European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging (2019) 20, 735–739 EACVI COMMUNICATION

doi:10.1093/ehjci/jez088

HIT communication paper: strategies and

tips to increase your chances of winning an
EACVI grant
Sarah Moharem-Elgamal 1,2,3, Matteo Cameli4, Denisa Muraru5,6,

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Veronique Brassart7, Audrey Esperou-Surrel7, Hani Mahmoud-Elsayed8,
Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci9, Bogdan A. Popescu10, Bernard Cosyns11,12, and
Thor Edvardsen13*
1
Cardiology Department, National Heart Institute, Giza, Egypt; 2Bristol Heart Institute, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK; 3Translational Health Sciences, Bristol
Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; 4Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Siena, Siena, Italy; 5Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences
and Public Health, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; 6IRCCS, Instituto Auxologico Italiano, S. Luca Hospital, Milan, Italy; 7European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging,
European Heart House, European Society of Cardiology, Sophia Antipolis, France; 8Cardiovascular Imaging/Cardiology Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University
Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK; 9Bristol Heart Institute, Bristol National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre,
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust and University of Bristol. Bristol, UK; 10Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”—Euroecolab,
Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases “Prof. Dr. C. C. Iliescu”, Bucharest, Romania; 11In vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging (ICMI) Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy,
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium; 12Centrum voor Harten Vaatziekten (CHVZ), Department of Cardiology, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel),
Brussel, Belgium; and 13Department of Cardiology and Center for Cardiological Innovation, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway

Received 11 April 2019; editorial decision 14 April 2019; accepted 16 April 2019; online publish-ahead-of-print 22 May 2019

..
The European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a .. modality learned upon return to their country as well. In their appli-
branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), is dedicated to .. cations, the candidates should describe how this training opportunity
..
promoting excellence in clinical diagnosis, research, technical devel- .. would enable them to widely implement the learned non-invasive
opment, and education in cardiovascular imaging (CVI). One of the .. CVI modality in their own country. EACVI Training Grant recipients
..
ways EACVI achieves its goals are through the grants it provides to .. will receive a sum of 1500 EUR per month (3–6 months) for their liv-
fund the professional development of young cardiologists in the field ..
.. ing expenses. The hosting institution will receive 500 EUR per month
of non-invasive CVI. In the past 12 years, EACVI awarded a total of .. for training programme management expenses. Applications for peri-
41 grants, 29 for research and 12 for training. The success of the
..
.. ods shorter than 3 months are not accepted.
EACVI grant programme and the positive impact on young professio- ..
nals’ careers were published in 2009 and 2015.1,2
..
..
.. EACVI Research Grants
.. EACVI Research Grant recipients are awarded EUR 25 000 to cover
..
EACVI grant categories ... his/her living expenses for a period of 12 months in order to help
.. young imagers to achieve research experience and skills. After the re-
To support opportunities for young cardiologists interested in CVI, .. search period, it is expected that candidates should contribute to the
EACVI provides funding opportunities for clinical training and special-
..
.. academic development of CVI research upon return to their country.
ized research in the field of non-invasive imaging modalities ..
.. Applications for periods shorter than 12 months are not accepted.
(Echocardiography, Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, Nuclear ..
Cardiology, and Cardiac Computed Tomography). The host institu- ..
..
tion is expected to be of a high-standard clinical centre or university ..
with a documented academic expertise and an extensive track re- .. Eligibility for the EACVI grants
..
cord of CVI within an ESC Member country other than their own. ..
Two types of grants are available are given below. .. The EACVI has placed the following two rules for the selection of
.. host institutions and suitable candidates applying for a training or re-
..
EACVI Training Grants .. search grant:
..
The purpose of this grant is to support young cardiovascular imagers .. (1) Host institutions
in order to obtain the know-how and clinical competency. It should
.. • Only one candidate per hosting institution is allowed per
..
enable them to practice and encourage the development of the CVI . year (should more than one candidate apply for the same

* Corresponding author. Tel: þ4723070000; Fax: þ47 23 07 13 97. E-mail: thor.edvardsen@medisin.uio.no

C The Author(s) 2019. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. V
736 S. Moharem-Elgamal et al.

institution and should they be in the final top scorers, only

the highest scorer will be selected for that institution).
• A hosting institution that has been selected in the winning
candidates’ application form cannot be chosen again for the
following year (i.e. an institution cannot be selected two
years in a row). The winning institutions for the previous
years can be found on the past winners web pages:
https://www.escardio.org/Education/Career-Development/
Grants-and-fellowships/EACVI-training-grants-past-winners.
https://www.escardio.org/Research/Research-Funding/EAC
VI-research-grants.
For any queries, you may contact the EACVI team for
cross-verification: eacvi@escardio.org.

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(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 (submit-
tal 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 coun- Figure 1 Step by step guide for submitting an EACVI Grant
try or the country in which they followed their initial medi- applications.
cine 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 .. application(s) are addressed. This requires the completion of Part A
centre in that particular field of CVI. ..
.. of the application. The candidate should discuss this and send a copy
• For research grant: that the centre offers good re- ..
search opportunities and facilities which is appropri- .. of the filled application form to his/her host institution supervisor.
ate for the proposed research topic.
.. This allows the host supervisor to provide him/her with advice, con-
..
.. firm that they and the host institution can provide the needed train-
.. ing/research experiences and meet expectations/goals. Likewise, the
..
How to apply for the EACVI grant .. candidate should also provide the host institution supervisor their
.. part of the application to complete early (Part B) (Figure 1). Grant
..
Considering an application .. applicants should also keep in mind the selection criteria and points
Once the candidate has found a supervisor and a host institution that ..
.. awarded for each grant category when preparing and revising the ap-
agreed to host him/her and offer the training needed or expertise in .. plication (Tables 1 and 2).
the research topic, he/she should kindly log in to ‘My ESC’ account ..
..
and select ‘New Application’ in the ‘Grants’ area, then select the .. Finalizing an application
grant(s) he/she wishes to apply for.
..
Important: Application is done via an online form exclusively. The
... When writing the grant application, the candidate should be mindful
.. of why his/her application should be chosen as the successful candi-
EACVI grants application forms will be available to the candidate in .. date for this year’s grants as a large number of excellent applications
..
the list only if he/she fulfils the eligibility criteria. .. are received annually.
To find a potential supervisor and centre who can support and fa- ..
.. Applications should be:
cilitate the training/research interest, the EACVI imaging labs direc- ..
tory can be consulted. The ESC Annual Congress, EuroEcho Imaging, .. • easy to read,
.. • clear to comprehend,
EuroCMR, and ICNC meetings provide great networking opportuni- ..
ties to approach and meet your potential supervisor. .. • a strong motivation,
.. • simple and straightforward aims, and
.. • overall should prove responsibility and maturity.
Preparing an application ..
..
When preparing the grant application(s), it is important to do so .. Some candidates can be too ambitious, which is not necessarily a
early, allowing enough time to ensure that all sections of the
.. bad thing, but if the application is not carefully thought through the
HIT communication paper 737

Table 1 Selection criteria for EACVI Training Grant Table 2 Selection criteria for EACVI Research Grant

Motivation letter (Q11 of EACVI Grant 1–5 points Candidate’s CV 1–5 points
Training Form Part A) Project 1–10 points
Training programme 1–10 points Feasibility 1–5 points
Candidate’s CV 1–5 points
Lab facilities and certification 1–5 points

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

..
.. language proficiency.
application comes off as the candidate being unfocused with unclear .. • The UK medical licensing body, the GMC (General Medical
..
goals and uncertain future career direction. .. Council), requires an academic International English Language

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Despite the simple layout and straightforward questions, grant .. Testing System (IELTS) exam score of at least 7.0 in each testing
.. domains [listening, writing, reading, and speaking and an overall
applications can still be overwhelming. The application should be well ..
structured with no grammatical or spelling errors. Questions 1–10 .. score of 7.5 or obtaining medicine version of the Occupational
.. English Test (OET) of at least a grade ‘B’ in each testing area].
are self-explanatory and require the candidate’s personal details, cur- ..
rent position, academic record, post-graduate career, research ex-
..
.. Ideally, one should have this exam passed prior to submitting an
perience, main publications, and whether he/she is registered for a .. application for an EACVI Training grant.
higher degree or higher professional qualification. Evaluators will as-
..
..
sess the accomplishments relative to their expectations for someone ..
.. EACVI Research Grant Application
at that career/training stage. The candidate will need to demonstrate .. The application for the EACVI Research Grant, as expected for any
they are someone who has a track record of progressive develop- ..
.. research proposal, requires more time and preparation than that the
ment, is pursuing academic excellence and has research experience/ ..
potential. .. Training Grant. The evaluators of the selection committee will be
.. assessing both the research project and the skills and previous re-
..
Specific tips .. search experience the candidate has to conduct this project, as
.. well as the suitability of the centre to ensure its successful
EACVI Training Grant Application ..
Specifically for the EACVI Training Grant Application the candidate .. implementation.
.. The first part (‘Candidate’s profile’) of the EACVI Research Grant
should briefly explain the considerations that led them to choose this ..
laboratory and present the structure of the training programme
.. application form is similar to that of the Training Grant, as previously
..
(Question 11) by demonstrating: .. mentioned.
.. For Question 11, when addressing the considerations that led to
• the host supervisor and institution’s profile and expertise would ..
.. choose this laboratory, the candidate should:
allow the candidate to achieve his/her training programme and ..
goals. .. • emphasize the expertise and strengths of the host institution as
• Complete outline of the training programme that would allow the
.. the best environment for this project;
..
candidate to gain the required knowledge and skill to pursue a car- .. • the supervisor has the needed expertise to conduct the research
eer in this field of CVI.
.. project; and
..
• The training proposed should complement the candidate’s work .. • provide a brief description of the institution’s resources demon-
experience and background. .. strating that the entirety of the project can be carried out there.
..
• Compatible with his/her aims and expectations to be addressed in ..
the following question. .. The second part of form A (‘Project’) is no less, if not more im-
.. portant, than the first part. This is a time-consuming process, so it is
The next and final question (Number 12) asks the candidate to ad-
..
.. imperative that the candidate starts early (minimum 6 months in ad-
dress the aims, the relevance, and the expected results for your prac- .. vance). Keep in mind that the proposed centre or supervisor as most
tice of the EACVI Training Grant programme. The candidate should:
..
.. appropriate by the candidate for their research goals might also be
..
• try to identify 3–6 aims for their fellowship that that would allow .. offering support to other candidates or fellows at the same time.
them to achieve the goals for the next stage of their career and .. During the past years, many young cardiologists aiming for an EACVI
..
allow the candidate to achieve upon returning back to their home .. Research Grant have lost in the end the opportunity to participate in
country. .. the competition, since they contacted too late the supervisor at the
• How will this have a positive impact on their professional ..
.. host centre and consequently were not able to complete a competi-
development. .. tive research project and all the required forms before the applica-
..
In order to carry out CVI training, the candidate should have some .. tion deadline. The research proposal should be novel, innovative and
..
proficiency of the host institution’s language. In some countries, it is a .. different from the previous research of the candidate and host super-
prerequisite that this is demonstrated the trainee has the required .. visor, but within the host’s expertise. Please find some helpful tips in
..
language skills by achieving a certain score on a language exam. Some .. Table 3 when addressing questions of the ‘Project’ part of the
examples of this rule are:
.. application.
738
Table 3 Tips for EACVI Research Grants Application, Part 2 Project
Question
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
13. Please write an abstract that outlines the
background, the relevance, and the expected
results of your Research project
14. Please detail the background of your
Research project
15. What are the aims of your Research
project?
16. Please detail the main expected results and
impacts of your Research project
18. Which methodology will be used for your
Research project? Type of study, study de-
sign, structure, timelines, data collection, stat-
istical analysis, dissemination of results, and
main challenges
20. Please describe the feasibility of the pro-
posal in the hosting institution.
21. What will be your role in the Research pro-
ject? Please also state how your profile fits to
the project
What are the benefits for the
EACVI grant winners?
EACVI Training Grant recipients gain the opportunity to train and de-
velop 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 re-
search 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 an-
nual 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
S. Moharem-Elgamal et al.
Tips
• This should be concise with a maximum 250 words, so should just include what is relevant.
• 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
• Aims must be achievable
• Should be novel and fill a gap in research
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• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• The host institution must have all the facilitates needed to conduct the research.
• The project needs to be coherent with applicant’s background.
..
.. 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 re-
..
.. cord 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.
HIT communication paper 739

Good luck and start the application today. For more information
.. and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health
..
about EACVI Training and Research Grants, please check out https:// .. Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.
..
www.escardio.org/Education/Career-Development/Grants-and-fello .. Conflict of interest: none declared.
wships/EACVI-training-grants andhttps://www.escardio.org/Research/ ..
..
Research-Funding/EACVI-research-grants. ..
.. References
.. 1. Gargani L, Muraru D, Badano LP, Lancellotti P, Sicari R. European Association of
Funding .. Echocardiography: research Grant Programme. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging
C.B.D. is in part supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at
... 2012;13:47–50.
.. 2. Surkova E, Muraru D, Grapsa J, Donal E, Lancellotti P, Habib G et al. Eight years
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the University of .. of the EACVI’s grant programme: existing developments, impact, and steps for-
Bristol. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s)
.. ward. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging 2015;16:1178–9.

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