The AMEE Grant for Medical Educators working in Resource Constrained Settings (MERCS Grant) aims to provide financial support to HPE scholars working in emerging, disadvantaged, and/or resource-constrained settings to create opportunities for health professions education research. These include regions where there is ongoing conflict, migration, poverty, and insufficient access to basic health care and services, and/or contexts with limited resources.

Eligible institutions are from countries classified as economies in transition and developing economies

The grant covers areas appropriate for health professions education research such as:
- Teaching and learning in all settings and scenarios (e.g. classroom, simulation, clinical context)
- Assessment of learning (e.g. process, outcomes)
- Curriculum development (e.g. new courses, new educational strategies, new programs)
- Evaluation
- Student selection
- Planning and implementation
- Structures and processes (e.g. local, national, and international institutions)
- Mentoring and faculty development
- Student wellness and support (including of community and of diversity)
- Leadership

Information about the 2023 MERCS Grant will be posted shortly.

The Award

One grant is available up to £2,000 GBP. The grant also includes a single one-year free AMEE membership, plus access to the full set of AMEE research guides online via the AMEE Resource Centre.

How to Apply

To apply for a MERCS Grant, you need to submit a proposal outlining your project. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

The application form includes:

  • Title of your proposal
  • Details of the Principal investigator and any associate investigators: institution, address, contact details
  • Proposed start and end date (max. 2 years)
  • A scientific summary where the significance of the project is explained (maximum 200 words)
  • An outline of the project (1000 words total), including: 
  • Problem statement/topic/issue/relevance
  • Conceptual framework/theoretical framework
  • Research question(s)
  • Description of proposed design and methods (at least 1/3 of your summary should address this area)
  • Dissemination and Implementation Plan (maximum 200 words). This may include the following:
  • Publication and presentation in local, national and international forums
  • The building of local or national networks through the outcomes of this project
  • Development of communities of practice within the local institution and the national context – both real time and virtual
  • Specific ways in which the research may impact medical education locally or internationally.
  • Budget and Justification
  • Each section should include a word count.  Applications which go over the word count will not be reviewed.

    Also required for the application are: 
  • A brief narrative describing the applicant and teams’ current position within the community of practice in their country, and the extent to which this grant will help develop that community further (maximum 750 words).
  • Specific rationale for why the study will be of interest to people outside the institution where it will be conducted (maximum 200 words).

    The completed application form and supporting documents should be sent by email to [email protected] 

     

    Selection Criteria and Review Process

    Submissions must be from groups/teams (whether existing or formed for the purposes of the proposed project).  Applications which do not fulfil these criteria will not be reviewed.

    Proposals are evaluated against the following criteria: 

  • Relevance, and clear goals related to health professions education and the specific gains for learners, faculty and/or patients
  • The extent the proposal builds on the work of others (literature and theory), and demonstrates current knowledge of the field
  • Appropriate methods (data collection, instruments). To what extent is the proposed project feasible?
  • How and to what extent will effective communication of the project and its results be accomplished (dissemination)?
  • What is the potential for national or international impact (research) in addition to local relevance.
  • Potential to further develop the community of practice within health professions education in the applicants’ local/national setting

    Applicants will be notified on the outcome of their application after the submission deadline has passed.
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