ACS Faculty Research Fellowships

Fellowship Timeline: July 2025–June 2027

The American College of Surgeons is offering two-year faculty research fellowships, through the generosity of Fellows, Chapters, and friends of the College, to surgeons entering academic careers in surgery or a surgical specialty. The fellowship is to assist a surgeon in the establishment of their research program under mentorship with the goal of transitioning to becoming an independent investigator. Applicants should have demonstrated their potential to work as independent investigators. The fellowship award is $40,000 per year for each of two years, to support the research.

Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS, Faculty Research Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons

This fellowship honors Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS, founder of the American College of Surgeons.

C. James Carrico, MD, FACS, Faculty Research Fellowship for the Study of Trauma and Critical Care

This fellowship honors C. James Carrico, MD, FACS, and is designated for research in trauma and critical care.

Eligibility

The applicant must be a Fellow or Associate Fellow of the ACS who has completed an accredited residency training program in surgery in the United States or Canada within the preceding five years, not including time off for parental leave, military deployment, or medical leave.
The applicant must have a full-time faculty appointment in a department of surgery or a surgical specialty at a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in the United States or by the Committee for Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools.
The applicant must demonstrate their potential to work as an independent investigator.
A minimum of 50 percent of the Fellow’s time must be spent in the research proposed in the application. This percentage may run concurrently with the time requirements of NIH or other accepted funding.
The ACS encourages diversity of applicants and institutions; only in exceptional circumstances will more than one scholarship be granted to applicants from the same institution.
The American College of Surgeons Scholarship Committee will not consider applicants who have already received extramural research awards over $25,000 from professional societies or extramural sponsors (i.e., NIH). Intramural K awardees are permitted to apply for this award. Extramural K awardees should be encouraged to apply for the Clowes Research Award.

Award Obligation

The award is $80,000 over two years (i.e., $40,000 per year) and should support of the applicant’s research or career development as needed for the research as the recipient deems maximally supportive of his/her investigations. Funds may be used to support the applicant’s salary. Indirect costs are not paid to the recipient or to the recipient’s institution.
The scholarship is awarded for two years, and acceptance of it requires commitment for the two-year period in a full-time faculty position. Funding typically begins in July of each year.
Before receiving the second year of funding, a narrative and financial progress report must be approved by the ACS Scholarships Executive Committee.
The recipient must attend the ACS Clinical Congress in the 2^nd year of the award to present an oral report on the research as part of the Scientific Forum and to the Scholarships Committee.

Application Requirements

The following information must be submitted according to the guidelines below. Applications that do not follow these instructions will not be considered.
Research Proposal (6 page maximum) containing the following:
- Specific Aims (1-page maximum)
- Significance (½ page maximum)
- Innovation (½ page maximum)
- Approach (4-page maximum)—should include both preliminary data and research design
Budget for 2 years with justification (1-page)
References (no page limit)
Formatting should be single-line spacing, Arial 11 font, and 1” margins.
A letter is required from the fiscal officer of the institution reflecting approval of the application, which does not allow any indirect costs to the recipient or institution (1-page maximum).
A letter from the Chair of the department is required. The letter should clearly state that the application holds a full-time position in the department and indicate a commitment to the continuation of the applicant’s academic position and facilities for research. The letter must also state that a minimum of 50 percent of the applicant’s time will be spent in the research proposed in the application. This percentage may run concurrently with the time requirement of NIH or other accepted funding (1-page maximum).
A letter from the primary mentor who will be supervising the applicant’s research must be submitted, with content including a mentoring and training plan. The primary mentor must be an ACS Fellow. ACS Scholarships Committee members cannot serve as primary or co-mentor for this application. If the Chair is the mentor/co-mentor of the applicant, two separate letters should be submitted (2-page maximum).
A NIH-style Biosketch is required for each the applicant and their primary mentor (5-page maximum).

We will be accepting applications for the 2026-2028 award in September 2025.

Additional documents and questions are to be directed to the Scholarships Administrator: scholarships@facs.org or Scholarships Administrator, American College of Surgeons, 633 N. Saint Clair St., Chicago, IL 60611-3295.