Guidelines

General Information

The Osteology Foundation aims to support scientific research and education projects. In order to actively promote clinical and laboratory research the Osteology Foundation awards grants to selected researchers twice a year:

  • “First deadline” : June 15th
  • “Second deadline”: December 1st

Clinically relevant subjects shall be addressed and the results published in international peer-reviewed journals.

In order to actively promote clinical and laboratory research the Osteology Foundation awards grants to selected researchers once a year.

These grants are intended for research proposals submitted by young researchers and clinicians who want to address questions in the field of hard and soft tissue regeneration in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

The Osteology Foundation ensures strict confidentiality of all applications and applying research teams, as well as of the results of the review process among the reviewers and the Foundation.

Funding Policy

Maximum funding

In general, grants will be limited to CHF 100,000 (CHF = Swiss Francs) with a maximum project duration of two years. Only project-related costs may be requested. The Osteology Foundation does not finance infrastructure or basic equipment at research institutions.

Reports

Annual reports must be produced and are a prerequisite for continuing payments in case of studies exceeding one year’s duration. The deadline for submission of the annual report is November 15th.

  • Status report according the time line given in the accepted main application. Update of the time line for the remaining term of the project.
  • The applicant will receive a Progress Report Form from the Osteology Office that is based on the time line of the Main Application. According to the time line given in the Main Application that was sent to the Osteology Foundation the report should provide a brief summary of the Osteology funded project.

Salaries

Investigators’ salaries will not normally be approved by the Osteology Foundation. Exceptions might only be made for external, directly project-related personnel costs.

Institutional overhead costs

Overhead contributions are only made up to a maximum of 10% of the total project costs. As a prerequisite for funding of any overhead costs the investigator must submit a copy of the official overhead regulations with the main application.

Additional funding

Financial support from organizations other than the Osteology Foundation must be disclosed within the application and it must be made clear how this will affect the overall budget.

Ethics

In the case of clinical studies the Osteology Foundation requests the submission of the positive ethical vote or in case of animal studies the approval of the relevant applicable animal experimentation committee. Obtaining ethics approval is a prerequisite for the first payment.

Declaration

Funding can only be granted if the declaration is signed by the lead applicant and the head of the submitting institution.

Application and Review Process

The application process is divided into two steps:

1.    Pre-evaluation

First short abstract applications should be submitted by the researchers by June 15th or December 1st, using the online abstract application system. The abstract applications will be reviewed by the members of the Scientific Committee. Based on the pre-evaluation result, the best project proposals will be selected and before September 15th or or March 15th (of the following year) the respective researchers will be invited to submit a complete main application.

2.    Main evaluation

The invited applicants must file the complete application documents with the Osteology Foundation by November 1st or May 15th (of the following year) in order to be reviewed before February or July of the following year. The members of the Scientific Committee will thoroughly review the study proposals and at their meetings they will discuss the evaluation results and decide about possible acceptance and the amount of the grants to be awarded. The respective applicants will be informed about the Science Committee’s decision after the committee meeting and before February 15th or July 15th of the following year.

Review criteria

An application for an Osteology Research Grant will be evaluated with respect to its:

  • Clinical relevance
  • Originality of hypothesis
  • Methodology
  • Facilities and qualifications of the research team

As a matter of policy the Osteology Foundation does only give comments on positive or negative decisions after the main evaluation cycle. The names of the members of the Scientific Committee are published on the Osteology Foundation website.

Main Application

Following a positive evaluation of your abstract application your project has been selected and you are invited to submit your main application. The complete Main Application will be the basis for the decision of the Committee Science.

Please carefully read the instructions below and return the completed main application form together with the enclosed files (Study Protocol, CVs, etc.) to Dr. Kristian Tersar at the administrative office of the Osteology Foundation. The deadline for submission of the main application is November 1st (First application cycle) April 30th (Second application cycle).
All application documents have to be submitted electronically via the online submission tool. Please note that the Osteology Foundation in addition needs a copy of the first page (general information, project summary) and the last page (affirmation with signatures) of the main application form. These two pages can be sent preferably as PDF via e-mail or by post or fax.

E-mail: kristian.tersar@osteology.org

Mail:
Osteology Foundation
Dr. Kristian Tersar
Scientific Coordination
Administrative Office
Landenbergstrasse 35
CH-6002 Lucerne
Switzerland
Fax:    ++41 41 492 67 39

Further information concerning the application process can be obtained from Dr. Kristian Tersar (++41 41 368 44 45).

Instructions for Completing the Main Application Form

Please fill in the online Main Application Form accurately and completely. Note that in order to ensure a comparable format for all applications, the space for entering the project information is limited and the text formatting should not be changed. All information must be provided in English.

1.    General Information

  • Type: Please select the type of study and indicate whether it includes animals (preclinical) or patients (clinical) or whether it consists of in-vitro experiments.
  • Title: Please limit the title of your study to fewer than 250 characters.
  • Start: Estimated start of practical work (month, year)
  • Duration: Expected duration of complete project (maximum 24 months)
  • Requested Funding: Estimated amount of funding needed to conduct the project. A detailed budget will be requested with the complete application. Please note that the Osteology Research Grant does not cover salaries or travel expenses which are not directly related to the conducting of the research project.
  • Keywords: Please enter up to 6 most relevant keywords describing the research topic of your project (e.g. ridge preservation, GTR, tissue engineering, bmp-2, cell signalling, diabetes, histomorphology, material research…)

2.    Project Summary

The summary should characterize the application. Describe in a few sentences the background, the clinical relevance, your hypothesis, the questions asked and the methodology used to answer those questions within the proposed project. (Do not exceed 1500 characters including spaces).

3.    Applicant Information

  • Applicants: Please indicate the name, academic degree, institutional position and full address and contact details of the main applicant and up to two co-applicants, if involved.
  • Research institution: Please include the full address of the institution where the main work will be conducted.

4.     Literature

Please enter the 10 publications which are most relevant to the project and list the most important publications by the lead applicant and the co-applicants in the last 5 years (maximum 10 each). (Format: authors, title, journal, publication date, issue, page).

5.    Study Execution / Responsibilities

Please enter the names of the people who are involved in the project and responsible for the listed aspects of the study. If position is not applicable enter n.a. instead of the name. If the work is not done in the primary institution please add the name and city of the external institution or company.

6.    Time Line

As far as the project can be foreseen an approximate project plan should be indicated. Please enter the proposed duration and time period (e.g. Mar 07 – Jul 08) of the complete project. Note that the total duration of the project should not exceed 24 months.

  • Project plan: List the key activities of the research project (e.g. healing phase or histological analysis) and the realistically estimated time period needed for the completion of each activity (e.g. month 03 – 09). It is important to show clearly how the work is planned time-wise.

7.    Financial Aspects

  • Total costs: Total amount needed for the completion of the study, including budget items which are not fundable by the Osteology Foundation or funds granted by other agencies.
  • Requested amount: Total amount requested from the Osteology Foundation. The requested amount should be in accordance with the budget plan (8) below and should not include any costs which are already covered by other grants.
  • Other sources of financial support: If any other funding has been applied for, or has been granted for this study by any other funding agency, the source and amount must be declared to the Osteology Foundation.

8.    Budget Plan

Please provide a detailed budget plan and budget justification which allows the reviewer to estimate the realistic costs of your research project. In the budget justification the applicant has to provide a detailed description why a budget item is important for the project and how the budgeted amounts will be used (e.g. what are the duties of the technical staff or what kind of supplies or material is needed for histomorphometrie, animal care costs, patient related costs within clinical studies,…). Please only include items which are not already funded by other agencies and which are fundable by the Osteology Foundation. Note that all amounts are in Swiss Francs (CHF).

  • Personnel: Investigators’ salaries will not normally be approved by the Osteology Foundation. Exceptions might only be made for external, directly project-related personnel costs (e.g. statistician) not exceeding 10% of the total budget.
  • Technical staff can be funded when a clear budget justification is provided.
  • Equipment: New equipment or extensions to existing equipment which are necessary for the conduct of the project. Basic laboratory equipment (e.g. microscope, cell culture incubator) is assumed to be available at the lab and is therefore excluded from funding.
  • Supplies: Itemize supplies in separate categories (e.g. cell culture material, antibodies, general laboratory supplies, histology material, augmentation materials, implants, radioisotopes …). Categories in amounts less than CHF 1000 do not need to be listed.
  • Travel expenses: Only expenses directly related to the project are covered (e.g. investigator meeting, travelling to external research sites). The Osteology Foundation does not cover general travel expenses (e.g. congresses)
  • Clinical studies: Recruitment costs, patient care costs, medication, fees for ethic committee or notified bodies, …
  • Animal studies: Animals, animal care, …
  • Institutional overhead costs: Overhead contributions are only made up to a maximum of 10% of the total project costs. As a prerequisite for funding of overhead costs, the investigator must submit a copy of the official overhead regulations with the main application.
  • Other expenses: Any project-related costs which do not fall into any of the above categories.

9.    Requirements for Research Grant Applications

The Osteology Foundation aims to promote research in the field of hard and soft tissue regeneration using biological materials. The research should therefore be focused on oral and maxillofacial indications and the results obtained should be relevant for both universities and industry. Please carefully double-check whether your projects fulfils those criteria and list the biomaterials used (e.g. BMP-2, b-TCP, mesenchymal stem cells …) and the indication investigated (e.g. sinus lift, augmentation of keratinized gingiva …)

10.    Necessary Files

For the completion of the application the following information must be provided in electronic form:

  • Detailed project description: Study Protocol (max. 20 pages including any tables and figures, A4, printed on one side only, with numbered pages, unbound, line spacing 1.5)
  • CVs: scientific curricula vitae of the project participants (main applicant and co-applicants, when these are already known; max. 2 pages for each person)
  • Ethics application or approval: In the case of a clinical study a copy of the ethics application or, if already available, the approval letter from the relevant ethics committee. In the case of animal studies the approval letter from the local animal experimentation committee.
  • Overhead regulation: If the budget includes overhead costs payable to the university, a copy of the official regulations stating the amount of requested overhead fees.

The documents should be provided in doc, pdf or jpg file format and should be named according to the given templates (applicant-name_protocol.doc). Please tick “yes” if the file is attached and enter the file name.

Note: To improve the efficacy of handling applications and to facilitate objective project comparison, incomplete applications as well as those that deviate from the formatting guidelines given above (in particular those that exceed the permitted length and/or use smaller fonts) will be returned immediately for revision.

 11.    Statement

Please carefully read your given information and double-check it for content, orthography as well as Osteology purpose and ethical principles. Please note that it is not accepted to apply in the name of a third person and that subsequent complete applications have to be signed electronically by the author of the abstract application. By adding electronically your name you accept the Osteology regulations regarding the abstract evaluation and funding of research.