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Research fund policy

Research Impact Fund

Policy and Guidelines

Objectives

Research Impact Fund (RIF) has the following objectives:

  1. To encourage the faculty members to conduct research that create social and economic impact in the society.
  2.  To facilitate faculty in conducting collaborative research beyond academia (e.g. organization such as government departments, business sector, industry and research institutes).

Grants:

CMH LMC & IOD will give research grant for up to PKR 100,000 (One hundred thousand) per project.

Focused Research Impact Areas

  1. Translational
  2. Interdisciplinary
  3. Bench to Bedside

Principle Guidelines

  1. The fund is open to the CMH LMC & IOD academic staff.
  2. This funding will target projects which are based on research conducted (solely or jointly) at the CMH LMC & IOD, and which also enhances the institution’s social or economic impact.
  3. Priority will be given to the research projects where the principal investigator has applied for funding from external sources.
  4. Funding will be open to all disciplines especially interdisciplinary projects, translational research with higher social and economic impact in areas of national and international research priorities especially with sustainable development goals.
  5. There will be two calls for the Research Impact Fund. If there is a demonstrable urgent need, it can be called any time.

 

Sr. No

Call for Proposal

Announcement

Deadline for proposal submission

Decision on Submitted Proposal

1

1st Round

December 15th

January 25th

March 5th

2

2nd Round

June 1st

June 30th

July 31th

 

 

 

 

I. General Information

 

A. Project Description:

Research Impact Fund (RIF) is an internal research grant of CMH LMC & IOD for funding research projects on competitive merit for high-quality and promising scientific research that demonstrate strategic relevance and cast impact to the local industry and society. The program is open for contributions related to both basic and applied research. RIF aims to stimulate scientific excellence and the advancement of knowledge by allowing researchers the freedom to formulate by themselves the research concept and method. The RIF grant awards will be processed through L-ORIC and given to the principal investigator of the research project. Faculty members are encouraged to submit proposals that are collaborative in scope and target sustainable development goals with teams including junior and senior academic staff, both male and female researchers and appropriate sectoral/ industrial collaborators. RIF awards will be selected competitively using a merit-based, independent and transparent evaluation and selection process based upon international standards. The process is described in the Sections below, as well as in the full Evaluation and Selection protocol available on the ORIC website of CMH LMC & IOD.

B. Applicant Eligibility

Principal Investigator (PI) must:

  1. Be a faculty member of CMH LMC + IOD
  2. Be active in service at the time of application and for the duration of the project
  3. Have published a journal paper (at least online with a DOI number) with an impact factor journal appearing in Journal Citation Reports by Web of Science Group (JCR) within three years prior to the date of application
  4. Not have a current internal funding or an external research funding over Rs. 0.2 Million

C. Anticipated Funding Amount

Budgets for RIF awards will be up to PKR 100,000/-. Co-financing, in any form by the industry partners and other collaborators will be considered a merit and an indicator of industry support.

II. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Proposal should be submitted according to the “Research Template” link below http://oric.cmhlahore.edu.pk/?page=research-proposal-template. It can also be accessed through the ORIC section on CMH LMC & IOD website.

 

    • Proposals should include a Table of Contents.
    • Proposals must have a tentative timeline for completion of project.
    • Proposals must have a budgeting plan.
    • Proposal sections should not include URLs for additional information. Information or documentation beyond that included in the written proposal will not be used in the evaluation process.

III. Proposal Submission Procedure

All RIF proposals must be submitted by the Principal Investigator to the Director L-ORIC.

IV. Evaluation and Selection Process

The selection of RIF awards will be made through an open, rigorous, transparent, competitive and merit-based process consistent with international standards for funding academic research projects. All Proposals submitted in response to the Call for Proposals will be evaluated by L-ORIC Steering Committee.

The Evaluation process consists of two sequential steps: administrative screening; and Desk/Panel Evaluation of all eligible Proposals by L-ORIC Steering Committee.

  1. Proposal Screening

In initial phase of administrative screening, proposals will be rejected if:

  1. All the information required on the application form are not provided
  2. Required documents are not attached 
  3. Application is not received by the given deadline as per call for proposal
  4. The PI has failed in timely completion/ closure of previously awarded Research grants by the other funding agencies
  5. The PI has been blacklisted or barred to apply for a certain period of time by HEC

If the Proposal is deemed appropriate in the elements described above, the Proposal will be forwarded for further evaluation as described below.

  1. Proposal Desk/Panel Evaluation

In second phase, the committee will conduct detailed review of the screened proposals to determine whether the proposed research concept aligns with the RIF program policy & guidelines and is in accordance with the details mentioned in section I & II above.

Grievance procedure: In exceptional circumstances, faculty submitting RIF Full Proposal that was not selected for funding may submit a written Notice of Grievance to the L-ORIC within 7 working days of selection results being announced. A Notice of Grievance is permitted only when the faculty believes that the proposal was not evaluated fairly or in a reasonable manner.

V. Negotiation and Implementation

Following the Evaluation and Selection process, the ORIC will enter into negotiations with the PI on the following topics. The final budget for each selected RIF budget will be negotiated following the evaluation and selection process. The budget will depend upon: the proposed research and development activities; the size of the research team; the costs associated with the proposed work plan; the resources required; the capacity of the research team to achieve the results; and the feedback to the PI provided through the Evaluation and Selection process. The negotiation on anticipated results will occur concurrently with the budget negotiation.

Prior to the formal signing of contracts and launch of the selected projects, several critical elements must be completed: (1) a revision and strengthening of the proposal in response to the comments and feedback provided in the evaluation process; (2) a fiduciary assessment and procurement plan; and a detailed implementation plan for the project must be prepared and approved.

VI. Program Website

Full details of the RIF are available in the ORIC section of website  http://www.cmhlahore.edu.pk