Research in O&P Education Award

Research in Orthotic and Prosthetic (O&P) Education Award

The National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) and the Orthotics and Prosthetics Foundation for Education and Research (The Foundation) are jointly issuing a Call for Proposals to support research in O&P education. Specifically, this call for proposals seeks strong applications focused on the identification of core concepts and core principles for O&P professionals. A single, two-year grant of up to $60,000 will be awarded in 2023 for this one-time program. 

Eligibility Criteria

To quality for award consideration, applicants must have a doctoral degree or have prior research experience. Additionally, the proposed research must include an educator who teaches in an O&P program as the principal investigator or co-investigator. Proposals are accepted from investigators in the United States and around the world, however, all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. dollars. Research in O&P Education Award applications will be scored based on criteria in three main areas: (1) Relevance of the proposed research to the predefined aims; (2) Merit of the research design; and (3) Appropriateness of the personnel and environment. Details of the review criteria can be found on the Review Form. More information about the award, including the predefined aims, can be found in the Call for Proposals. 

How to Apply 

1. Prepare a letter of intent (LOI)

   • The LOI should briefly describe the proposed research; list all key investigators; and name the institutions/organizations/companies involved in the study.

   • The LOI is used to verify eligibility and to assemble a review committee with appropriate topic area expertise; feedback is not generally provided.

   • Applicants do not need to await an invitation to submit an application; however, applications will not be reviewed if a LOI is not submitted.

2. Submit the LOI to NCOPE 

   • Applicants will receive automated confirmation of the LOI submission.

   • Contact NCOPE at rseabrook@ncope.org if you do not receive a confirmation email within 1 hour.

3. Complete the Research in O&P Education Cover Page

4. Draft the proposal

   • Applicants are responsible for ensuring the proposal adheres to all guidelines described in the Call for Proposals; proposals that do not adhere to the stated guidelines will not be reviewed.

5. Submit the Cover Page and proposal to NCOPE

   • Applicants will receive automated confirmation of the proposal submission.

   • Contact NCOPE at rseabrook@ncope.org if you do not receive a confirmation email within 1 hour.

Award Cycle Information

The following are key dates and deadlines for the Research in O&P Education Award. Research in O&P Education Award application materials must be received by 5:00pm Eastern Time on the posted deadline. Applicants are responsible for ensuring all materials are received by NCOPE by the dates listed below. 

• Letter of intent due April 15, 2023

• Proposal due May 15, 2023

• Award notification* on or about September 1, 2023

• Funding disbursed* on or about October 1, 2023 (see Award Specifics in the Call for Proposals for details)

* Note: award notification and funding disbursement dates may be affected by the number of applications.  

QUESTIONS

• For questions related to scope of project and/or specific aims, Receipt of LOI, and Progress Reports and Final Report, contact NCOPE’s Executive Director, Robin Seabrook, at rseabrook@ncope.org 

• For questions related to Award notification and Reviewers' comments, contact The Foundation’s Research Committee Chair, Dr. Sara Morgan, at research@oandpfoundation.org 

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