UQ can assist in finding relevant funding sources for research; library services; research partnerships; scholarships; managing research grants; infrastructure to store and manage research data; specialised equipment for research; information technology and software services; high performance computing; protecting intellectual property; marketing and commercialisation services and publishing and sharing of research findings.
Planning for Research
Research Idea
If you have an idea and you wish to check its viability as a project, there are a number of things you can do:
- Talk to your colleagues in your own department or unit and explore the idea further. You often need the support of your colleagues and line manager/director to complete a research project
- If you are affiliated with UQRCS, share your idea with the UQRCS Research Team
- Attend one of the monthly Research Clinic meetings on Wednesdays (5-6pm), first meeting to be held on Wednesday 21/2/24 and discuss potential next steps in person or via Zoom: https://uqz.zoom.us/j/88105196422
- Subscribe to the research monthly email newsletter (from UQRCS) by sending a request to UQRCS Research Team
- If your idea has a commercial potential or if you want to work with governmental datasets, please discuss your idea (in confidence) with the Head of Research, UQRCS
Research timelines
Research Activity | Average time |
Developing a protocol |
|
Develop a study protocol for a clinical audit for low and negligible risk (LNR) type study | 40+ hours |
Develop a study protocol for a clinical trial including detailed literature review, study design, statistical analyses | 200+ hours |
Applying for grants |
|
Prepare a competitive application seeking funds for medical research to the NHMRC or other relevant funding bodies | 3-6 months |
Announcement of the funding results by the NHMRC after submission of your application | 4-6 months |
Ethics Applications and Reports |
|
Complete ethics submission for low and negligible risk study using ERM or HREA system. | 2+ hours |
Complete ethics submission for interventional studies including clinical trials using ERM or HREA system. | 5+ hours |
Develop participant information and consent forms | 2-4 hours |
Turnaround time for LNR studies after submission to ethics committees | 60+ days |
Turnaround time for interventional studies after submission to ethics committees. (60 days minimum and plan for another 60 days if significant revisions are requested by the ethics committee) | 120+ days |
Complete the Annual/progress report to ethics committee (LNR) | 1-2 hours |
Complete the Final report to ethics committee (LNR) | 2 hours |
Site specific Approval |
|
Complete Site-Specific Approval submission for research at a HHS site | 5+ hours |
Average turnaround time for Site Specific Approval after ethics clearance (LNR) | 2-4 weeks |
Turnaround time for Site Specific Approval after ethics clearance (multi-site studies) | 4-6 months depending on the number of sites |
Clinical Trials Preparation |
|
Setup a web-based electronic case-report forms for clinical trials (that conforms to FDA regulations) | 2-3 months |
Register a clinical trial protocol with a registry such as clinicaltrials.gov
| 1-2 hours |
Data collection, Collection Tools and Data Management |
|
Audit a typical medical record at a hospital or GP setting | 30-45 minutes |
Develop a survey questionnaire with 20 questions and set it up in survey monkey | 4-8 hours |
Develop a data collection tool in a spreadsheet or database depending on the complexity | 2-4 hours |
Create a new record and data storage/collaborative space within UQRDM | 30 minutes |
Turnaround time for statistical analyses and reporting for a study | 4 weeks |
Collaborative and Student Agreements |
|
Turnaround time for developing research collaboration agreements (RCA) (between UQ and any HHS in Qld) | 3-6 months |
Complete medical student IP agreement signed off by UQ (SIPCA) | 4 weeks |
Getting HDR students to complete IP deed poll (SIPC) | 1 week |
Staff Recruitment |
|
Recruit and employ casual research staff at UQ | 2-4 weeks |
Recruit and employ contract research staff or an academic at UQ | 8-16 weeks |
Manuscript Preparation |
|
Prepare an abstract (250 words) for presentation at a conference (if you have all the results readily available) | 1-2 hours |
Prepare a manuscript for submission to peer-reviewed journals | 1-3 months |
Time for journals to review and decide to publish your submitted manuscript (including revisions) | 3-12 months |
Complete Research |
|
To complete a PhD | 3-4 years full time 6-7 years part time |
Usual time it takes from conceiving a clinical research idea to publishing the findings in a journal | 1-3 years |
*Average time for a researcher, depending on your research experience, this may take longer.
Research resources
Proposal guidelines (PDF, 124 kb) provide a series of questions to enable the student, clinician or researcher to consider aspects related to their research and includes advice on who to contact for help with particular aspects
The research proposal template (PDF, 157 kb) assists in determining the feasibility of rudimentary research ideas and provides a structured format in which to present your research idea Once you have a short protocol for the project and support from your workplace, you may wish to discuss your ideas, research processes and timelines for the project more fully with an experienced researcher.
The 2023 research manual can be found here: Getting Started in Research UQRCS
Including medical students in your research
If you are a healthcare worker wishing to recruit a medical student from the Rural Clinical School (RCS) to assist with a research project or quality assurancce activity, please use this survey to nominate a project. For assistance completing the survey, please refer to this document Student research tipsheet (PDF, 149.6 KB).
For further details about including medical students in your research, please refer to the Faculty of Medicine Student Research Portal.
Support from the Faculty of Medicine
UQRCS is one of the three main schools within the Medical School in the Faculty of Medicine. The Faculty can help with partnership agreements and research collaboration agreements; ethics guidelines; promotion of research expertise; biostatistical support; grant scheme assistance and support for student summer scholarships. Further information is available from the Research Strategy and Support Office.