Frequently Asked Questions

OREF is located in Rosemont, IL, a suburb of Chicago.

Our mailing address is:
9400 W. Higgins Road, Suite 215
Rosemont, IL 60018-4975

No. OREF provides funding to individuals who are conducting research in the field of orthopaedics. For more information about OREF's grant programs, please visit the Grants section of the website.

Under the funding opportunity announcement, click on the link to proposalCENTRAL. On the top right hand corner of the page, click the login prompt. If you do not have an account in proposalCENTRAL, click the “Create One”  prompt. Once logged in, you are able to access and complete the application.  

OREF no longer accepts paper applications. All grant applications must be submitted electronically through proposalCENTRAL for funding consideration.

A proposal may be submitted twice. For re-submissions, you must review and address the proposal's weaknesses, noted in the peer reviewers' feedback, in an introduction. The one-page introduction should be included as a part of the research plan and does NOT count against the research plan page limit.

A Co-Principal Investigator is recognized by the OREF as an individual who shares with the Principal Investigator (PI) the responsibility for the conduct of a research project, including meeting all compliance and reporting requirements.

A Co-Investigator is an individual recognized by the OREF and the PI as someone making a significant scientific contribution to a project. The PI generally relies on the  Co-Investigator to assume responsibilities above those of other personnel. However, even in such instances, the PI is the individual who bears primary responsibility for the research project.

A resident may be a PI or Co-PI on the Resident Research Project Grant, New Investigator Grant and Resident Clinician Scientist Training Grant. For all other grants, a resident may be an "other" investigator, but not the PI or Co-PI.

An early stage investigator has completed his/her training within 10 years of medical residency or PhD coursework and hasn’t secured independent funding from the NIH or other large scale funder. A new investigator, on the other hand, simply hasn’t secured independent funding in the role of PI, and the years in practice or as a postdoc are not a consideration.

U.S. citizenship is not always a requirement. In some cases, investigators at Canadian institutions are eligible to apply. You should carefully review the eligibility instructions for each grant.

No. OREF does not allow overhead costs to be included in the budget.

You should limit the amount requested on your application to the stated amount allowed. On the budget justification page, you should include a description of the source of any additional funding you may receive to complete your project.

All key personnel who are essential to your project must be listed on your application. Additionally, you should include one or two sentences in your budget justification to describe the role of each person working on your project. A biosketch must be submitted for all personnel on your project using the form in the application.

OREF has no minimum requirement unless otherwise noted in the application. Nonetheless, a principal investigator generally expends at least 10% of his or her time on a successful project. Be sure to include information in the designated area of the application.

You should submit your application by the due date to OREF and indicate on the application that approval is pending. Once you receive notification by your institution, you should submit evidence from the institution's IRB or IACUC of final approval to OREF.

Formatting requirements are very important. While we are somewhat flexible in page length, type size and margin requirements are strictly enforced. Adhering to type size requirements is important because reviewers must be able to easily read your application.

You should list the institution where you will be conducting your research. You should also attach a letter from the department Chair at the new institution confirming your new position and the institution's support of your proposed project.

As a Principal Investigator, you may apply in only one category per cycle. This restriction does not apply to Co-PI status or to applicants to the Mentored Clinician Scientist Grant.

You can submit a grant for funding, but you cannot serve as a reviewer in that grant category.

Grantees must request approval to change from the PI of the original award to a new PI. The OREF Research Grants Committee (RGC) can approve this change without peer review of the new PI as long as there aren’t any changes to the research plan.

To request a change in PI, send a letter or email to OREF's Vice President of Grants and include the following information:

• Reason for the change
• Biographical sketch of the proposed new PI
• Certification of human subjects training if the proposed new PI will be working with human subjects
• Budget changes resulting from the change in PI

If the RGC denies the request, justification for the denial will be provided. In the event that an acceptable replacement is not named, OREF will terminate the grant.

If the change is approved, OREF will issue a revised Notice of Award with a project period end date that coincides with the new PI's departure date.