The Ohio State University College of Medicine seeks to fund educational research projects that aim to enhance the learning environment in health sciences education.
Proposals are due November 9, 2025. Please see below for more information.
About
Successful proposals will address one or more of the following topics:
- Impact on learner well-being or environment
- Effects of interventions promoting accessibility for all persons
- Implementation of a new immersive educational technology or simulation
- Incorporation of a novel or groundbreaking pedagogy into a course or curriculum
Proposals that foster inter-professional and/or multi-institutional collaboration across the University, particularly among the Health Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, and between institutions are strongly encouraged. Additionally, projects that provide research roles for medical students or HRS graduate students will receive additional consideration.
This grant has a total of $10,000 that can be awarded to either a single project or be divided to support multiple projects. Proposals can budget for the full $10,000 but should also consider other potential funding sources to support the project.
Submissions are managed by the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship. Please contact the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship at OCS@osumc.edu with questions or guidance related to this proposal.
Eligibility
The Principal Investigator (PI) for each project must be a faculty member from the OSU COM. Faculty or staff from other OSU Colleges and institutions are invited to collaborate.
Applicants may submit only one proposal as the Principal Investigator (PI). An applicant may be a Co-investigator or Key Personnel on multiple submissions.
Proposal Submission Guidelines
Authors must use the application template (see below):
Proposals should not exceed three, single-spaced typed pages with 12-point font, 1-inch margins.
The proposal must include the following sections:
- Cover Sheet*
- Title page*
- Structured Abstract* (250 words or less)
- Project Proposal
- Introduction (including rationale of the study, review of pertinent literature, and conceptual framework)
- Study objectives
- Methods
- Anticipated outcomes and barriers to completing the project and how this project will lead to a fully powered, extramurally funded study
- Timeline
- Budget
- Funds requested
- Brief narrative justification for each budget component
- Qualifications of research team
- References*
*Not included in the three-page limit
Key Dates
| Activity | Date |
| RFP released | September 1, 2025 |
| Proposals due | November 9, 2025 at 11:59pm EST |
| Notification of award | December 10, 2025 |
| Funding period begins | December 10, 2025 |
| Final Report due | January 8, 2027 |
Submission
Proposals should be emailed as a single PDF attachment to the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship at OCS@osumc.edu by November 9, 2025.
Use “COM Educational Research Stimulus Grant – [YOUR LAST NAME]” as the subject line of the email.
Review Criteria
Applications will undergo competitive review and will be evaluated by educational research faculty and staff from the College of Medicine.
Each proposal will be evaluated based on the following:
- Clear rationale and statement of the problem with appropriate reference to pertinent literature and a relevant conceptual framework
- Appropriateness of methodology
- Realistic and appropriate budget justification
- Return on investment (i.e., dollars requested relative to projected impact)
- Alignment of proposal to aims of RFP (i.e., inclusivity, diversity, access, and accessibility) and potential to lead to extramurally funded research or other ongoing support/sustainability
- Adequacy of research team to complete project
- Attention to University-wide resources to complete the project, including personnel and programs
- Sustainability of the project post-funding
Budget Considerations
Budget cannot exceed $10,000 per project.
Budget should include itemized costs and justification. Grant awards will only cover direct costs of conducting the research.
Fundable Costs
Non-Fundable Costs
- Temporary administrative or technical support to carry out the project (e.g., data entry, clerical support, or computer programming)
- Supplies/expenses (e.g., duplication, mailings, survey instruments)
- Data transcription
- Reasonable incentives for participants
- Hardware essential to conducting research (beyond that which is typically provided by an institution)
- Direct payments to authors
- Funding for release time
- Indirect costs or fringe benefits
- Publications fees
- Costs related to attending or presenting research at a conference
Funds not spent must be returned to the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship within 60 days of the award end date.
Reports
The PI will submit a final report to the Office of Curriculum and Scholarship no later than January 8, 2027. The final report must include the following:
- Project progress
- Documentation of Institutional Review Board approval
- Obstacles encountered and their solutions
- Dissemination
- Budget report
- Copies of materials developed (including but not limited to educational materials, surveys, and manuscripts)
- Summary of scholarship and dissemination activities
- Sustainability plan (including future implementation plans and sources and amount of continued funding)
Requests for unfunded extensions must be submitted no later than November 29, 2025 and include a summary of progress and detailed justification for the extension.
Dissemination
All publications, presentations and/or products resulting from this project must acknowledge the “College of Medicine Educational Research Stimulus Grant” as the source of funding.
Each research team will present at the College of Medicine Annual Education Symposium (AES) in January 2027.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property of projects funded by the College of Medicine Educational Research Stimulus Grant remains with the investigator(s) and/or the research team, Department, College, or University per The Ohio State University’s Intellectual Property Policy (external link).