Medical Student Research Scholarship

The 2024 application period is closed.

About

Designed for up to 15 medical students with limited research experience relevant to clinical or neuroscience fields who have a supporting preceptor and a project with clearly defined goals. The project is to be conducted through a US or Canadian institution of the student's choice and jointly designed by the student and sponsoring institution.

Benefits

Offers members of SIGN a stipend of $3,000 to conduct a project in either an institutional, clinical, or laboratory setting where there are ongoing programs of research, service or training, or a private practice.

Eligibility

The program is not intended for medical students with an extensive background in research; therefore, these students should not apply. Extensive research refers to multiple publications and multiple years of research experience at a graduate school level.
Applicants must be current AAN members and SIGN chapter members at their institution at the time of application submission. Only applicants from schools with established SIGN Chapters will be considered.
Applicants must not have received the scholarship previously

Project Criteria

The project is to be undertaken in either an institutional, clinical, or laboratory setting that has ongoing programs of research, service, or training, or in a private practice setting
The research being conducted MUST be neuroscience-based
The intention of the scholarship is to provide research funding support to students with limited research experience relevant to clinical or neuroscience fields; projects already completed will not be considered
There must be a registered SIGN chapter at the student applicant’s institution; however, there does not need to be a SIGN chapter at the site where the research will be done, although this is encouraged
Sponsoring investigators must confirm compliance with local IRB requirements regarding the student’s role in human subjects’ research
If the project preceptor and SIGN faculty advisor are the same person, two separate letters should be provided. The first letter should focus on how the student is involved with the SIGN chapter and the second should focus on the role he/she will play in the research project.
The student should write the proposal, clearly delineating his/her role in the project. More details on this may be found below.
Applications in which the role of the student is not clearly defined will not be considered.
Multiple sources of funding are allowed; however, applicants must provide information regarding what funds have been applied for and/or received

Note: Project proposal, budget proposal, CV, and bibliography should be in Arial, 11-point font or greater, and have at least 0.5-inch margins.

1-2 page project proposal
1-2 page budget proposal
1-2 page Curriculum Vitae
1-page bibliography
2 letters of recommendation: one from the project preceptor/mentor and one from the SIGN faculty advisor or from neurology or neuroscience faculty.

Student will include in the Project Proposal:

Student Contact Information - Include name, phone, and personal email address.
Faculty Mentor Contact Information - Include mentor name and contact information including phone, email address, and project title.
Project Goals - List them as specific aims which are the objectives for the research project.
If the Research is Part of a Larger Project - briefly describe the overall project goals and how the proposed research is related. The student should concisely state their specific role in the project, and the outcomes expected for each specific aim.
Background and Significance - Explain the importance to biomedicine of the problem motivating this research, here and elsewhere; indicate citations by number in parentheses, corresponding to their order of appearance in the bibliography.
Experimental Design - Keyed to the Specific Aims, describe the experiments/studies intended and the experimental and analytical methods that will be used
Bibliography - Include authors, titles of article, journal, book, volume, pages, year; list citations numerically in the order in which they appear in the application
Timeline - Present a 10-week timeline identifying anticipated key points in the progress of the research.
Mentorship - Describe arrangements made with the mentor and lab associates for structured guidance.
Formal Research Budget -Students are encouraged to think practically and realistically about the cost of their proposal. The scholarship amount is $3,000 regardless of the total research budget amount. The formal budget is an exercise to give you experience in writing a formal budget. Basic budget elements could include personnel (the medical student), and/or supplies. Other elements could include animal costs (cost for animal and cost for housing), costs to pay human subjects (if applicable), and/or costs for supplies (including molecular biology kits, pipette tips, assay supplies, etc.). Include any new equipment that needs to be purchased for the project as well as costs associated with presenting data at meetings (includes cost of registration travel expenses).Only direct costs will be covered with this AAN scholarship.

Institution Expectation:

This award will be contracted through the American Academy of Neurology institute and the medical student's institution for financial purposes. If the medical student is paid, that is between the institution and the medical student.

Awardee Expectations:

Student will return the following upon notification:

A Statement of Intent form, signed by student and preceptor, supplied with recipient notification letter.

Student will Submit the following after project completion:

A one-page abstract of the project.
Evaluation forms completed by the student and preceptor, supplied with the recipient notification letter.
Scholarship recipients are encouraged to submit their abstracts to the AAN Annual Meeting Scientific Program. The AAN's acceptance of the abstract is not guaranteed.

Award Presentation and publication:

Any publications resulting from the funded project must acknowledge the support of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Upon publication, copies should be forwarded to the AAN.
Recipient will provide the AAN with name, year of Medical Student Research Scholarship award received, academic institution, publications, presentations and/or awards related to the research project, presentations relating to the research project.

Questions?

For more information or questions, please contact Ashley Nielsen, Senior Science & Academic Coordinator, at abollig@aan.com.