Research

ATA's Student Research Grant program

Please note: As of January 1, 2008, ATA has updated the ATA Student Grant Application Form and revised submission requirements. Please read the following FAQs and grant instructions carefully to ensure full compliance with ATA standards.

ATA awards a maximum of $10,000 per year for one year. Application deadlines are June 30th and December 31st of each year.

What is the ATA Student Research Grant Program?
Who is eligible for an ATA student grant?
How does the application process work?
Who judges grant applications?
What criteria does the committee use to judge student grant applications?
What should be included in the application?
What are the funding levels and budget restrictions?
What terms and conditions should I be aware of?
Our state laws differ from the grant language. Can we modify the legal agreement?
Where do I send my grant application
Who do I contact with further questions about ATA's Tinnitus Student Research Grant Program?

Q: What is the ATA Student Research Grant Program?

The American Tinnitus Association Student Research Grant program financially supports scientific studies investigating tinnitus. Studies must be directly concerned with tinnitus and contribute to ATA's goal of finding a cure.

Q: Who is eligible for an ATA student grant?

Doctoral students, including Ph.D. and Au.D. candidates, or medical residents affiliated with an American (U.S.) non-profit institution. Each candidate must have a qualified mentor supporting their research.

Q:How does the application process work?

Student grant proposals must be received at ATA headquarters by June 30th or December 31st. We accept applications year-round for these two grant cycles. However, we must receive your application in full by one of these deadlines.

If your application has formatting errors, we will e-mail you with a request for revisions. If so, we must receive your revised application within 7 business days from the date on the e-mail. Once your application properly follows the guidelines, ATA staff will notify you via e-mail that we have accepted your proposal for review.

The following cycles apply:

  • Grant applications received between January 1 and June 30: notification by that December, with funds disbursed for approved projects in January.
  • Grant applications received between July 1 and December 31: notifications by the following June, with funds disbursed in July.

After the board of directors makes its funding decisions, ATA sends each student applicant:

  • A notification letter indicating acceptance or rejection of the application.
  • Proposal reviews, written by the experts who reviewed it

Q: Who judges student grant applications?

ATA's Scientific Advisory Committee evaluates all proposals for a given grant cycle. The committee includes some of the United States’ best tinnitus researchers. This committee crafted ATA’s Roadmap to a Cure, the innovative research guide that puts scientists on track toward a cure for tinnitus and helps guide ATA’s funding decisions. The committee makes recommendations to ATA's board of directors, which makes final funding decisions.

Q: What criteria does the committee use to judge student grant applications?

Grant funding is competitive. ATA's Scientific Advisory Committee considers the subject of the research; the quality of its design; its potential for making advances in basic knowledge or for clinical application; the available facilities and personnel at the institution in which the research will be carried out; the qualifications of the investigator and mentor; and compliance with ATA’s Roadmap to a Cure.

Q: What should be included in the application?

The student grant application has a specific format for filling in required information. The application includes requests for a student training plan, a letter of support from the student’s research mentor and a report of scholastic performance.

In addition to the application form, you must submit a concisely written research proposal containing detailed descriptions of the following elements:

  1. Introduction, statement of the problem and specific aims of the research
  2. Background and significance of the issue
  3. Relevant preliminary or pilot studies
  4. The facility that will house the study and/or administer the funds
  5. Discussion of relevant literature and, where appropriate, standardized tinnitus measures
  6. Outline of intended study procedures:
    • Study design
    • Sampling and measurement data to be used
    • Description of analysis and evaluation plan
  7. Outcomes expected from the study and the study's use

Q: What are the funding levels and budget restrictions?

ATA awards student research grants of up to $10,000 for one year.

  1. Grant funds awarded by ATA MAY be budgeted and used for:
    • Equipment and supplies, including drugs and services.
    • Travel to a scientific conference by the student investigator.
  1. Grant funds MAY NOT be used for:
    • Salary or tuition support of student investigator.
    • Salary support for research mentor.
    • Travel by research mentor.
    • Information or printing costs.
    • Indirect costs.

ATA must approve budget changes of more than (+/-) 15 percent, within or between approved categories. Descriptions of budget changes less than (+/-) 15 percent must be included in the final expenditure report.


Q: What terms and conditions should I be aware of?

ATA can only make grants to non-profit tax-exempt institutions, public or private, to support research conducted at those institutions by investigators who are staff members or otherwise formally affiliated with the institution.

  1. Expenditures
    • Acceptance of a research grant acknowledges responsibility on the part of the institution and the principal investigator for using grant funds only for those purposes set forth in the application and approved in the American Tinnitus Association acceptance letter.
    • Any significant changes in the project's budget, personnel or objectives require prior approval from the American Tinnitus Association.
    • Annual financial reports and annual, lay-language project reports are required for multi-year grants.
    • A financial report, a lay-language report and a final, scientific project report must be submitted to the American Tinnitus Association at the end of the grant period.
  2. Unexpended funds
    • Unless otherwise authorized by ATA, investigators must return to ATA all unexpended funds, along with the final reports, at the conclusion of the grant period.
    • Any additional support desired requires a subsequent formal application.
  3. Grant publications and publicity policy
    • ATA expects investigators to make the results of their research promptly available to the scientific public.
    • Findings reported to scientific audiences or scientific journals or publicized in any way must include acknowledgement (e.g., in a credit line) of the American Tinnitus Association grant support - whether whole or in part. Investigators must submit a copy of any findings or publications to ATA.

Q. Our state laws differ from the grant language. Can we modify the legal agreement?

If state laws prohibit you from signing the ATA grant application as written, please submit, with your signed application, revised legal language that is acceptable to your institution.

In this case, if your grant is funded, we will re-sign a grant agreement containing final language acceptable to both your institution and ATA.

You may also use the following language:

The undersigned agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend ATA from and against all liability, judgments, attorney fees, costs or claims arising from the conduct of the undersigned, or from the conduct of its investigators, researchers, agents or employees, while conducting the research proposed by this application. However, the foregoing provision is effective only as permitted by [state] law, including but not limited to [your state statutes, etc].

Q: Where do I send my student grant application?

Please submit your application in electronic format (in a single Word file) on a computer disk, and three signed print copies, including one with original signatures to:

Director of Research
American Tinnitus Association
65 S.W. Yamhill St.
Portland, OR 97204

We will confirm receipt of your application by email within three business days.

Q: Who do I contact with further questions about ATA's Tinnitus Student Research Grant Program?

If you have questions after reading the ATA Web site and downloading the ATA Grant Application Form, contact the Director of Research at 800-634-8978, x218 or e-mail research@ata.org.