2022 Grantsmanship and Mentorship Training Programme at Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR)

About the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research Foundation

• The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research Foundation (NIMR Foundation) is a private, not-for-profit organization established by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in 2018 but was eventually registered in February 2020 with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC/IT/NO 143431).
• NIMR Foundation has the mandate to build and expand capacity for translational research among early career investigators and promote Innovation, development and commercialization of home-grown medicines, vaccines and technologies to address the health problems of Nigeria in particular, and Africa at large.

Background

• Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, faces one of the worst public health challenges in the world despite the high concentration of medical schools and universities. This can largely be attributed to the lack of sufficient research and development of medicines, vaccines, technologies and evidence-based policies to address these prevailing diseases and conditions of public health importance.
• This current state of affairs is driven largely by two causes: very low levels of funding from public and private sector sources and limited capacity of researcher and availability of support systems for researchers to effectively conceptualize, develop and write compelling proposals that win them competitive local and international grants, fellowships and awards to drive research of public health importance in Nigeria.
• There is an urgent need to reverse this challenge through a sustained funding mechanism drawing from public and private sector sources and systematic investment in training critical mass of junior and mid-level researchers and scientists to become global healthcare research and development leaders, winning competitive research grants, fellowships and awards and performing high-quality, cutting-edge research to develop home grown solutions to our health system challenges.
• Nigerian Institute of Medical Research Foundation (NIMR Foundation) was established as a private, not-for-profit organization working with the private sector to bridge these identified gaps in funding and capacity for healthcare research and development in Nigeria.
• The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research in collaboration with the Welcome Trust, UK, and the University College London convened a workshop on strengthening national health research capacity in Nigeria where a curriculum for a National Grantsmanship and Mentorship Program was developed in 2018.
• The first Grantsmanship and Mentorship Workshop for a cohort of 30 early career Investigators was conducted by the Institute in November 2019.
• To build on successes recorded from the maiden edition of the training programme, NIMR Foundation in collaboration with Nigerian Institute of Medical Research hereby calls for applications from early career investigators from across Nigeria for the 2" Grantsmanship and Mentorship Training Programme.

Grantsmanship and Mentorship Training

• The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in collaboration with NIMR Foundation will be hosting it’s biannual Grantsmanship and Mentorship Training Programme, aimed at building an adequate and sustainable network of committed early career researchers with inter-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborative approach and proficiency in developing high quality, competitive grant writing and capacity for healthcare research and development in Nigeria.

What the Programme will Cover:

• Understanding of health services research methods
• Formulation of research questions and hypotheses
• Selection of appropriate statistical tools for data analysis
• Ethics and Ethics Permission in Research
• How to search and identify targeted funding agencies and understand funders’ requirements
• Writing compelling grant proposals
• Identification of the technicalities of the peer review process and demonstration using a practice peer review process
• Improving proficiency in training and communication skills including writing plain language summaries
• Training on proficiency in facilitation of micro-teaching session on mentorship.
• Principles of establishing and managing partnerships and collaborations.

Format of Programme
Location and Dates:

• This will be a 21-day residential workshop which will be held at the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research located at 6 Edmund Crescent Yaba, Lagos.
• The expected dates for the training are between 9th October 2022 and 30th October 2022.

Target Audience:

• The training targets early and mid-career researchers who would like to develop their potential for Grantsmanship and Mentorship

Participants Number:

• A total of 30 participants will be selected for the training.

Curriculum:

• The workshop will be guided by the National Grantsmanship and Mentorship Training Programme Curriculum developed by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research for the sessions.
• For the 21-day period, the successful candidates will be tutored through hands on practical sessions on successful grants proposal writing.
• The teaching sessions will adopt blended learning approach with pre-course online self-directed reading and onsite teaching and learning methods including didactic lectures, role-plays, group discussions, micro-teaching sessions, online learning / webinars, peer-review simulation sessions, independent study time, home-work and term papers.
• Each training day will comprise of teaching sessions in the morning, practical sessions in the afternoon and group work and networking sessions in the late afternoon/ evening.

Faculty:

• The grantsmanship and mentorship training programme will be facilitated by prominent researchers who are well published, have experience serving or managing grant review panels and won grants from local and international funding organizations.

Fees:

• The 21-day residential training workshop including transportation, accommodation and full board will be fully sponsored by NIMR Foundation.

Who is Eligible?
To be eligible, you need to provide evidence that:

• You are a citizen of a Nigeria (from any of the six-geopolitical zones).
• You are an early career investigator (junior and mid-level researcher) and you have completed your research education (either of below):
  • You have been awarded a research doctorate (PhD/DPhil/MD) from a recognized academic institution normally within the past 6 years
  • You have a medical/clinical qualification PLUS research-relevant Master’s Degree, both awarded normally within the previous 6 years
• You are currently employed in Nigeria by a recognized university or research institution to develop and conduct any type of health care research.
• You have limited or no experience in proposal development and grant-writing.
• You have not won any significant local or international research grants.
• Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this training opportunity.