The OUH Research Competition

Application deadline	Assessment meeting
1 September 2021	28 September 2021

Proposals for the OUH Research Competition fund are invited with the above application deadline.

Objective

"The patient first” is the underlying principle of OUH’s ambition in creating value for our patients. To offer the best treatment, retain and attract the best-qualified staff to the benefit of patients, it is the ambition of OUH to strengthen research at the hospital. As one of several initiatives to reach this objective, OUH has set aside funding for the Research Competition.
The overall ambition with the OUH Research Competition fund is to strengthen how to make use of research/research results at OUH. For each call, the board of managers selects the topics or areas of research interest.
The purpose of the competition fund is to find proof within already existing or new treatment methods or initiatives, ways of delivering treatment services or ways to organise or improve work procedures from a patient and/or working perspective.

Areas of research in 2021

The board of directors at OUH has selected the following areas of research in 2021:

• 3D-print
  3D printed equipment, implants, educational material and alike that have the potential to improve patient treatment and can potentially lead to financial benefits. Research and/or implementation projects concerning this technology are called upon.
• Cross-sectoral patient courses
  Research and/or implementation projects that focus on the good cross-sectoral patient course both in terms of admittance to OUH and the patient’s transition to the municipalities are called upon.
• In-efficient treatments
  Research and/or implementation projects that focus on uncovering and replacement of potential in-efficient treatments as described in OUH/KI Research Strategy 2021-2025 are called upon.
  When illustrating the research topic the application should be using the mind-set of MTV (Medical technology Assessment/Medicinsk Teknologivurdering).

Requirements for applicants

As a rule, all research disciplines are eligible to apply, including clinical near-patient research, epidemiology research, experimental laboratory research and health-service research. However, they must relate to the above-mentioned research areas.

Applicants must be senior researchers in a combined position between OUH and The University of Southern Denmark. All applications must be approved by the head of the OUH department where the research is being done as well as the head of research at the OUH department.

Budget

Each applicant may apply for a maximum amount of DKK 1M. Please note that a possible grant for budgetary purposes will be paid out in thousands (not. e.g. DKK 182.357, but DKK 182.000).
In the budget section (step 3), please state which year a possible grant is needed.

• Year 1 = 2021
• Year 2 = 2022

If a possible grant is to be divided between two years, please indicate number of months for each year.
Notice: We expect that the main part of the grant will be used in 2022.

Eligible costs

a) Employment of researchers (SCS salary; “VIP-løn” in Danish). Please note that when applying for funding of employment of researchers, the researcher in question must be employed in a combined position between OUH and SDU, and a significant part of the research must take place at OUH.

• Affiliation of PhD students
• Contribution to employment or release of employees to temporary postdoc positions
• Contribution to employment or release of employees to research associate professorships
• Contribution to employment or release of employees to professorships
• Short term buy out of OUH-employed researchers to process existing material for publication 

b) Co-financing of research projects (only NSS salary; “TAP-løn in Danish) and operating costs)

• Employment or co-financing of non-scientific staff for research projects (e.g. biomedical laboratory technician and research nurses)
• Purchase of apparatus or other material for research purposes
• Other research promoting purposes
• Non-eligible costs
• Overhead as the OUH Competition Fund is an in-house fund
• Open Access – please refer to SDU.

The OUH Research Support offers instructions on how to draw up a budget. If you request assistance, please contact reg.forskerservice@rsyd.dk. 

Assessment criteria

Applications are being assessed according to the following criteria:

• The scientific quality and innovative value of the research plan
• The feasibility of the research plan
• The competences of the project participants within the field in question
• Support for the project in the research unit, scientifically as well as access to relevant material (data, apparatus, etc.)
• Considerations about involving patients and/or relatives in the research

Language

Your application must be written in Danish or English. However, please note that the layman’s summary must be written in Danish.

How to submit an application

You must submit the application via the electronic application system efond. Please read and comply with the instructions given in efond and enclose the following appendices in PDF format: 

• Approval of the project from both the Head of Department and Head of Research at OUH
• CV of main applicant and possible co-applicants – or insert link to updated CV’s English at the SDU website
• Relevant approvals from e.g. The Scientific Ethical Committee, The Danish Data Protection Agency, etc. If you have not obtained approvals, but been in contact with relevant bodies, please state this in your application
• Progression report if you are applying for funding of an on-going project.

You will receive a confirmation by email from “efond” if your application is submitted correctly (please check your spam filter if you do not receive an email).

Assessment procedure

The received applications will be reviewed and prioritised by the OUH Research Competition Committee at Odense University Hospital.

All applicants will receive notice of the outcome of the application approximately within app. one month after the application deadline.

Considerations

Please explain how you will store your research data (which system).

Questions and contact information

Please forward questions to ouh.forskning@rsyd.dk.