FAER Research Fellowship Grants

Overview

The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, and a related organization of the American Society of Anesthesiologists®. For over 35 years, FAER has been dedicated to developing the next generation of physician-investigators.

FAER Research Fellowship Grants

Research Fellowship Grants (RFG) are intended to provide anesthesiology residents and fellows with the opportunity to obtain significant training in research techniques and scientific methods.

* Research Areas: Basic science, clinical, translational, health services or education research
* Eligibility: Anesthesiology trainees after CA-1 year
* Funding Amount and Duration: $75,000 over one year

* Research Time: 80%

Eligibility

_We've imported the main document for this grant to give you an overview. You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's [website]().
_

_You must be a member of this organization to apply for this award - become a member. Be an active member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) throughout the duration of the award._

Application Details

FAER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP GRANT (RFG)
OVERVIEW & REQUIREMENTS
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
UPCOMING APPLICATION CYCLES
2025 Spring Cycle
• Application Opens: December 1, 2024
• Application Deadline: February 15, 2025
• Award Notifications: Mid-May 2025
• Earliest possible funding date: July 1, 2025
2025 Fall Cycle
• Application Opens: June 1, 2025
• Application Deadline: August 15, 2025
• Review Meeting Date: September 21, 2025
• Award Notifications: Mid-October
• Earliest possible funding date: January 1, 2026
Note: The following changes have been made to the FAER grant application instructions and process.
1. New AI Use Policy. See page 4.

Contents
RFG Overview 3 Vertebrate Animal Section 9
Eligibility 3 Application Instructions 9
Research Timeline Options 4 Dates & Deadlines 9
Research Time 4 Formatting Instructions 9
Funding 4 Materials Checklist 9
Preparing a Grant Application 5 Evaluation & Award Selection 10
AI Use Policy 5 Post-Award Reporting Requirements 11
Abstract 5
Resubmission Statement 5
Research Plan, Rigor & Transparency 5
Mentor Selection and Mentoring Plan 6
Career Development Plan 7
Biographical Sketch 7
Budget 7
Letters of Commitment and Recommendation 8
Human or Animal Use Review 8
Human Studies Section 9
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Research Fellowship Grants
RFG OVERVIEW
Research Fellowship Grants (RFG) are intended to provide anesthesiology residents and fellows with the opportunity to
obtain significant training in research techniques and scientific methods.
The RFG is a one-year (12-month), $75,000 primary investigator (no co-investigators) award for anesthesiology trainees
after the CA-1 year. The RFG is awarded in conjunction with clinical training in an anesthesiology residency or fellowship
program. The RFG requires 80 percent research time.
ELIGIBILITY
At the time of the award, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements.
• Be a U.S. citizen, permanent U.S. resident, or holder of H-1 visa that will be valid through the period of FAER funding.
A J-1 visa holder would not qualify.
• Be a graduate physician who is enrolled in an ACGME-accredited residency program in anesthesiology or who is
accepted into a clinical fellowship program sponsored by an ACGME-accredited residency program in anesthesiology,
and no more than 10 years from completion of any foreign anesthesiology residency training. Note that the particular
clinical fellowship program does not need to be ACGME-accredited.
• Prior to beginning FAER-funded research, the recipient must have completed at least six months of research as a part
of their core residency program (CA1 – CA3). This work should be consistent with the American Board of
Anesthesiology templates for research. The six months of research must be completed before the start of a FAER-
funded project, but it does not have to be completed before submitting a FAER grant application.
• Be an active member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) throughout the duration of the award.
• The RFG is not intended for residents and fellows who have received previous extramural funding (more than
$100,000).
Recipients of a FAER RFG grant may not simultaneously be receiving support from an NIH T32 grant. RFG applicants
may at the time of the RFG application be on a T32, but if awarded an RFG, they are allowed up to a 12-month delay in
the start date of the RFG due to the T32. Start date delays of longer that 12 months will not be accepted.
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RESEARCH TIMELINE OPTIONS
• OPTION 1: Complete the 12 months of FAER-funded research during anesthesiology residency. To meet residency
requirements set by the ACGME and individual anesthesiology departments, the 12 months of FAER-funded research
may be spread out over an 18- or 24-month period.
• OPTION 2: Complete the 12 months of FAER-funded research immediately before a one-year clinical fellowship
sponsored by an ACGME-accredited residency program.
• OPTION 3: Complete the 12 months of FAER-funded research immediately after a one-year clinical fellowship
sponsored by an ACGME-accredited residency program.
• OPTION 4: Intersperse the 12 months of FAER-funded research within a one-year clinical fellowship sponsored by an
ACGME-accredited residency program. The combined clinical fellowship and FAER-funded research fellowship is
expected to be the full 12 months longer than the clinical fellowship would be alone, even if research time is allowed
during the clinical fellowship.
RESEARCH TIME
• During the 12 months of FAER-funded research, the recipient must devote a minimum commitment equivalent of 9.6
calendar person months — 80 percent of the PI’s full-time appointment — to research and career development
activities directly related to the FAER-funded project. (These activities may not necessarily be included in the specific
aims of the FAER research plan.)
• The percent effort on the FAER-funded research and the percent of time on career development activities should be
described in the budget justification.
• The remaining 20 percent may be spent in clinical anesthesia practice. This clinical activity must not exceed a single
10-hour daytime commitment per week. No night, weekend or holiday on-call activity is allowed. No moonlighting is
allowed.
FUNDING
• The total funding amount for a Research Fellowship Grant is $75,000.
• Grant payments are made to the institution, not to the award recipient.
• If the FAER-funded research time is spread out over a period greater than 12 months, FAER may adjust the payment
disbursement schedule accordingly.
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Preparing a Grant Application
The information in this section applies to the Research Fellowship Grant Mechanism. Please also see the formatting
instructions and guidelines, starting on page 14.
AI USE POLICY
FAER strongly discourages the use of generative AI in the development of any grant proposal. If it is utilized, FAER
requires that this be disclosed at the time of grant submission on the “Title Page” section of Proposal Central. The use of
AI risks the inclusion of false or inaccurate information that deviates from the expected rigor required in research. The use
of AI also threatens the confidentially of research ideas and intellectual property as information within AI inquiries become
part of the public domain. For the same reasons, the use of AI is strictly prohibited in the FAER grant peer review process.
ABSTRACT
The abstract should state the broad long-term objectives and specific aims of the project, its relationship to
anesthesiology, as well as the research design and methods. The abstract should be a succinct and accurate description
of the proposed work that can be understood when read apart from the application.
RESUBMISSION STATEMENT
If you have previously submitted any research proposal to FAER, you must include a resubmission statement within your
application. If you previously received a FAER grant, indicate what type of grant and year.
If you are submitting a revised application, the resubmission statement (1 page maximum) should provide a summary of
the differences between this and the previous application. It should address the critiques of the original application point
by point. Applicants may submit up to two resubmissions of a revised research grant proposal.
If you are reapplying to FAER with a completely different research protocol, the resubmission statement should indicate
how and why this project differs from the previous application.
RESEARCH PLAN, RIGOR & TRANSPARENCY
The research plan is the core of the application. Particularly, because of page limitations, the research plan should be
developed in conjunction with the applicant’s mentor(s). It must include the following sections.
• Specific Aims: State the long-term objectives of the research and describe what the research is intended to
accomplish. State the hypotheses to be tested.
• Background and Significance: Briefly sketch the background of the research proposal, critically evaluate
existing knowledge, and identify the gaps that this project is intended to fill.
• Preliminary Studies: Use this section to provide an account of the applicant’s preliminary studies pertinent to the
research proposal. Also include any other information that will help to establish the experience and competence of
the investigator to pursue the proposed project. Although it is understood that many applicants will not have
personally developed preliminary data, it is important to discuss the relevant preliminary studies done in the
mentor’s or other laboratories that lend credence to the proposed research.
• Experimental Design and Methods: Describe the experimental design and the procedures to be used to
accomplish the specific aims of the project. Include the means by which data will be collected, analyzed and
interpreted. Describe any new methodology and its advantage over older methodologies. Discuss the potential
difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and provide alternative approaches to achieve the aims.
• References: Cite only the most important, relevant literature.
• Rigor & Transparency: In response to growing concern regarding failure to replicate major findings in preclinical
research, NIH has added a new section on “Rigor and Transparency of Reporting” to their grant applications.
FAER aims to support new investigators in part by preparing them to construct applications similar to those they
will use at the NIH. The applicant should include a paragraph in the research plan in which they address the
four factors required by the NIH. For more information on the NIH guidelines, visit grants.nih.gov. (Click the link
for more information). Please note, the mentor should also include an outline on how the mentor will educate the
applicant on Rigor and Transparency in the mentor plan.
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• Appendix: Optional. You may provide an appendix to your research plan. The appendix must not be used to
circumvent the page limitations of the research plan or used for submitting preliminary data or resubmission
statements. Materials allowed in an appendix include relevant manuscripts and/or abstract that are accepted for
publication but not yet published (or published but an online journal link is not available). Surveys, questionnaires,
data collection instruments, clinical protocols, and informed consent documents may be submitted in the
Appendix as necessary.
MENTOR SELECTION AND MENTORING PLAN
The mentorship and career development sections are major elements of FAER research grant applications and are
weighted heavily in the scoring.
Mentor Selection & Requirements
Identifying a research mentor or mentorship team is an important step in the application process and is a key element in
the review committee’s assessment of an application.
The applicant is responsible for selecting an experienced investigator to serve as a primary research mentor. The primary
mentor should be committed to supervising the proposed research and career development experience of the applicant. It
is also important that the mentor be an active investigator, preferably with extramural funding, in the area of the proposed
research.
During the duration of the grant, primary mentors who have clinical responsibilities must have 40 percent protected non-
clinical time for research activities.
It is strongly recommended that the primary research mentor have a faculty appointment at the associate professor level
or higher. The primary mentor may be in a different academic department or different institution. The research mentor is
not required to have a primary appointment in anesthesiology. However, if the primary research mentor is not an
anesthesiologist in the applicant's department, there should be a secondary mentor from the applicant’s department who
will provide a detailed and structured, specialty-specific career guidance plan.
Mentoring Plan
The mentoring plan should be written by the primary mentor — in the mentor’s voice — with input from additional mentors,
if present. The mentoring plan should clearly describe the role(s) of the mentor(s) and collaborators in the proposed
research. If there are multiple research mentors, they should be identified, and the roles of all collaborators should also be
clearly described in the mentoring plan.
The mentoring plan should outline the course of action for developing the applicant’s research career. This should include
details on how the FAER award and the research mentor’s teaching will prepare the applicant for a research career and
will guide the applicant’s development as an independent investigator. These elements of the mentoring plan should be
coordinated with the applicant’s research strategy and career development plan. The mentoring plan should include an
outline on how the mentor will educate the applicant in terms of Rigor and Transparency. This provides another
opportunity to further develop and demonstrate the quality of the mentoring relationship, a key determinant of FAER grant
funding decisions.
The mentoring plan should also provide a generalized understanding of the primary (and additional) mentor’s experience
in training and mentoring, if not fully described in the mentor’s biosketch personal statement. Full training tables are not
needed or desired, but the mentoring plan should provide a general description of any roles on training grants, as well as
previous protégés and their career trajectories, current positions, and success in becoming independent investigators.
Finally, the mentoring plan should indicate how much of the research mentor’s professional time is available for research
and how much of that time is specifically available for mentoring the proposed project.
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CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The career development plan should be written by the applicant — in the applicant’s voice — with input from the primary
research mentor or mentorship team.
Within the career development plan, the applicant should describe their motivation and commitment to a research career
and should outline short-term and long-term career objectives. The career development plan should show clearly how the
proposed research will prepare the applicant for an independent career as a physician-investigator. The plan should
describe those specific elements planned for the training period, including formal or didactic training through courses,
classwork, and participation in institutional research training (e.g. CTSA research training programs).
To prepare to write the career development plan, the applicant should conduct a realistic self-assessment to identify
research abilities and skills, as well as strengths and areas that need development. Along with the mentor(s), the
applicant should discuss current skills and strengths and compare them with those needed for the research career choice.
The career development plan should outline the outcomes of the self-assessment and should define the approaches that
the applicant will use to obtain the specific skills and strengths (e.g., courses, technical skills, teaching, supervision)
together with anticipated time frames.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Applicant and Mentor: Use the latest FAER version of the current NIH biosketch template. Submit one biosketch for
each mentor.
For the applicant and the mentor(s), the personal statement is an important part of the biosketch. Information provided
within the biosketch personal statement is considered during grant review. The personal statement should be tailored to
the specific grant application and used to convey information about your relevant qualifications and experience related to
your role in the grant. The personal statement is most often written in the first person. For applicants, it should
demonstrate your understanding of the project and how it will benefit your career, and for mentors, it should demonstrate
your understanding of the project and how it will benefit your mentee’s career.
Citing Preprint Publications
Interim research products can be cited anywhere other research products are cited. To cite a preprint publication, the
applicant must include the Digital Object Identifier and the Object type in the citation.
BUDGET
As a part of the FAER grant application, the applicant must provide a detailed budget and justification of expenses using
FAER’s budget template.
The budget must outline funding for the entire research proposal and should specify the intended use of the FAER award.
The budget should identify any additional sources of funding required to complete the project, and it should identify all
extramural funds requested or currently available to the applicant — for this project or others. If there is overlap between
funds requested from FAER and such extramural funds, please detail the overlap on the budget form.
Additional Budget Guidelines
CATEGORY REQUIREMENTS
Salary • The award may be used for applicant’s salary (no cap).
• The total salary for the applicant and all salary sources must be specified in the
budget.
• Salary support for the mentor(s) is not allowed.
• Salary support for post-doctoral research staff is not allowed.
• Research technician salary support is allowed with appropriate justification.
Equipment • FAER support is to be used primarily for ongoing research expenses. Major
equipment purchases are considered to be the responsibility of the applicant’s
Department. The award may be used for minor equipment expenses related to the
research project, with sufficient justification, at the discretion of FAER. (Major
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equipment is defined as an article of tangible nonexpendable property that has a
useful life of more than 1 year and an acquisition cost that equals or exceeds
$20,000.)
• Expenses for computers not directly justified by the research are not allowed.
Supplies • The award may be used for supply expenses related to the research project.
Travel • Travel costs are not allowed.
Tuition • FAER funds are intended to be directed primarily to research costs. However,
requests for tuition support will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.
• In the event that tuition or course fees are proposed in a grant budget, the applicant
should defend for courses within the institution the need for external rather than
departmental support and describe for courses external to the institution that their
home institution does not provide qualitatively similar courses.
Other • Incremental patient costs directly related to the study are allowed for clinical
Expenses research.
• Indirect costs are not allowed.
• Secretarial or administrative costs are not allowed.
• Alterations and renovations are not allowed.
LETTERS OF COMMITMENT AND RECOMMENDATION
A PDF of each letter of recommendation should be provided to the applicant for uploading with the application.
Department Chair Letter
The letter of recommendation from the department chair should:
• Evaluate the applicant’s commitment to academic anesthesiology and his or her potential for success in an academic
career.
• Demonstrate commitment to support the applicant’s development during the duration of the grant.
Letter(s) of Commitment - Research Mentor(s)
The primary research mentor must provide a letter of commitment, not just a letter of recommendation that describes the
mentor’s involvement with the applicant and the preparation of the application to date, and dedication to continuous, direct
supervision of the applicant in developing research expertise and achieving the goals of the research proposal. The letter
from the primary research mentor should identify and briefly describe the roles of all mentors and collaborators.
If there are secondary and tertiary mentors, these individuals must also provide a letter of involvement and commitment
which describes their role and demonstrates their dedication.
Do not include letters from additional mentors or collaborators, if any exist.
Letters of Recommendation - Senior Faculty Members
In addition to the department chair letter and the mentor(s) letter(s), the applicant must provide two additional letters of
recommendation and evaluation from senior faculty members, other than the research mentor(s), who work within or
outside of the applicant’s department. No more than two letters of recommendation and evaluation will be
accepted. Others will be rejected.
HUMAN OR ANIMAL USE REVIEW
Provide a letter of approval from the appropriate institutional human or animal use review committee.
If this study does not require this approval, or if the application is submitted before approval is obtained, provide a letter of
explanation. Notification of institutional approval must be received in the FAER office prior to any award payment being
made.
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HUMAN STUDIES SECTION
FAER aims to support new investigators in part by preparing them to construct applications similar to those they will use
at the NIH. Applicants with studies involving human studies must complete the Human Subjects and Clinical Trials
Information – Form. This form was modeled off of the NIH’s “PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information” form.
For more information and instructions for completing this form, please refer to the NIH’s guide here:
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide/forms-e/general/g.500-phs-human-subjects-and-clinical-trials-
information.htm
VERTEBRATE ANIMALS SECTION
Additionally, applicants with studies that involve the use of live vertebrate animals must complete the Vertebrate Animals
Section – Form. Please refer to the NIH “Preparing the Vertebrate Animals Section” document and “Worksheet for
Applications Involving Animals” document for additional information.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Grant information can be found at https://www.asahq.org/faer/grants
FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS
The research plan, mentoring plan and career development plan, as well as any supporting documents, should meet the
following formatting specifications:
• Single-spaced (6 lines per inch)
• Arial or Helvetica font, size 11 pt.
o 9 pt. font is acceptable for figures, graphs, diagrams, charts, tables, figure legends and footnotes.
• Margins of 0.5” right and left, and 1.0” top and bottom.
• Type density, including characters and spaces, must be no more than 15 characters per inch.
FAER RFG APPLICATION MATERIALS CHECKLIST
Character Count,
FORMAT OF
INSTRUCTIONS Page Limit, File Size
SUBMISSION
Limit
Applicant Eligibility Identify grant type and respond to all eligibility questions. See Online text Various text limits and
pages 4-8. fields and File 2 MB
Uploads
Abstract See page 9 for instructions and tips on what should be included in Online text 2,000 characters
the abstract. field maximum
Resubmission Statement If you have previously submitted any project to FAER, a File Upload 1 page maximum
resubmission statement is required.
See page 9 for instructions and tips on what should be included in
the resubmission statement.
Contact Information Provide contact information for: Online text N/A
• Department chair fields
• Primary mentor
• Secondary and Third mentors (if applicable)
• Financial officer
Research Plan See page 9 for instructions on what should be included in the File upload 6 pages for research
research plan. strategy & 1 page for
references, single-
spaced, Arial or
Helvetica, 11 pt or
larger
6 MBs
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Appendix You may provide an appendix to your research plan. The appendix File upload 1 MB
must not be used to circumvent the page limitations of the research
plan or used for submitting preliminary data or resubmission
statements. Materials allowed in an appendix include relevant
manuscripts and/or abstract that are accepted for publication but
not yet published (or published but an online journal link is not
available). Surveys, questionnaires, data collection instruments,
clinical protocols, and informed consent documents may be
submitted in the Appendix as necessary.
Mentoring Plan Written by the mentor. File upload 2 pages, single-
spaced, Arial or
See page 10 for instructions and tips on what should be included in Helvetica, 11 pt
the mentoring plan.
1 MB
Career Development Plan Written by the applicant. File upload 2 pages, single-
spaced, Arial or
See page 10 for instructions and tips on what should be included in Helvetica, 11 pt
the career development plan.
1 MB
Biographical Sketch Applicants and mentors should use the FAER version of the current File uploads 2 MBs per file
NIH biosketch template. Forms are available within the grant
application on ProposalCentral
Budget Use the budget form provided within the online grant application, Online text N/A
following the budget requirements. fields
Letters of Commitment and • Letter from the department chair File uploads No page limit
Recommendation • Letter(s) of commitment from the mentor(s)
• Letters of recommendation and evaluation for the applicant 1 MB per file
from two senior faculty members
Acceptance of Conditions Applicant, research mentors and department chair must sign the File upload 1 page
acceptance form provided on the online grant application as a
template. 1 MB
Human Use or Animal Provide a letter of approval from the appropriate institutional human File upload No page limit
Review or animal use review committee. OR Provide a letter of explanation
of the status of IRB /IACUC approval. 1 MB
Human Studies Section Complete the “Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information – File upload No page limit
Form”. See page 12. 1 MB
Vertebrate Animals Section Complete the “Vertebrate Animals Section – Form”. See page 12. File upload No page limit
1 MB
EVALUATION & AWARD SELECTION
Members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Committee on Research will evaluate FAER grant
applications for scientific merit. Evaluations are based on National Institutes of Health criteria and methods. Written
critiques are shared with all applicants. Any request for exclusions of reviewers will be handled on a case-by-case basis,
please contact FAER Staff for more information.
The FAER Board of Directors awards grants guided by the application’s final score, provided by the ASA Committee on
Research, and recommendations from the FAER Grants Management Committee to select grants that are most aligned
with FAER’s mission to promote the next generation of physician-investigator. The number of grants awarded each year is
dependent upon available funding.
Post Submission Publications
FAER will accept submissions of new publications by the applicant that are relevant to the grant application, accompanied
by the citation, up to 30 days prior to the ASA Committee on Research review meeting.
• The Spring 2025 ASA Committee on Research review meeting will be held on April 26, 2025.
• The Fall 2025 ASA Committee on Research review meeting will be held on September 27, 2025.
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POST-AWARD REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Final Report
All RFG recipients must submit a final report to FAER, due 30 days after the completion of the grant.
Elements of the final report include:
• A report, written by the recipient with the mentor’s guidance that describes accomplishments to date and the
final status of the project.
o The report should outline outcomes of the specific aims and goals of the research project.
o The report should include a list of publication(s) resulting from the FAER-funded research project, as
well as a list of subsequent research grant applications that are either in the review process or have
been funded.
o The report should also summarize the progress made by the recipient in terms of career development
and research accomplishments.
o A detailed final financial report from the institution’s Office of Sponsored Programs that summarizes
all expenditures and notes any unused funds that should be returned to FAER.
o Include an up-to-date CV.
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