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The European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), is dedicated to promoting excellence in clinical diagnosis, research, technical development, and education in cardiovascular imaging (CVI). One of the ways EACVI achieves its goals are through the grants it provides to fund the professional development of young cardiologists in the field of non-invasive CVI. In the past 12 years, EACVI awarded a total of 41 grants, 29 for research and 12 for training. The success of the EACVI grant programme and the positive impact on young professionals’ careers were published in 2009 and 2015.1,2

EACVI grant categories

To support opportunities for young cardiologists interested in CVI, EACVI provides funding opportunities for clinical training and specialized research in the field of non-invasive imaging modalities (Echocardiography, Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, Nuclear Cardiology, and Cardiac Computed Tomography). The host institution is expected to be of a high-standard clinical centre or university with a documented academic expertise and an extensive track record of CVI within an ESC Member country other than their own. Two types of grants are available are given below.

EACVI Training Grants

The purpose of this grant is to support young cardiovascular imagers in order to obtain the know-how and clinical competency. It should enable them to practice and encourage the development of the CVI modality learned upon return to their country as well. In their applications, the candidates should describe how this training opportunity would enable them to widely implement the learned non-invasive CVI modality in their own country. EACVI Training Grant recipients will receive a sum of 1500 EUR per month (3–6 months) for their living expenses. The hosting institution will receive 500 EUR per month for training programme management expenses. Applications for periods shorter than 3 months are not accepted.

EACVI Research Grants

EACVI Research Grant recipients are awarded EUR 25 000 to cover his/her living expenses for a period of 12 months in order to help young imagers to achieve research experience and skills. After the research period, it is expected that candidates should contribute to the academic development of CVI research upon return to their country. Applications for periods shorter than 12 months are not accepted.

Eligibility for the EACVI grants

The EACVI has placed the following two rules for the selection of host institutions and suitable candidates applying for a training or research grant:

  1. Host institutions

  2. Eligible applicants for the Grant are those who are:

    • Physicians under 40 years old on the day of the application deadline And

    • EACVI Silver member at the time of the application (submittal day) And

    • Citizens (or residents for tax purposes) of a country which is a regular ESC Member country (https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Member-National-Cardiac-Societies) or an ESC Affiliated Member Country (https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Affiliated-Cardiac-Societies) And

    • Medical graduates at any stage in their career And

    • In agreement with a host institution outside their own country or the country in which they followed their initial medicine training (if it is a regular ESC Member country).

      • For training grant: that the centre offers good training opportunities and is acknowledged as an expert centre in that particular field of CVI.

      • For research grant: that the centre offers good research opportunities and facilities which is appropriate for the proposed research topic.

How to apply for the EACVI grant

Considering an application

Once the candidate has found a supervisor and a host institution that agreed to host him/her and offer the training needed or expertise in the research topic, he/she should kindly log in to ‘My ESC’ account and select ‘New Application’ in the ‘Grants’ area, then select the grant(s) he/she wishes to apply for.

Important: Application is done via an online form exclusively. The EACVI grants application forms will be available to the candidate in the list only if he/she fulfils the eligibility criteria.

To find a potential supervisor and centre who can support and facilitate the training/research interest, the EACVI imaging labs directory can be consulted. The ESC Annual Congress, EuroEcho Imaging, EuroCMR, and ICNC meetings provide great networking opportunities to approach and meet your potential supervisor.

Preparing an application

When preparing the grant application(s), it is important to do so early, allowing enough time to ensure that all sections of the application(s) are addressed. This requires the completion of Part A of the application. The candidate should discuss this and send a copy of the filled application form to his/her host institution supervisor. This allows the host supervisor to provide him/her with advice, confirm that they and the host institution can provide the needed training/research experiences and meet expectations/goals. Likewise, the candidate should also provide the host institution supervisor their part of the application to complete early (Part B) (Figure 1). Grant applicants should also keep in mind the selection criteria and points awarded for each grant category when preparing and revising the application (Tables 1and2).

Table 1
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Selection criteria for EACVI Training Grant

Motivation letter (Q11 of EACVI Grant Training Form Part A)1–5 points
Training programme1–10 points
Candidate’s CV1–5 points
Lab facilities and certification1–5 points
Motivation letter (Q11 of EACVI Grant Training Form Part A)1–5 points
Training programme1–10 points
Candidate’s CV1–5 points
Lab facilities and certification1–5 points
Table 1
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Selection criteria for EACVI Training Grant

Motivation letter (Q11 of EACVI Grant Training Form Part A)1–5 points
Training programme1–10 points
Candidate’s CV1–5 points
Lab facilities and certification1–5 points
Motivation letter (Q11 of EACVI Grant Training Form Part A)1–5 points
Training programme1–10 points
Candidate’s CV1–5 points
Lab facilities and certification1–5 points
Table 2
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Selection criteria for EACVI Research Grant

Candidate's CV1–5 points
Project1–10 points
Feasibility1–5 points
Candidate's CV1–5 points
Project1–10 points
Feasibility1–5 points
Table 2
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Selection criteria for EACVI Research Grant

Candidate's CV1–5 points
Project1–10 points
Feasibility1–5 points
Candidate's CV1–5 points
Project1–10 points
Feasibility1–5 points
Step by step guide for submitting an EACVI Grant applications.
Figure 1

Step by step guide for submitting an EACVI Grant applications.

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Finalizing an application

When writing the grant application, the candidate should be mindful of why his/her application should be chosen as the successful candidate for this year’s grants as a large number of excellent applications are received annually.

Applications should be:

  • easy to read,

  • clear to comprehend,

  • a strong motivation,

  • simple and straightforward aims, and

  • overall should prove responsibility and maturity.

Some candidates can be too ambitious, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but if the application is not carefully thought through the application comes off as the candidate being unfocused with unclear goals and uncertain future career direction.

Despite the simple layout and straightforward questions, grant applications can still be overwhelming. The application should be well structured with no grammatical or spelling errors. Questions 1–10 are self-explanatory and require the candidate’s personal details, current position, academic record, post-graduate career, research experience, main publications, and whether he/she is registered for a higher degree or higher professional qualification. Evaluators will assess the accomplishments relative to their expectations for someone at that career/training stage. The candidate will need to demonstrate they are someone who has a track record of progressive development, is pursuing academic excellence and has research experience/potential.

Specific tips

EACVI Training Grant Application

Specifically for the EACVI Training Grant Application the candidate should briefly explain the considerations that led them to choose this laboratory and present the structure of the training programme (Question 11) by demonstrating:

  • the host supervisor and institution’s profile and expertise would allow the candidate to achieve his/her training programme and goals.

  • Complete outline of the training programme that would allow the candidate to gain the required knowledge and skill to pursue a career in this field of CVI.

  • The training proposed should complement the candidate’s work experience and background.

  • Compatible with his/her aims and expectations to be addressed in the following question.

The next and final question (Number 12) asks the candidate to address the aims, the relevance, and the expected results for your practice of the EACVI Training Grant programme. The candidate should:

  • try to identify 3–6 aims for their fellowship that that would allow them to achieve the goals for the next stage of their career and allow the candidate to achieve upon returning back to their home country.

  • How will this have a positive impact on their professional development.

In order to carry out CVI training, the candidate should have some proficiency of the host institution’s language. In some countries, it is a prerequisite that this is demonstrated the trainee has the required language skills by achieving a certain score on a language exam. Some examples of this rule are:

  • Most states in Germany require a minimum of B2 level German language proficiency.

  • The UK medical licensing body, the GMC (General Medical Council), requires an academic International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam score of at least 7.0 in each testing domains [listening, writing, reading, and speaking and an overall score of 7.5 or obtaining medicine version of the Occupational English Test (OET) of at least a grade ‘B’ in each testing area].

Ideally, one should have this exam passed prior to submitting an application for an EACVI Training grant.

EACVI Research Grant Application

The application for the EACVI Research Grant, as expected for any research proposal, requires more time and preparation than that the Training Grant. The evaluators of the selection committee will be assessing both the research project and the skills and previous research experience the candidate has to conduct this project, as well as the suitability of the centre to ensure its successful implementation.

The first part (‘Candidate’s profile’) of the EACVI Research Grant application form is similar to that of the Training Grant, as previously mentioned.

For Question 11, when addressing the considerations that led to choose this laboratory, the candidate should:

  • emphasize the expertise and strengths of the host institution as the best environment for this project;

  • the supervisor has the needed expertise to conduct the research project; and

  • provide a brief description of the institution’s resources demonstrating that the entirety of the project can be carried out there.

The second part of form A (‘Project’) is no less, if not more important, than the first part. This is a time-consuming process, so it is imperative that the candidate starts early (minimum 6 months in advance). Keep in mind that the proposed centre or supervisor as most appropriate by the candidate for their research goals might also be offering support to other candidates or fellows at the same time. During the past years, many young cardiologists aiming for an EACVI Research Grant have lost in the end the opportunity to participate in the competition, since they contacted too late the supervisor at the host centre and consequently were not able to complete a competitive research project and all the required forms before the application deadline. The research proposal should be novel, innovative and different from the previous research of the candidate and host supervisor, but within the host’s expertise. Please find some helpful tips in Table 3 when addressing questions of the ‘Project’ part of the application.

Table 3
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Tips for EACVI Research Grants Application, Part 2 Project

QuestionTips
13. Please write an abstract that outlines the background, the relevance, and the expected results of your Research project

  • This should be concise with a maximum 250 words, so should just include what is relevant.

14. Please detail the background of your Research project

  • The candidate should demonstrate they have done their homework and have an in-depth knowledge of the field of the research proposal

  • Topic is important to the field of CVI and cardiology

  • Avoid including extra and irrelevant information

15. What are the aims of your Research project?

  • Aims must be achievable

  • Should be novel and fill a gap in research

  • No more than 3–5 aims as less gives the impression that the project has limited potential and more comes across as a fishing expedition

16. Please detail the main expected results and impacts of your Research project

  • The hypothesis and possible alternative hypotheses each should be followed by a strong rationale of why these results are expected.

  • It should also come across as filling a gap in knowledge as well as logical to understand.

18. Which methodology will be used for your Research project? Type of study, study design, structure, timelines, data collection, statistical analysis, dissemination of results, and main challenges

  • Address each point

  • Clear and flows easily; the evaluator should not have to guess

  • The candidate should allow adequate time to do so and discuss it with the host supervisor. If written last minute, important aspects maybe forgotten or maybe clear to you, but not to who is evaluating it.

20. Please describe the feasibility of the proposal in the hosting institution.

  • The host institution must have all the facilitates needed to conduct the research.

21. What will be your role in the Research project? Please also state how your profile fits to the project

  • The project needs to be coherent with applicant’s background.

QuestionTips
13. Please write an abstract that outlines the background, the relevance, and the expected results of your Research project

  • This should be concise with a maximum 250 words, so should just include what is relevant.

14. Please detail the background of your Research project

  • The candidate should demonstrate they have done their homework and have an in-depth knowledge of the field of the research proposal

  • Topic is important to the field of CVI and cardiology

  • Avoid including extra and irrelevant information

15. What are the aims of your Research project?

  • Aims must be achievable

  • Should be novel and fill a gap in research

  • No more than 3–5 aims as less gives the impression that the project has limited potential and more comes across as a fishing expedition

16. Please detail the main expected results and impacts of your Research project

  • The hypothesis and possible alternative hypotheses each should be followed by a strong rationale of why these results are expected.

  • It should also come across as filling a gap in knowledge as well as logical to understand.

18. Which methodology will be used for your Research project? Type of study, study design, structure, timelines, data collection, statistical analysis, dissemination of results, and main challenges

  • Address each point

  • Clear and flows easily; the evaluator should not have to guess

  • The candidate should allow adequate time to do so and discuss it with the host supervisor. If written last minute, important aspects maybe forgotten or maybe clear to you, but not to who is evaluating it.

20. Please describe the feasibility of the proposal in the hosting institution.

  • The host institution must have all the facilitates needed to conduct the research.

21. What will be your role in the Research project? Please also state how your profile fits to the project

  • The project needs to be coherent with applicant’s background.

Table 3
Open in new tab

Tips for EACVI Research Grants Application, Part 2 Project

QuestionTips
13. Please write an abstract that outlines the background, the relevance, and the expected results of your Research project

  • This should be concise with a maximum 250 words, so should just include what is relevant.

14. Please detail the background of your Research project

  • The candidate should demonstrate they have done their homework and have an in-depth knowledge of the field of the research proposal

  • Topic is important to the field of CVI and cardiology

  • Avoid including extra and irrelevant information

15. What are the aims of your Research project?

  • Aims must be achievable

  • Should be novel and fill a gap in research

  • No more than 3–5 aims as less gives the impression that the project has limited potential and more comes across as a fishing expedition

16. Please detail the main expected results and impacts of your Research project

  • The hypothesis and possible alternative hypotheses each should be followed by a strong rationale of why these results are expected.

  • It should also come across as filling a gap in knowledge as well as logical to understand.

18. Which methodology will be used for your Research project? Type of study, study design, structure, timelines, data collection, statistical analysis, dissemination of results, and main challenges

  • Address each point

  • Clear and flows easily; the evaluator should not have to guess

  • The candidate should allow adequate time to do so and discuss it with the host supervisor. If written last minute, important aspects maybe forgotten or maybe clear to you, but not to who is evaluating it.

20. Please describe the feasibility of the proposal in the hosting institution.

  • The host institution must have all the facilitates needed to conduct the research.

21. What will be your role in the Research project? Please also state how your profile fits to the project

  • The project needs to be coherent with applicant’s background.

QuestionTips
13. Please write an abstract that outlines the background, the relevance, and the expected results of your Research project

  • This should be concise with a maximum 250 words, so should just include what is relevant.

14. Please detail the background of your Research project

  • The candidate should demonstrate they have done their homework and have an in-depth knowledge of the field of the research proposal

  • Topic is important to the field of CVI and cardiology

  • Avoid including extra and irrelevant information

15. What are the aims of your Research project?

  • Aims must be achievable

  • Should be novel and fill a gap in research

  • No more than 3–5 aims as less gives the impression that the project has limited potential and more comes across as a fishing expedition

16. Please detail the main expected results and impacts of your Research project

  • The hypothesis and possible alternative hypotheses each should be followed by a strong rationale of why these results are expected.

  • It should also come across as filling a gap in knowledge as well as logical to understand.

18. Which methodology will be used for your Research project? Type of study, study design, structure, timelines, data collection, statistical analysis, dissemination of results, and main challenges

  • Address each point

  • Clear and flows easily; the evaluator should not have to guess

  • The candidate should allow adequate time to do so and discuss it with the host supervisor. If written last minute, important aspects maybe forgotten or maybe clear to you, but not to who is evaluating it.

20. Please describe the feasibility of the proposal in the hosting institution.

  • The host institution must have all the facilitates needed to conduct the research.

21. What will be your role in the Research project? Please also state how your profile fits to the project

  • The project needs to be coherent with applicant’s background.

What are the benefits for the EACVI grant winners?

EACVI Training Grant recipients gain the opportunity to train and develop their skills in non-invasive imaging modality/ies, broaden their career opportunities, to bring back what they have learned to their home country and disseminate the knowledge. EACVI Research Grant provides the recipients with the chance to conduct research and publish in reputable journals. This is crucial to disseminate research findings and promote career development. The Research Grant recipients will also benefit from working and interacting with experts in their field and being able to establish research at their home institution. All EACV grant winners are awarded during the annual EACVI congress EuroEcho-Imaging.

What are the responsibilities of the EACVI grant winners?

  • EACVI Training Grant recipients are expected to accomplish the proposed training and disseminate the knowledge and skills acquired to the EACVI community upon completion of the grant period. The training grants recipients do not necessarily need to conduct research and publish abstracts/papers. However, if they have this additional opportunity to participate in some study at the host institution, it would be preferable as this is will help them grow in profession and experience.

  • EACVI Research Grants are obliged to publish their research. Abstracts should be sent to EuroEcho Imaging, EuroCMR, or ICNC. Full texts to EHJCI, acknowledging the source of funding in all publications, even if the publication is focused on a different topic than the research grant application, but was done during the tenure of the grant. The EACVI keeps track of the publication record of all candidates and will ask you to provide a final report that may be published on the EACVI Research Grants web page.

Conclusions

The EACVI grants are one of the most prestigious awards a Heart Imager of Tomorrow can receive. A successful candidate receiving EACVI Training or Research Grants will grow and advance in his/her career. It is truly a life changing experience! The review committee is keen to evaluate and support the applications received from young CV imagers, but only the best applicants can be successfully selected.

If you are considering of applying for an EACVI Grant, then don’t delay! The opening of the grant applications start on the 31 March of each year and the deadline for submission is the 30 September of the same year. Candidates are encouraged to submit their applications in advance, preferably by early June, so that the applicant may be advised of any missing elements to allow enough time for it to be addressed as well as to contact potential future supervisor if needed. Good luck and start the application today. For more information about EACVI Training and Research Grants, please check out https://www.escardio.org/Education/Career-Development/Grants-and-fellowships/EACVI-training-grants andhttps://www.escardio.org/Research/Research-Funding/EACVI-research-grants.

Funding

C.B.D. is in part supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Conflict of interest: none declared.

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Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2019. For permissions, please email: [email protected].
This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://dbpia.nl.go.kr/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)
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EACVI COMMUNICATION
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