Bibby Fellowship Award

The mission behind the Bibby Award is predicated on knowledge of the man in whom the name of this award is honored. Basil Bibby strove to lead and help early investigators into productive and meaningful careers.  He advocated pursuance of additional education preparation, supporting post-graduate experience.  He encouraged young people to think; encouraging research with the realization that research caused one to focus attention and foster thinking. Concurrently, he also promoted interest in research that could potentially be put to useful purpose – serving to the benefit of many others.

It is with these precepts in mind that the enumerated criteria for the Bibby Award have been established as follows:

General Criteria Considerations

• Proposed protocol should encompass: i) a well-designed research study; ii) a clear and stated rationale, hypothesis and objective; iii) have the probability of completion by a 12-month time period or shortly thereafter; and, iv) preferably have clinical relevance with recognizable importance and significance.

After the completion of the study, a final report must be submitted to the Chair of the Bibby Fellowship Award. In addition, a progress report (after the first 6-month time period) should be also submitted.

• The research proposal should be a full-scale project conducted solely by the applicant under the supervision of a responsible and interested mentor willing to devote the time, interest and energetic responsibility to aid proper and desired completion of the proposal.

2.1. The applicant should be responsible for: i) design and execution of the study, ii) analysis and interpretation of the data, and iii) writing the outcome of the research project (progress and final reports).

2.2. The mentor should be responsible: i) to supervise the applicant during the preparation and development of the research study, including interpretation of the data and statistical analysis, ii) to assist the applicant to write a report after the completion of the research project; the mentor shall encourage the applicant to write a manuscript. A submission of an abstract to the Rochester section of the AADR scientific meeting is mandatory. A submission of an abstract to a national scientific meeting (IADR, ADA etc.) is strongly encouraged. A letter should be provided by the mentor attesting full support and mentorship.

• Awards should be granted to encourage young and new minds that express interest in, and plan to contribute (in the future) to the academic and research arena and not solely restricted to a clinical practice contribution. The Bibby award is open to all dental residents, including those pursuing Master of Science or Master of Public Health degrees.
• The award is not intended to supplement training grant funds; federal training grants; should not be for time consuming “start-up” purposes and may not be used for purchase of excessively exorbitant major equipment.
• The award is not solely devised to add support to an ongoing research grant and is not to be used to supplement salary funded by another grant.
• EIOH residency programs have become more diverse with respect to residents’ research background and experience. As such, two tracks for the award have been established: Track one is suitable for residents who do not have prior research experience or their research experience is limited (residents enrolled in the specialty program and/or MS program or have received the MS degree); Track two is suitable for residents who have received an advanced academic degree such as PhD or who have prior research experience.
• PhD candidates or post-docs are not eligible for this award.

Instructions for the Preparation of the Research Proposal

• The organization of the proposal should include: Specific Aims, Background and Significance, Preliminary Studies, and Research Design and Methods, citation of literature directly pertinent to the research proposal (References), and information on relevant use of Human Subjects and/or Vertebrate Animals. In addition, a budget (general supplies costs, maintenance costs, etc.) and a time-frame of the study should be included. Please follow the guidelines for an NIH-type small grant application.
• The Research Plan (Specific Aims, Background and Significance, Preliminary Studies and Research Design and Methods) should not exceed ten pages using a font size of 12.  Graphs, diagrams, tables, charts and photographs must be included in the body of the research plan. Avoid use of appendices; the only appendices acceptable for the proposal are those pertaining to the use of Human Subjects and/or Vertebrate Animals (RSRB and/or UCAR submission document, certificate or approval).

Submission of the Research Proposal

• Applications for a Bibby Award must be accompanied by a letter of support of the applicant’s research mentor affirming: i) the probability of completion and compliance to award requisites, ii) participation during the preparation and development of the study, iii) full assistance on interpretation and discussion of the data and on preparation of the final report.  In applicable instances, a letter of support from the Clinical Training Program Director definitively stating the (sufficient) weekly time to be allocated toward fulfillment and completion of the award proposal should be provided.
• The applicants for the Basil G. Bibby Fellowship should also provide a statement of career goals and objectives, a CV, and a transcript of EDC/UR grades.

• All the documents (Research proposal, letter of support, applicant’s statement, CV and EDC/UR grades) should be submitted to the Eastman Institute for Oral Health Director’s Office in the Eastman Dental Building on the due date. Applications submitted after the due date will not be accepted.

All proposals that fail to meet the requirements listed above will be returned without further evaluation.

Review Process

1. After preliminary examination of the submissions by the Administrative Office staff to check that all the necessary elements are present and all the requirements are met, the proposals are passed to the Chair of Basil G. Bibby Fellowship Award.
2. The Chair will distribute the copies of the proposals to the Review Committee comprised of EDD/COB faculty appointed for this purpose by the Chair. The usual number of reviewers is six.
3. The Chair reserves the right to add or replace reviewers in the following cases: i) conflict of interests; ii) seek the opinion of one or more external referees if it is necessary or desirable (e.g. an application that is out of the expertise of the Review Committee). The Chair will be responsible to make any necessary changes in the Review Committee to ensure fairness and transparency during the review process.
4. The review of the proposals is comprised of a two-step process. First step, the Chair sends the copies of the proposal to each of the reviewers electronically accompanied with a review form, which includes a request for written review and priority score. Second step, the Chair (after receiving the scores and written reviews electronically) set-up a meeting with the Review Committee to discuss any issues pertaining to the review process and to decide the winner(s) of the Award.

Number of awards will be contingent on the availability of funds and be awarded at the discretion of the awards committee.