*Please read these notes carefully before completing your application*
* Once a round is closed, it is not possible to change ownership of the application from one named investigator to another (unless there are exceptional circumstances).
* An individual can be named on up to two applications within any one grant round, either as a PI on one application and a co-applicant on another, or as a co-applicant on up to two applications.
* It is an expectation of the AMRF that an individual may only be a PI on one active Project grant at a time. The individual may also be a co-applicant on one or more active grants at the same time.* The AMRF only accepts one resubmission of a previously unsuccessful project grant application. It is an expectation that the applicant addresses all concerns raised by the referees and medical committee in their re-submission. An applicant who has been unsuccessful twice can submit further proposals in their chosen field of research, but it will need to be based on a new or substantially revised hypothesis.
* The start date of the project must be after the decision date of that round. Please check the grant rounds dates (including the decision date) on the How to Apply page on our website.* The AMRF views applications that request direct top up funding of larger awarded grants from other funding agencies as a low priority unless the applicant can demonstrate that the AMRF proposal is using data obtained in the larger study to undertake further research. This new body of research in the AMRF application needs to stand alone and be readily identifiable as a project funded by the AMRF. The AMRF will consider joint funding on new applications.
* *CV*: Please use the standard New Zealand MSI Curriculum Vitae template. This can be downloaded from the link within the application form. Each applicant should complete only Parts 1 and 2a, include no more than five pages in total, and list references only from the last five years.
* *Research benefiting commercial entities*: Where an application includes research that could benefit a commercial entity, all conflicts of interest (financial or otherwise) must be disclosed.
Justification for why the research team is seeking AMRF public good funding for the proposed project rather than (or as well as) it being commissioned and funded by the commercial entity must be provided. Details about what components of the proposal constitute hypothesis-driven academic research should be provided, if applicable.* *Animal experimentation*:Since May 2024, the AMRF is a signatory of ANZCCART’s Openness Agreement on Animal Research and Teaching in New Zealand and we are working to fulfil the commitments of the Agreement as they apply to the Foundation. If the research involves the use of laboratory animals, the AMRF requires that you use the PREPARE guidelines (Planning Research and Experimental Procedures on Animals: Recommendations for Excellence) for planning animal experiments, and the ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) for improving the reproducibility and reporting of research involving animals. Not all the guidelines may be relevant to your project, but you can use them to ensure that you plan your experimental design carefully and include all the relevant information in your application(s) crucial to the peer review process at the application stage, as well as providing all the experimental details, results and analysis required for publications that arise from the work. *Note:* Where animal research constitutes a component of your research project it is an expectation of the AMRF that information pertaining to it is included in your media summary.
* *Sex as a biological variable*: The AMRF supports the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s expectation that scientists will account for the possible role of sex as a biological variable (SABV) in vertebrate animal and human studies (or any material originating from animals or humans, e.g. organs, cells, tissues). The AMRF recommends that you familiarise yourself with the SABV policy. Strong justification from the scientific literature, preliminary data, or other relevant considerations must be provided for applications proposing to study only one sex. Additional useful information can be found within the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines, which are a comprehensive set of guidelines for reporting of sex and gender information in study design, data analyses, results and interpretation of findings. Not all the guidelines may be relevant to your project, but you can use them to ensure that you plan your experimental design carefully and include all the relevant information in your application(s) crucial to the peer review process at the application stage, as well as providing all the experimental details, results and analysis required for publications that arise from the work.
* *Clinical Trials*: *General*1. You are strongly encouraged to review both the SPIRIT 2013 Statement (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) and the CONSORT 2010 Statement (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) prior to designing your trial and writing your application.2. You must clearly define the research question that is being addressed3. You must clearly address the NZ specific health significance4. You must clearly address the impact on clinical care in New Zealand5. You must clearly identify the roles, responsibilities and time commitment of all team members6. Please clearly justify each entry in the budget table.* *Clinical Trials*: *If your application is to fund the Auckland arm of a multi-centre/national/international trial you must also address the following:*1. Provide clear information about the status of all sources of funding and whether the proposal is dependent on national or international funding2. Clearly identify the total number of participants in the whole trial, then the number of patients recruited for this arm of the trial and provide costs only associated with this arm of the trial3. Clearly define the specific role of the Auckland/NZ investigator(s), and identify any Auckland/NZ-led trial components.* *Clinical Trials*: *The AMRF will not fund:*1. The Auckland arm of a study where the investigators have had no role in the design of the main trial2. Overheads3. A trial where the standard of care arm is not available or funded by Pharmac in New Zealand.* Project grant applications should follow a guideline of only requesting up to $25,000 per annum of working expenses, unless clear justification for exceeding this annual limit is provided.
* Where a grant is awarded that incurs high costs in a reduced time frame (for example 1 year or 1.5 years) because the limit of grant funding has been reached, the PI will not be eligible to hold another active grant until the standard project duration of 2 years (or an appropriate length of time determined by the AMRF) has elapsed from the start date.* If salary costs are being requested for a named person or persons and they are critical to the success of the project, then they must be included in the project team and their CV(s) must be provided. This is highly relevant to postdoctoral research fellows, but may also apply to others.
* The AMRF's policy is to pay the salary that staff, technical or other, would receive if they were employed by the Host Institution. It is essential to quote the correct salary rate and grading. Applicants must accommodate salary increases within their budget and should adjust salaries to include anticipated increases due to the annual rate of inflation (we recommend a minimum of 3% p.a., but please check with your host institution for the correct value). The AMRF will not cover unbudgeted salary increases.* Please ensure you set the correct ACC levy for your host institution.
* Please include or leave empty Kiwisaver/superannuation as appropriate.* The AMRF will only cover the salary/salaries of the PI and/or co-applicant(s) who are dependent on them securing some or all of their salary from external funding agencies (so called “soft” or "external" funding). Where an applicant has secured partial funding from their host institution or another funding agency, the AMRF will cover the remaining salary up to 1 FTE. If partial salary support is requested then full disclosure of their research/employment activities and source of funding for the remaining fraction of the FTE is required. Where salary is requested, for each person you must provide information about what percentage of that person's salary is provided for by the host institution and what percentage is dependent on external funding.
* Requests for items of equipment (maximum value $5,000) should include a justification for the equipment and a quotation. Items under a value of $2,000 should be classed as consumables.* The AMRF will allow costs of domestic travel where this is a key element of the project.
* Provision may be included for reasonable expenses of appointment of essential staff.* Costs of rental accommodation, heating, lighting and what might be termed the usual office facilities and accessories.
* Computers.* Major items of equipment costing more than $5,000.
* Costs of attending conferences either within NZ or overseas. Travel to conferences to report on the research must be applied for separately through a Travel Grant application.* The AMRF will not accept project grant applications from undergraduate or postgraduate students (honours, Masters, PhD or MD students). PhD or MD students (not undergraduate, honours or Masters) can be named as a co-applicant, but cannot be a PI or co-PI.
* Project grants are not available for the support of Masters or PhD stipends or fees. (Support for PhD candidates is available through the AMRF Doctoral Scholarship Programme).* The AMRF does not provide retrospective funding.
* If the project involves a clinical trial, please indicate if the trail is registered and with which clinical trial registry. Please also provide details of your data safety monitoring committee if applicable.
* Applications will not be considered unless the Applicant Agreement is completed.| EMAIL ADDRESS | [mailto:amrf@medicalresearch.org.nz,amrf@medicalresearch.org.nz] |
| POSTAL ADDRESS | Research Programme Manager Auckland Medical Research Foundation Auckland Hospital |
| TELEPHONE | +64 9 923 1701 |
| COURIER | Third Floor, 81 Grafton Road Grafton Auckland 1010 |