• Andrew CONWAY MORRIS MD, MRC – Clinician Scientist, University of Cambridge; Hon Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Chair, Infection Section, ESICM
• Nathan D. NIELSEN M.D., M.Sc., FCCM – Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology; Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine & Section of Transfusion Medicine and Therapeutic Pathology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine; Executive Editor – European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) Academy

Endorsement: This Course is endorsed by the Research Committee of ESICM. 

The Research Learning Pathway consists of a blended learning scheme involving online self-study, virtual courses and research projects. The three levels include:

• Level 1 “Introduction to critical care research” in June – November 2024 and culminated in a well-received two-day virtual course. 
• Level 2 “Nuts and bolts of critical care research design”  in late 2024 and culminated in a two-day virtual course in April 2025. 
• Level 3 “Development and design of a critical care research project” in mid-2025 until the ESICM Awards submission in early 2026

Participants can subscribe for the full pathway or can take levels separately, according to their previous experience and preferences. 

Overall Aim: the aim of the course is to provide an educational resource for intensive care trainees, qualified intensivists and allied health professionals who want to learn how to conduct and appraise research in intensive care.

Overall Objectives:

• To provide an introduction to research and research methods for participants with little or no post-graduate research experience
• Over time, to develop a modular system which will allow both a progressive build from the basic introduction and modules which may be of specific interest to those with more research experience who want a refresher or need focused training on a specific topic.
• To cover the range of skills and knowledge required to embark on a career as an intensive care researcher

Level 1 “Introduction to critical care research” includes

• Online self-study
• Module 1: Introduction to Research in ICU
• Module 2: Data analysis and statistics – partner with data science
• A 2-day e-Course: November 19-20, 2024

Content

• Research in the ICU: critical research in a unique environment
• What are the barriers to research in critical care, how can we overcome them?
• Research at the bedside: how clinicians can apply knowledge from pre-clinical and clinical studies to the patient
• Populations and research questions
• Choosing an outcome measure for a study
• Red flags in trial design
• Moving beyond fatal outcomes in ICU research
• Unhelpful observational studies
• ICU Design a trial
• Study size, attributable risk, effect size and powering made easy
• How do we break the streak of negative trials?
• Biological data, biomarkers and diagnostic studies

Accreditation

The Research Learning Pathway – Level 1, Virtual, Belgium 19/11/2024 – 20/11/2024, has been accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) with 10.5 European CME credits (ECMEC®s). Each medical specialist should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.
Through an agreement between the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes and the American Medical Association, physicians may convert EACCME® credits to an equivalent number of AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Information on the process to convert EACCME® credit to AMA credit can be found at https://edhub.ama-assn.org/pages/applications.
Live educational activities, occurring outside of Canada, recognised by the UEMS-EACCME® for ECMEC®s are deemed to be Accredited Group Learning Activities (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Level 2 “Nuts and bolts of critical care research design” aims to offer a more advanced approach and will include:

• Online self-study
  • Module 3: How to read, write and review a paper – partner with ICM
  • Module 4: Systematic reviews – partner with SRG
  • Module 5: Applying for Funding
• A 2-day e-Course: April 29-30, 2025

This level is currently closed. For more information see Level 3, soon open for registration. 

Dates to be determined

Level 3 “Development and design of a critical care research project” is distinct from the previous two levels in that it moves from being an interactive teaching phase to practical work. At this level, participants are expected to develop a research proposal up to the point of being ready to submit the project for funding.  Faculty involvement will shift from teaching to a mentorship role, supporting and guiding participants in developing a research proposal in their chosen area.

Kick-off meeting

The first part of this level will be a virtual Kick-off meeting, where the participants will be introduced to each other and their designated mentor(s).  At this meeting, expectations around participation and eventual outcome (a project ready for funding submission) will be set and the project initiated.

Online work – Proposal development

Participants will be expected to meet online to discuss and develop their project proposal.  They will be expected to have completed a literature review in their chosen area, refined their research question and put together a project proposal at the level of detail expected for an ESICM project award.

LIVES 2025 meeting

The research pathway comes to its final fruition at the LIVES 2025 meeting in Munich, Germany. A one-day Face-to-face mentor-mentee meeting will consist of some teaching but mostly will be dominated by a presentation and critique of the participants’ research projects.  The aim of the session will be to give Level 3 participants an opportunity to gain experience in presenting and defending a research project whilst also gaining expert advice from an experienced panel of researchers who have both applied for funding and sat on funding awards bodies. The panel will be composed of ESICM researchers who have not been involved in mentoring the participants so as to maintain independence.

Proposal submission to ESICM Awards 2026

This level is currently closed. For more information see Level 1, soon open for registration.

This learning pathway aims to provide an educational resource for intensive care trainees, qualified intensivists, intensive care nurses and allied health professionals who wish to learn how to conduct and appraise research in intensive care.

Join the programme if you wish to:

• Improve your knowledge and skills required to embark on a career as an intensive care researcher
• Meet colleagues and experts from all over the world
• Exchange best practices and learn from each other
• Join our network of researchers and contribute to more evidence-based projects

ESICM members from the Emerging Nations and Eastern Europe (see list of countries here) are entitled to an discount on registration fees. To qualify, participants must be active ESICM members for the current year. To become a member, please see more information here.