagepoint, then the monitoring committee has the power and flexibility to change the conditions of the award including making changes to funds provided and early termination of the award, with or without providing a period of grace for the awardee to demonstrate significant further progress.

4. The scientific and/or medical data derived from the work supported by the award should be presented at one of the Society’s meetings. Such data should also be published in primary peer-reviewed journals. Any publications or related presentations at meetings by the recipient emanating in part or whole from the Society’s support should be duly acknowledged and copies sent to the Society’s Deputy Administrator.

5. The Society will normally withdraw funding if the grant is not acknowledged and accepted within 12 months of the offer.

6. All recipients of JSPS funded schemes are required to attend a national JSPS research scheme progress review meeting and take part in appropriate public relations activities.

Online application forms and more detailed Guidance Notes for the Clinician Scientist award are available online from the Pathological Society website www.pathsoc.org

Applicants will be advised of a decision as soon as practicable after the completion of the evaluation and review process.

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