HRS Research Fellowship Scholarship Policies

The HRS Research Fellowship Scholarship Program is governed by the following policies:

Activation and Duration of the Scholarship
A full-year fellowship is awarded for a period of not less than one year and starts July 1, 2026. Activation dates other than July 1, 2026, must be approved by HRS staff and the fellowship subcommittee chair. An alternative activation date must be requested in a separate letter accompanying the application. Full-year fellowship Scholarships cannot be activated before June 1, 2026, or after November 1, 2026.

Renewal and Extension of Full-Year Scholarships
Fellowship recipients are eligible to apply for competitive renewal of the fellowship, which will provide one additional year of funding. Competitive renewal applications should be accompanied by a 1-page supplement specifically indicating the work accomplished during the previous period of support and clearly showing justification for renewed funding. This supplement is not included in the 4-page limit for the research, and it cannot be used to describe the proposed research. Competitive renewal applicants will not be limited to three cumulative years of post-graduate research experience. HRS funds a maximum of two years only; applications for a third year of funding will not be considered.

Location of the Fellowships
As previously stated, this is an international fellowship opportunity. The same application criteria will consider all applicants and all research will be regulated by the ethical standards and reporting responsibilities set forth below. All written and verbal correspondence must be in English. All funding will be paid in United States Dollars. The applicant must make all necessary arrangements for any fellowship, both with the institution where the research and/or training will occur and with his/her research mentor, who will supervise the recipient’s activities. Such arrangements must be acknowledged by signature from an authorized official of the institution and the research mentor.

Ethical Standards
The Heart Rhythm Society requires that:

• Any research involving human subjects conform to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (Clinical Research 1992 Dec; 40 (4): 653-60) and Title 45, US Code of Federal Regulations, Part 46 Protection of Human Subjects, and
• Any research involving animals will conform to the Guiding Principles in the Care and Use of Animals approved by the Council of the American Physiological Society.

The sponsoring institution and the mentor must provide evidence that all investigations engaged in by the fellow are under the institution’s control and its investigational review board or other appropriate body. Documentation of regulatory approval must be provided to the HRS office prior to the release of fellowship funds.

Reports
According to the NIH Public Access Policy, the results of work carried out by a fellow must be made publicly available through scientific channels. All reports on work supported by the fellowship should acknowledge the Society’s support. An appropriate format for such acknowledgment may be: “This work was performed during Dr. _________’s tenure as the (full name of Scholarship) Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society”. An electronic or paper reprint of each published article should be furnished to the Heart Rhythm Society.

In the year of the Scholarship, fellowship recipients will be required to present data from their research at the ‘Research Fellowship Presentations of Research and Scholarships’ held during the Heart Rhythm Society’s Annual Meeting. In addition, a one-page abstract of the fellowship project must be submitted for distribution at this program.

A final financial report and a report summarizing research progress and accomplishments during the funding period are to be submitted to the Heart Rhythm Society office no later than the last day of support for the fellowship. Failure to submit these reports by this deadline will result in forfeiture of the remaining monies owed.

Transfers
If the recipient of a fellowship leaves the site where he/she agreed to perform the fellowship, ceases work with the approved mentor, or ceases to continue the activities for which the Scholarship was made, the Scholarship will terminate unless alternate arrangements were approved in advance by HRS staff and the chair of the Fellowship Subcommittee.

Leave of Absence and Vacation
A leave of absence will be granted during a full-year fellowship with the prior approval of HRS staff, the chair of the Fellowship Subcommittee, the mentor, and the institution. Vacation for a full-year fellow may be taken per the institution’s policy where the fellowship is being performed but may not exceed 24 of the institution’s scheduled workdays per fellowship year.

Payments
Unless otherwise specified, quarterly installments of the full-year fellowship Scholarship will be sent via ACH to the sponsoring institution. The final installment is contingent upon receipt of the documentation described in the REPORTS section.