2025 NBME® Hubbard Award

Created in 1983, the John P. Hubbard Award is given annually to individuals who make outstanding contributions to the pursuit of excellence in the field of assessment in medical education.

ELIGIBILITY

To receive consideration for the award, a successful candidate will have demonstrated outstanding achievement in ALL of the following areas:

• A substantial record of fostering the development of evaluation methods and/or measurement techniques
• Personal contributions to basic or applied research in the creation or improvement of assessment methodology
• Accomplishment in improving the quality of evaluation at an organized level
• Contributions through the education or mentoring of students, colleagues, fellows, or graduate students, to further progress in evaluation.

(Recognition of contributions to medicine in curricular development, instructional methodology or medical training methods is not the primary purpose of the award.)

MAKE A NOMINATION

To nominate an outstanding individual for their excellence in the field of assessment in medical education a letter of nomination is to be submitted from a primary sponsor specifically addressing the nominee's achievements in relation to the eligibility criteria and is to be accompanied by the nominee's current curriculum vitae.

The Award Committee will select finalists. Nominators of finalists may be asked to submit additional information.

Direct all inquiries to:

Email: HubbardAward@nbme.org

*Please note that individuals currently employed as NBME staff members are not eligible for nomination, and contributions to the field of medical evaluation during employment by the NBME will not be included in consideration for the Hubbard Award.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATION 

One nomination letter is to be submitted from a primary sponsor specifically addressing the nominee's achievements relative to the eligibility criteria. The primary sponsor must also submit the nominee's current curriculum vitae with the nomination letter.  However, we welcome nomination letters for candidates nominated by a primary sponsor and co-sponsors. In that case, we request that the primary sponsor, as the main point of contact, combine all nomination letters into one file for upload. All documents to be uploaded must be in PDF format. 

If you have not previously used Submittable, please create a profile by clicking here: https://nbme.submittable.com/signup. Once you have completed this step, complete the application form and follow the instructions for uploading your information and application document.

If you have previously used the Submittable platform for other grant or review work for NBME, your submissions will be connected to the user email address on file. Your submissions will appear on your dashboard labeled with the title of your submission and the associated submission ID number. To sign in to your Submittable account, please access the platform here: https://nbme.submittable.com/login.

Submissions welcome until Friday, 9/27/2024

The Edward J. Stemmler, M.D. Medical Education Research Grant Program

2025 Funding Cycle: Letter of Intent

Submission Content and Formatting Guidelines

Purpose and Mission

The goal of the Stemmler Grant Program is to provide support for, research on, and development of pioneering assessment approaches that will enhance the professional development of those preparing to, or continuing to, practice medicine through funding medical education and assessment communities to drive future innovation.

The Stemmler grants serve as an extension of the NBME’s dedication to its mission: “...to protect the health of the public through state-of-the-art assessment of health professionals” and its commitment to support assessment-related research and development conducted by medical school faculty. The grant program is not intended to fund projects designed to develop commercialized assessment products and services and will not consider any such proposals for funding.

Expected outcomes of funded projects include innovative advances in the theory, knowledge, or practice of assessment at any point along the continuum of medical education and practice. Both pilot projects and more comprehensive efforts are of interest. Collaborative investigations within or among institutions are encouraged.

Eligibility Requirements

Open Science Principles: The Stemmler Grant Program is linked to NBME’s mission to serve the public. As such, it is expected that investigators abide by Open Science Principles in data sharing and reporting. If you are unable to follow these principles, please include rationale in your materials for review by the Stemmler Grant Committee. In the absence of a compelling rationale, preference will be given to proposals who agree to follow Open Science Principles (see http://opendefinition.org).

Investigator Team: Each project team must include an early career investigator mentored by the principal investigator and other team members. The intent is for the junior member of the team to make substantive contributions to the project, and thereby gain a broader understanding of medical education and assessment research.

Institutional Proposals: The Stemmler Committee will accept multiple LOIs from a single institution. However, they will only invite a maximum of one LOI per institution to submit a full proposal.
 

Letter of Intent

Requirements: The Letter of Intent (LOI) must follow the format below to provide a structured and succinct overview of your research that supports the mission of the Stemmler Grant Program. The document should contain no more than 1,500 words (sections 1-3), double spaced with no smaller than 10-point font. (Note: Section 4 and the Required Supplement are additional components with separate word counts.) You may include up to two appendices if they are critical to understanding your research; these will not be included in the word count. Videos, website links, and other forms of media are acceptable forms of appendices.

Submission Components:

Section 1: Study Purpose and Research Objectives

Include a concise statement describing the research project's fundamental purpose and the specific research problem(s) that will be addressed. The purpose statement should be followed by one or more research questions, one or more hypotheses to be tested, or the specific project objectives and deliverables.

The following is an example of a purpose statement and research questions from a prior project. It is not necessary that you follow this same format, but your statements should be similarly concise and explicit.

The purpose of this research is to determine whether a case diagramming technique can be used to assess students’ clinical reasoning with respect to the concepts taught in an integrated course on mechanisms of disease. Two research questions will be addressed: 

1. Are scores based on a case-diagramming tool sufficiently reliable for classroom use? 
2. Do scores on the case diagramming tool measure clinical reasoning more effectively than standard multiple-choice questions?

Section 2: Background and Rationale

This section should consist of two parts: (1) a brief literature review that situates the research within current knowledge. This should place the research project in the context of appropriate literature and cited challenges in medical education assessment; and (2) a description of how this research is innovative and how it has the potential to impact assessment in medical education. A list of up to 10 references can be included in this section. References are excluded from the word count.

Section 3: Design, Methods, and Analysis

Clearly describe and justify each portion of the overall study design including, as appropriate, the study participants, assessment or measurement procedures, data collection methods, and the analytic procedures used to address each research question listed in Section 1. This section should also include the theoretical framework and constructs for the analyses and any validity and reliability arguments supporting the methods. 

Sections 1-3 should total no more than 1500 words. 

Section 4: Response to Previous Reviewer Feedback (If Appropriate)

If you have submitted your LOI in a previous cycle and received feedback from the Stemmler Committee, please address the points as a supplement at the beginning or as part of the main sections of your LOI. We ask that you note the cycle year of the original submission. You may use up to an additional 300 words beyond the 1,500-word limit for this section.

Required Supplement: Roles of Research Team Members

In no more than 1 page per person, identify the individuals who will be filling the following roles on the project:

1.  Primary Investigator
2.  Methodologist/Assessment Specialist
3.  Mentored Early Career Investigator (see above for description) 

Include these individuals’ affiliations, qualifications for their role, and anticipated time on the project (e.g., total hours or hours per month).

In no more than 1 page per person, please describe each additional research team member’s (including any proposed consultants) qualifications for and contributions to the project. This should include the following: 

1.  Name and Degree
2.  Institutional Affiliation and Title/Position
3.  Role on and contribution to the Project (including anticipated time on the project)
4.  A paragraph describing their qualifications for the project/role

This section does not count toward the 1500-word limit.

Please refer to Submitting Your Completed LOI (below) regarding anonymization.

Letters of reference or character are not required. Please do not include them with your submission.

Submitting Your Completed Letter of Intent

Formatting an Anonymized Copy:

All documents for upload should be in PDF format and combined to be submitted as one document. You are required to submit two copies of the LOI to the Submittable site: one that is fully identified and one that is anonymized. 

Anonymized versions should omit any identifying names of individuals and institutions (including such information as affiliations or region).

Other than the required redactions, please be sure that the anonymized version is identical to the fully identified version, including all necessary LOI components. 

Submittable: 

The Stemmler Grant Program utilizes the platform Submittable for all submissions. You may access our account here: https://nbme.submittable.com/login. If you have not used Submittable before, please create an account to access our page and complete the submission process: https://nbme.submittable.com/signup. 

Note: If you have previously used the Stemmler Grant Program’s online submission platform outside of Submittable, your submissions were connected to the user email address on file. Your submissions will appear on your dashboard labeled with the title of your submission and previous submission ID number.

Submission Deadline:

All submissions are due by Monday, July 17, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern US).

Thank you for your interest in the Stemmler Medical Education Research Grant Program.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email stemmlerfund@nbme.org 

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

The application has two components: content that will be submitted via question prompts in Submittable and content that should be uploaded as a single combined PDF document in Submittable. 

TO BE COMPLETED IN SUBMITTABLE

Applicant Institution

Institution Contact / Principal Investigator

• This individual will be responsible for submitting the application and will receive notifications regarding application status.

Institution’s Authorized Representative 

• This individual or office contact has responsibility for reviewing and signing contracts and is usually an organization’s contracts or grants administrator.

Acknowledgement of non-commercialization

• As part of NBME’s philanthropic programs, the Emerging Innovators Grant Program supports the medical education and assessment communities to drive future innovations. The Program is not intended to support work to develop commercialized assessment products or services. The Emerging Innovators Grant Program selection committee will not consider any such proposals for funding. 

Abstract (350 word maximum)

• Describe the specific aims of the proposed project as well as any other applicable long-term objectives. Include a brief description of the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals. Address how this proposal meets the theme of this year’s call for application.
• Write in plain language, so a reviewer without a research background will be able to understand the importance of the project.

DOCUMENT UPLOAD

Please upload a single PDF which combines the following documents together.

1. Program Description. (Maximum of 6 pages.) 
2. Proposal Budget. (See attached template.)
3. Detailed Project Timeline. (Maximum of 1 page.)
4. Curriculum Vitae from each member of the team.
5. Existing IRB approvals or any IRB applications in process, as applicable.
6. Letter(s) of Support from institutional leadership. 

1. Program Description

• Describe your proposed project according to the prompts below. The description should be double spaced and written in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. If references are cited, this will not be considered part of the page count.  (Maximum of 6 pages.)

 Introduction

• Why is the topic important to medical education assessment? 
• How does the project impact issues related to diversity, equity, and/or inclusion?
• Please cite literature on what is already known about the topic and how this identifies the existing gap.
• A clear statement of hypothesis (if a research study) or a clear description of project scope and purpose (if an implementation project).

 Methods/Materials

• Description of a methodology that is appropriate to the question(s) or project plan. 
• A clear and detailed study design / implementation plan including elements such as: a description of population to be studied or involved, the types of instruments or techniques planned for measurement with a rationale, including any validity evidence for the instruments selected, and if instruments or materials are to be developed, how this is feasible for the scope and timetable of the project. 

 Evaluation/Analysis

• An evaluation plan that is appropriate for the study design and one that links to the anticipated outcomes and results.
• Rationale for the evaluation(s) or statistical methods selected. 

 Anticipated Outcomes and Results

• Discussion of the anticipated primary and any relevant secondary outcomes and how they will contribute to greater diversity, equity, and/or inclusion in medical education assessment. 

 Collaboration and Mentoring

• A description of the proposed mentor/mentee relationship(s). Explain what each will bring to the project and/or will gain during the project.
• Explain how you will involve diverse stakeholders (e.g., organizations, students, educators, perspectives) in this process (if applicable).

 Future steps

• Description of the next steps (for example, scale up or further funding potential), generalized use of the project results or findings, or potential integration into other learning settings. 

 Citations

• Use any format for reference citations.
• This section does not count toward the program description page limit.

 2. Budget 

• Please use the template to create a clear breakdown of the budget, including itemized expenses and justification for each cost. Indirect costs may not exceed 10% of the total requested grant amount. 

 3. Detailed Timeline 

• Please include a project plan outlining key milestones, activities and deliverables, preferably as visual timeline. The timeline should not exceed one page. 

 4. Curriculum Vitae

• Please include a current CV for each member of the research team.

 5. Existing IRB approvals or any IRB applications in process

• Please include any documents related to IRB application or approval.

 6. Letter(s) of Support

• Please include one or more letter(s) of support from institutional leadership (Division/Department Director, Dean, other program leader, etc.) for the project and for endorsement of the PI’s involvement in the project. 

 PROPOSAL EVALUATION 

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following factors:

• Thematic alignment to the call for proposals.  
• The potential to address at least one outcome related to DEI in medical education.  
• Feasibility of achieving the project’s intended aims, including demonstration of the appropriate skill level of the proposed team, available technology, mentorship, resources, and program evaluation plan.  
• Potential for meaningful impact at the institution and beyond, including scalability within medical education. 
• Collaboration among departments (disciplines), faculty members, or institutions. Additional consideration will be given to collaborations that include meaningful roles for medical students, residents, fellows and/or individuals who are underrepresented in medicine (including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, learning ability, and first-generation or socioeconomic status).  

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR COMPLETED PROPOSAL 

All documents to be uploaded should be in PDF format and submitted as one document. You are required to submit both a blinded and an identified copy of your proposal. Blinded versions should redact or omit any identifying names of individuals and institutions.

All submissions are due by Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern US)

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email NBMEInnovatorsGrant@nbme.org.