Mini Grant Program

Call for Study Proposals

The Learning Communities Institute (LCI) is seeking proposals for studies of learning communities, with a focus on processes and outcomes documenting the contribution of learning communities to medical education. The maximum award is $1500 with the possibility of two studies funded each year. Consistent with the requirements of scholarship, all funded projects must be collaborative and investigatory in nature; their results must be made public, available for peer review, and freely available for others to build upon. We prioritize research studies over evaluation studies (Ferris & Collins, 2015), and multi-institution studies over single institution studies. Funded investigators are expected to present their work at the LCI conference within three years of the award start date.

Eligible Applicants:

a. Faculty, staff and trainees from LCI member schools are eligible to apply. Trainees who would like to submit a proposal must have a faculty member or medical educator as a co-Primary Investigator (PI). We encourage participation from early- or mid-career faculty and staff.

b. Individuals may only submit one proposal per award cycle.

c. Priority will be given to projects not involving individuals who are participants on other studies receiving LCI funding. Similarly, priority will be given to submissions from individuals who are not current members of the LCI Council or Research Network.

Elements of the Proposal

a. Section A is a cover page with the following information

i. Project title

ii. Applicants including medical school titles and affiliations

iii. Contact information for the principal investigator

iv. Institutional grant/development official receiving funds on investigators’ behalf, including name, title, email, address, telephone number

b. Section B of the proposal cannot exceed FIVE single-spaced pages including any tables or figures as needed, and includes the following:

i. Problem statement / Research question / Hypothesis (Farrugia et al., 2010; Lingard 2015)

ii. Background and theoretical framework (Bordage, 2009; Varpio et al., 2020; Zackoff et al., 2019).

iii. Study design or methods, including approach to data analysis

iv. Anticipated outcomes related to practice or theory

v. Dissemination plan

vi. Project timeline (should not exceed 24 months)

Documents for Sections C through G below are not included in the FIVE page count.

c. Reference list for studies cited in Section B

d. Budget including itemized costs and justifications.

i. FUNDING IS PROVIDED FOR:

1. Administrative/technical support to carry out the project (e.g., clerical, computer);

2. Supplies/expenses (e.g., duplication, mailings);

3. Communication(s) between participants (e.g., web/phone conference);

4. Data analysis including personnel, statistical software, transcription services, etc.

5. Project-related travel to facilitate project implementation;

6. Participant incentives;

7. LCI conference travel to present project results;

8. Publication costs for open access journals.

ii. FUNDING IS NOT PROVIDED FOR:

1. Investigator or other project faculty salaries or release time;

2. Institutional indirect costs;

3. Travel to attend other professional meetings/conferences to present project;

4. Technical or commercial development (e.g., educational software or media, subscriptions).

e. Letter of support from department chair or supervisor indicating support for the investigator and implementation of the project.

f. An Institutional Review Board letter for studies involving human subjects stating that the project is approved or that approval was not necessary. Funding will be released upon receipt of IRB approval.

g. A biographical sketch for the principal investigator or co-investigators.

Submission Timeline

Call for Proposals: October 1, 2025

Submission Deadline: December 15, 2025

Award Announcements: February 27, 2026

a. Proposals must be submitted in an electronic format (Word or PDF) via email to Brian Mavis (mavis@msu.edu).

b. Proposals must be received by 5:00PM (local time) on Monday December 15, 2025.

c. The Review Panel will be appointed by the Research Committee and will include current Research Committee members as well as external reviewers. Reviewers may not be participants in proposals under consideration during the current review cycle.

d. The number of proposals funded per year will depend upon LCI Research Committee budget and proposal quality. Funding for up to two proposals per year is anticipated but not guaranteed.

Proposal Review Criteria

a. Proposals will be judged using the criteria listed below:

i. Clarity of research goals, appropriateness of method, and plan for dissemination;

ii. Relevance of the project to the learning community literature and likely contribution to this literature;

iii. Potential for scholarly impact on the understanding of the effects of learning communities;

iv. Clear justification provided for all budgeted expenses.

Reporting and Dissemination

a. A progress report must be submitted every six months to the LCI Research Committee chair. Each progress report should include progress to date, obstacles and solutions, dissemination activities, and a budget report.

b. A final report must be submitted within 60 days of project completion date to the LCI Research Committee chair.

c. Principal investigators must submit a request for approval for any changes to project goals, methods or dissemination plan to the LCI Research Committee chair. Funding will be contingent on approval of the request by the LCI Research Committee.

d. All publications, presentations and/or products resulting from this project must acknowledge the Learning Communities Institute Research Committee as a sponsor.

e. The project principal investigator or team member(s) are expected to submit a proposal to present the project results at a LCI conference within 3 years of project start.

Questions

All inquiries should be addressed to the LCI Research Committee chair: Brian Mavis (mavis@msu.edu)

Helpful Resources

Artino AR. Conducting research in health professions education: From idea to publication. Academic Medicine. November 2016. Click here.

Bordage G. Conceptual frameworks to illuminate and magnify. Medical Education 2009: 43: 312–319.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03295.x

Cook DA. Getting started in medical education scholarship. Keio J Med. 2010;59(3):96-103. doi: 10.2302/kjm.59.96. PMID: 20881450.

Crites, G. E., Gaines, J. K., Cottrell, S., Kalishman, S., Gusic, M., Mavis, B., & Durning, S. J. (2014). Medical education scholarship: An introductory guide: AMEE Guide No. 89. Medical Teacher, 36(8), 657–674. https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2014.916791

Farrugia P, Petrisor BA, Farrokhyar F, Bhandari M. Research questions, hypotheses and objectives. Canadian Journal of Surgery. 2010. Vol. 53 (4): 278-281. Click here.

Ferris HA, Collins ME. Research and evaluation in medical education. International Journal of Higher Education. 2015. 4 (3): 104-111. Click here.

Fischer K, Kesselheim J. 23 Questions to Guide the Writing of a Quantitative Medical Education Research Proposal. Academic Medicine 97(1): 164, January 2022. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003660

Hochberg CH, Eakin MN. Keys to successful survey research in health professions education. ATS Scholar. 2024. 5 (1): 206-217. Click here.

Hosseini S, Yilmaz Y, Shah K et al. Program evaluation: An educator's portal into academic scholarship. AEM Educ Train. 2022 Jun; 6(Suppl 1): S43–S51. doi: 10.1002/aet2.10745. PMCID: PMC9222891 PMID: 35783081

Kalpokaite N, Radivojevic I. (2019). Demystifying Qualitative Data Analysis for Novice Qualitative Researchers. The Qualitative Report, 24(13), 44-57. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss13/5

Lingard L. Joining the conversation: The problem/gap/hook heuristic. Perspectives in Medical Education. (2015). 4: 252-253. DOI 10.1007/s40037-015-0211-y

Mills DM, Teufel RJ. Tools for medical education scholarship: From curricular development to educational research. Hosp Pediatr. (2020) 10 (5): 452–457. https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2019-0293

Olmos-Vega FM, Stalmeijer RE, Varpio L, Kahlke R. A practical guide to reflexivity in qualitative research: AMEE Guide No. 149. Med Teach. 2022 Apr 7:1-11. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2022.2057287

Philips AW, Durning SJ, Artino AR (Eds). Survey Methods for Medical and Health Professions Education: A Six-Step Approach. Elsevier Inc: Philadelphia. 2021. Click here.

Ringsted C, Hodges B, Scherpbier A. (2011). ‘The research compass’: An introduction to research in medical education: AMEE Guide No. 56. Medical Teacher, 33(9), 695–709. https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2011.595436

Simpson D, Meurer L, Braza D. Meeting the Scholarly Project Requirement—Application of Scholarship Criteria beyond Research. J Grad Med Educ (2012) 4 (1): 111–112. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-11-00310.1

Varpio L, Paradis E, Uijtdehaage S, Young M. The Distinctions Between Theory, Theoretical Framework, and Conceptual Framework. Academic Medicine 95(7): 989-994, July 2020.

DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003075

UNC Writing Center. Grant proposals (or Give Me the Money!): How to write a grant proposal for research funding. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Click here.

Watling CJ, Lingard L. Grounded theory in medical education research: AMEE Guide No. 70. Med Teach. 2012;34(10):850-61. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.704439

Zackoff MW, Real FJ, Abramson EL et al. Enhancing educational scholarship through conceptual frameworks: A challenge and roadmap for medical educators. Academic Pediatrics. Volume 19, Issue 2, March 2019, Pages 135-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2018.08.003