Annexure VII: Guidelines for Academic Research Grant

The EC of IADVL,WB shall sanction a Research Grant for that financial year, if funds permit, and the maximum limit of the Grant should be announced and informed to all IADVL,WB Life Members. This limit vary from year to year. The branch members, who want to undertake research activities utilizing the above mentioned grant can submit their research proposal. The authentic Ethics Committee Clearance for the proposed project should be obtained from the appropriate authority by the researcher before submitting the proposal, without which the grant cannot be disbursed.

The Academic Committee of IADVL,W.B. Branch will select the research proposals according to merit and feasibility and additionally form a reserve panel of approved projects. The Academic Committee will appoint 3 referees who will select the best projects in order of merit. The names of the Referees and the Applicants should be kept secret from either group & a system of double – blind indexation should be followed, were only the President should know the Key-Code, to avoid bias in judging the applications. The decisions of Academic Committee will be final.

The above grant may be divided amongst multiple research projects according to their proposed requirement and may not get the full amount as proposed. Please note that a single proposal should not exceed the proposed sanctioned budget in that year.

A signed official agreement on non judicial stamp paper of Rs. 10/- (Ten Rupees Only) value should be executed between the Donors, IADVL,WB and the Recipients of the Awards, regarding the mode of receipt, execution and refund of the Award.

The funds in each case will be disbursed in three installments, i.e., the first 30% of the proposed requirement will be disbursed on submission of progress report and utilization certificate that the work has already begun; second 30% in the interim on submission of similar documents; and the remaining 40% on completion of the project. All payments and receipts regarding the research grants should made by A/c payee cheques or Demand Drafts. Furnishing of PAN etc. is mandatory for both the donors and awardees.

The research proposal has to be submitted in triplicate within 31st January of the year and if selected has to be completed within 2 years or the period as stipulated by the Academic Committee from time to time. Appeal should be submitted to the Academic Committee from time to time for extension of submission date of the work, if required, for which the researcher may have to appear before the committee in person. Permission for extension will be at the Academic Committee’s discretion.

In case a researcher wants to withdraw his/her proposal after acceptance, he/she has to do so before receiving first installment of the Grant. In such a scenario the next proposal will be considered from the reserve panel already in place according to merit and feasibility. The proportion of the Research Grant received by this withdrawer, from IADVL,WB, will have to be returned and a plausible and acceptable cause for his/her withdrawal should be given.

In case of applying elsewhere for the same project, the applicant must obtain NOC from IADVL W.B. Branch and bound to return the amount of grant if already received with 5% interest  by cheques in favour  of “IADVL W B State Branch” from the date of payment.

The research proposal should be in the format laid down in standard Research Methodology and authors’ names and affiliations should appear only in the 1st page and nowhere else in the proposal. Proposers are advised to go through the symposium on Research Methodology published in Indian Journal of Dermatology.

Under one name or in combination, the member can submit multiple proposals in different areas of research, but a chief investigator will only be granted a single project at time.

The soft copy and hard copy(triplicate) of the  research proposal has to be submitted at IADVL WB office, Moon Plaza, Flat-2E, 62 Lenin Sarani, Kolkata 700 013 within office hours on or before  the cutoff date decided by the EC for that year,  and if selected has to be completed within 2 years or the period as stipulated by the Academic Committee from time to time. Appeal should be submitted to the Academic Committee from time to time for extension of submission date of the work, if required, for which the researcher may have to appear before the committee in person. Permission for extension will be at the discretion  of  the Academic Committee. The Co-author/s from private institution must submit NOC from the institute.

The chief investigator shall be responsible for completion of the proposed project in due time. However, in exigencies where the project cannot be completed by the chief investigator the same may be done by another IADVL, W.B. member in the project concerned or as suggested by the Academic Committee.  A chief investigator who has already received a previous grant from IADVL,W.B. will not be eligible to become a chief investigator by default, till he/she completes his/her previous project.

Till completion of the first project a candidate will not be eligible for a fresh grant. Further, the Academic Committee members and the Office-bearers of the Executive Committee of IADVL, W B Branch are not entitled to apply for the above grant.

The application must contain :-

• Details of the project including protocol, proforma, synopsis and detailed budget including reasons for finances of each item.
• Source of articles (reagents etc.) needed for the project
• Declaration of conflict of interest
• Declaration that the project is not receiving finances from any other source whatsoever.
• CV of all the investigators
• Ethics Committee clearance certificate.
• Each investigator of the selected projects shall have to give a written undertaking that the project once completed shall be published in the Indian Journal of Dermatology if found suitable for publication by the Editorial Board of the journal. However, if not found suitable, the authors shall be free to publish it in any other journal.

Further, during future publication of the research work, if any, the authors should acknowledge IADVL,W.B. Branch as source of grant.