Research Grants of the GOTS

Deadline: March 31, 2020

• The Society for Orthopaedic and Traumatologic Sports Medicine donates a 20,000 Euro grant for research which will be formally presented to the recipient during the 2016 GOTS Annual Congress. GOTS provides grant funding to support research activities of young scientists in the field of orthopaedic and traumatologic sports medicine. It can take the form of either a start-up grants for a large-scale project or of a full grant for a smaller project. Both clinical and experimental research work is welcome. Submission deadline: March 31, 2020.
• The application is open to orthopaedic surgeons, trauma surgeons, both orthopaedic and trauma surgeons (new type of specialist physician in Orthopaedics and Traumatology; residents in these specialties are welcome, too) or sport scientists under 40 years of age. Eligible applicants will be members of GOTS, or must have been applied for GOTS membership. Applications can be submitted by individuals working as full-time professionals in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. We will accept research proposals that have not yet been published. GOTS reserves the right to withdraw their commitment to fund the grant recipient if there is an overlap with any grants received from other funding bodies.
• The Call for Proposals will be circulated via the GOTS Newsletter or Society announcements; it will be published in the German journalSportorthopädie/Sporttraumatologie, and, if appropriate, also announced in other publishing media.
• The proposed research project must start no later than one year after the grant has been approved. The maximum duration is three years after grant approval.
• Research grant applications should include the following information: curriculum vitae (CV), current function; a statement of your current supervisor to confirm that the prerequisites are met for carrying out the proposed research over a period of three years; a list of publications by the applicant.
• Description of the research project: names of the members of the research group; preliminary work of this research group; a copy of the Certificate of Ethical Approval or a copy of the application form submitted to the Research Ethics Committee (if research proposal involves a clinical trial); research question(s) or hypothesis; proposed research methodolody; estimate of the expected costs. Submit four (4) copies of the completed application to: GOTS-Geschäftsstelle, Dr. Katrin Henkel, Breite Straße 10, 07749 Jena, Tel.: +49 (0)3641 63 89 144, Fax: +49 (0)3641 63 89 145, E-Mail: office@gots.org. The description of your proposed project must be assigned a code word, and it must contain a one-page summary (abstract). Make sure that it does not contain the author’s name or any information that could be used to identify the author or his/her department/institute.
• Dr. Katrin Henkel will then forward the applications to a jury for further assessment. The jury consists of a Full Professor (C4) of Trauma Surgery and a Full Professor (C4) of Orthopaedics, both from German-speaking countries, and the GOTS representative. During an Executive Board meeting, the Executive Board members of the Society elect the jury members for a two-year term. The jury members are autonomous, authorised to make decisions, and work on a volunteer basis. For highly specialised areas, the jury members may, at their discretion, consult experts in the field (including foreign ones) to assist in the evaluation of research proposals. The GOTS representative holds the position of Jury Chair. At a meeting prior to the Annual Congress, the chairman of the jury will notify the Executive Board of their decision together with an explanatory statement.
• The research grant will be presented to the award winner by the Society’s President at the GOTS Annual Congress.
• GOTS expects that any results from the research it has funded will be made public, and that the support provided by GOTS will be adequately reflected by including the respective credit acknowledgement.
• The grant will be paid in three instalments. The first instalment (50 %of the award) will be made available upon receipt of the Notice of Award; the second instalment (25 % of the award) will be paid following the submission of the Interim Project Report, and the final instalment (the remainder of 25 %) after the Final Report has been received. The interim report and the final report will have to be submitted to the Society’s Secretary. The Secretary or his representative will monitor the progress of the funded project and the publication of the research results. The principal investigator is responsible for assuring that the grant funds will be spent for the designated and approved purposes as well as for the project close-out from both a financial and scientific perspective. Grant funds will be remitted by bank transfer to a designated bank account, as specified by the principal investigator. The principal investigator will have to submit a Financial Status Report included in the interim (progress) report to account for the proper use of the advance payment of 50 % (first instalment) of the research grant. The other instalments will only be made available upon receipt of a satisfactory report on the use of the first instalment. The research grant may lapse if the project is not started within one year after the award notice has been issued. The same applies to all residual funds that have not been requested three years after starting the project. Deadline postponement requests may be submitted in written form and may be granted, if justified. Decisions on these issues will be taken by the GOTS Executive Board, acting by a simple majority.