Small project grants

Overview

The proposed research must be of potential benefit to Alfred Health patients.

The primary aims of the Small Project Grants scheme are to:

• Encourage individuals and groups with limited research experience or who have not previously been involved in research activities
• Assist graduates in the Health Sciences to initiate research studies or complete research projects which form part of higher qualification requirements (these grants are not intended for PhD students)
• Fund a study that is complete in itself and not merely part of a major study

Grants of up to $25,000 are offered to fund projects of up to two year's duration.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for a Small Project Grant, all of the following criteria must be met:

• The applicant must have a paid Alfred Health appointment
• The applicant must have received no more than $20,000 in total research project funding during the previous 5 years
• The applicant's proposed research project must take place on the Alfred campus under the direction of an experienced researcher who is a staff member of Alfred Health
• All co-investigators must have Alfred Health appointments (which may be honorary)
• Previous recipients of Alfred Research Trusts Small Project Grants or the Henry O'Hara Surgical Award are not eligible

Submission requirements and deadline

The 2022 round for funding commencing 2023 is now closed.

Note: Applicants should avoid submitting projects that are:

• Purely of a quality control nature
• Determination of normative data only without an hypothesis-driven research question
• Development of work without a research component, e.g. a new assay
• Evaluation of new or proposed equipment
• Accumulation or acquisition of descriptive data without an outcome

The closing date for applications is 5pm, Thursday 3 November 2022

The application form and guidelines can be downloaded below.

Applications should be emailed to r.erlich@alfred.org.au as a PDF.

Enquiries can be directed to Rebecca Erlich
Senior Research Administrator, Research Office, The Alfred
r.erlich@alfred.org.au | (03) 8532 1772.

Reporting

Reporting requirements for Small Project Grant holders are outlined in award letters.  All award holders are expected to provide annual scientific reports and/or a final scientific report on project completion. 

For grants awarded from 1 January 2017, six-monthly financial reporting is also required.

Recently awarded Small Project Grants

2023

• Pre-discharge lung ultrasound following acute decompensated heart failure: A prospective study in acute general medicine inpatients with ambulatory care follow up (Rattanak Visal Hean, General Medicine)
• Ketamine sedation in moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury: a randomized pilot feasibility trial (Dominic Toby Jeffcote, ICU)
• Identifying and responding to the health literacy needs of inpatients and caregivers during care transitions from acute general medical services (Cassie McDonald, Allied Health)

2021

• Genomic characterisation of the virulence and resistance profile of Aspergillus fumigatus in lung transplant recipients at Alfred Health (Tanveer Ahmed, Infectious Diseases)
• The impact of exclusive enteral nutrition on intestinal physiology and microbiology in healthy controls (Sarah Melton, Nutrition / Gastroenterology)
• Barriers and enablers to physiotherapy interventions in people with bronchiectasis (Elizabeth Webb, Physiotherapy)
• Understanding the current management of post-traumatic epilepsy from the patient and clinician perspective – a qualitative evaluation (Loretta Piccenna, Neurology)
• Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) by a physiotherapist to assess anterior talo-fibular ligament injury in patients with isolated ankle pain: A pilot study (Kate de Bruyn, Physiotherapy)

2019

• Klebsiella oxytoca – Genomic analysis of population structure, virulence, and antimicrobial resistance at Alfred Health (Jim Stewart, Infectious Diseases)
• Adolescent perspectives on life after lung transplantation  (Miranda Paraskeva, Respiratory Medicine)
• Improving access to evidence based psychological therapies for patients with psychosis/schizophrenia spectrum disorders in adult mental health  (Ellie Newman, Alfred Psychiatry Community and Mental Health Addiction)
• Can the Pain Detect Questionnaire predict outcomes for patients following total joint arthroplasty (TJA), (Nikki Littlewood, Physiotherapy)
• Characterising dysfunctional breathing in patients with difficult asthma (Janet Bondarenko, Physiotherapy)
• Measuring energy expenditure in patients receiving veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) (Arne Diehl, Intensive Care Unit)
• Does a social skills small group program with a concurrent parent group improve child and family functioning for a child with social communication and emotion regulation challenges compared to standard care? (Marcella van Mourik, Alfred Child and Youth Mental Health Service)
• Can motivational enhancement improve the functional gains with cognitive remediation therapy in serious mental illness (Alfred Mental and Addiction Health)

2018

• Role of clavicle osteotomy for the management of intraoperative subclavian vein injury during clavicle fracture fixation (Aziz Rawal, Orthopaedic Surgery)
• Treatment of vocal cord dysfunction; A randomised controlled trial comparing a combination Speech Pathology intervention and Pregabalin to Speech Pathology intervention (Janine Mahoney, Speech Pathology)
• Biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood in severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) patients [The BIOCaB Study]. (Annie Carter, National Trauma Research Institute)
• What is the optimal instrument to measure mobility and physical function for patients in the acute hospital setting following traumatic injury? (Sara Calthorpe, Trauma Service and Physiotherapy)
• Validation of the Surgical Apgar Score for predicting risk of major complication and death within 30 days of surgery at an Australian tertiary hospital (Jennifer Reilly, Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine)
• Paramedic-initiated Hospital Triage (PiHT): A prospective cohort study to identify whether paramedics can conduct the in-hospital triage process currently performed by nurses (Alexander Olaussen, National Trauma research Institute)
• Determining the neurobiology of mindfulness: investigating alterations in neural excitation/inhibition balance following regular mindfulness meditation (Neil Bailey, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre)
• Validation of the newly developed incremental maximal Alfred step test exercise protocol (A-Stepmax) with COSMED K5 measuring maximal exercise capacity in adults with cystic fibrosis across the spectrum of lung disease (Lisa Wilson, Physiotherapy)