This year’s ALF call for proposals places more emphasis on statistics, and this is something that Akademistatistik – the Centre for Applied Biostatistics – can help you with. The Centre’s knowledgeable statisticians are now offering free consultation when planning your ALF* application.
The 2014 ALF call for proposals requires a better presentation of the design and statistical methodology in applications. Another preference is for a competent statistician to be involved in the project. Akademistatistik is now offering free advice in writing the application.
“A common issue when writing the application is defining the outcomes and how these can be analyzed, for example. Obviously, the outcomes are linked to the size of the study, which must be determined based on a combination of statistical and medical knowledge where Akademistatistik can contribute the statistical part but also provide experience from its involvement in many other applications,” says Professor Max Petzold, who is head of activities at Akademistatistik.
Akademistatistik is offering up to four hours of free consultation before your ALF application is submitted, and will be offering statisticians to projects that are awarded funding.
Strong growth
Akademistatistik was formed three years ago, and has since grown from two to ten employees including a professor, three PhD statisticians and two PhD students.
“Akademistatistik supports a large number of research projects with everything from multi-annual involvement in projects to shorter consultations, free of charge. In the three years that we have existed, we have been involved in over 70 scientific publications,” says Max Petzold.
Partner in register-based research
Cooperation with Registercentrum Väst and register-based research in the region has become a big collaborator for Akademistatistik. Akademistatistik is one of the research teams included in the Swedish Research Council’s Simsam project at the University of Gothenburg. This project, which is headed by Annika Rosengren, recently received SEK 18 million in funding over five years in order to strengthen its register-based studies of the heart. GU centrally has funded the project with an additional SEK 6 million.
Akademistatistik also conducts its own research in the development of methods for analysis, multi-item instruments, analyzing outcomes and causal inferences in the area of pain, as well as statistical monitoring of disease outbreaks.
Responsible for several courses
Akademistatistik was mainly formed to be responsible for education and training in the field of statistics at the undergraduate and postgraduate education levels. Today, Akademistatistik is involved in virtually all programs at the Sahlgrenska Academy and runs eight of its own postgraduate courses per year. Examples of courses include introductory courses in Medical statistics 1 and 2, as well as more specialized courses such as Statistical trial planning, register-based statistics and survival analysis.
“The teaching side has also grown and we are now selling courses to the Gothenburg School of Economics among others and to courses for training specialists. During the spring, a lectureship in register-based statistics and a professorship in health economics with a focus on register-based studies will be filled, and a further lectureship in biostatistics will be advertised,” says Max Petzold.
* ALF stands for Avtal om samarbete om grundutbildning av läkare, medicinsk forskning och utveckling av hälso- och sjukvården (Agreement on cooperation in undergraduate education of doctors, medical research and the development of health and medical care).
Contact: max.petzold@gu.se
* ALF stands for Avtal om samarbete om grundutbildning av läkare, medicinsk forskning och utveckling av hälso- och sjukvården (Agreement on cooperation in undergraduate education of doctors, medical research and the development of health and medical care).
