EARLY CAREER OPERATING GRANT COMPETITION

The purpose of the Foundation’s Early Career Operating Grant has been to support new and emerging surgical researchers who are within 5 years of their primary appointment following residency – to build and further develop surgical research programs.

The area of research can be within any of the following domains provided they have a relevant application in the surgical community:

• basic science
• quality improvement
• health economics
• translational research
• clinical trials
• clinical epidemiology
• surgical education

The amount of the Grant is fixed, and funds can be spent over 1 or 2 years with the provision that a detailed budget is included with each research proposal, so the Foundation can ensure the funds raised are responsibly allocated. Additionally, the Grant is designed to provide seed funding to initiate a project or support one aspect of a larger project, with the goal of increasing the researcher’s success rate when applying for additional funding elsewhere.  A post-grant reconciliation report is submitted by recipients at the end of the grant period to confirm how the funds were spent and to provide details on the impact of the research on general surgery patient care.  In this way, the Foundation ensures, on behalf of donors, accountability and effective use of the funding and determines how research outcomes may be translated into learning opportunities for general surgeons across Canada.

Your gift to the Early Career Operating Grant allows the Foundation to support and foster the development of research programs by general surgeons at the outset of their research career. Often such research can extend to the exploration of emerging treatments and/or technologies and their application to surgical patient care, bolstering Canada’s healthcare system and ensuring Canada remains a global leader in patient care and medical accessibility.