Douglas S. Erickson Health Care Research Award – Application Process
History
The Douglas S. Erickson Research Award, inaugurated in 2024, represents a significant commitment to advancing the field of health care design. Named in honor of Doug Erickson, FASHE, a visionary leader and former CEO of FGI, the award encapsulates his dedication to fostering research-backed consensus-based guidelines to enhance the safety of health care facilities. This prestigious award underscores the importance of integrating research and education in the practice of health care design, specifically emphasizing the role of the FGI Code (also known as Guidelines for Design and Construction).
Administered in partnership with the Center for Health Design (CHD), the award aligns with CHD’s mission to advance best practices in health care design and empower health care leaders with quality research that demonstrates the value of design to improve health outcomes, patient experience of care, and provider/staff satisfaction and performance. By spotlighting the critical link between design research and improved patient outcomes, the Douglas S. Erickson Research Award plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of the health care built environment.
GOALS
1. Cultivate research on spaces in health and residential care built environments.
2. Improve knowledge and understanding of how design choices impact patient outcomes and staff safety and satisfaction.
3. Expand the role of research in setting minimum requirements in the FGI Code.
4. Encourage collaboration through participation in the revision process.
Amount
The Douglas S. Erickson Research Award will be presented every four years to coincide with the FGI Guidelines revision cycle. The inaugural award recipient(s) will be announced in 2026.
Term
The award will be distributed over four years as follows:
- • 40 percent upon approval of research plan and proposed budget
- • 25 percent upon satisfactory review of required progress report
- • 20 percent upon satisfactory review of draft research paper
- • 15 percent upon successful completion of requirements and acceptance of research paper manuscript
Eligibility
The Douglas S. Erickson Research Award is available to candidates from public and private sectors with a demonstrated interest in health and residential care design and planning. Priority will be given to research proposals that are carefully planned to result in shareable knowledge that supports the content of the FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction documents. Most successful applications will include or be composed of individuals with formal, advanced training in research methods.
Applications that include participation by board members of the Pillars of Health Care Architecture must be clearly identified. Any other potential conflicts of interests should be identified in the application. Research that develops proprietary knowledge or tools will generally not be favorably considered, given FGI’s mission of promoting consensus-based guidelines advised by research. Organizations or individuals that submit more than one proposal are eligible to have only one proposal funded per organization/individual.
Applicant requirements
The application shall consist of the following:
1. Application form
2. Three letters of recommendation
3. A narrative of the proposed research, including:
• Statement of the problem
• Goals of the research
• Research methods and processes that will be employed
• Assessment of how the research would impact minimum standards in the FGI Guidelines documents.
4. Schedule
5. Proposed project budget
Research proposal
FGI and CHD are seeking proposals for the Douglas S. Erickson Research Award that focus on a single topic important to the design of health and/or residential care facilities.
The recipient(s) will be expected to:
1. Prepare the manuscript in a format that could be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.
2. Present research findings to the Health Guidelines Revision Committee
3. Present research findings at the ASHE PDC Summit within three years of commencement of the grant
4. Complete a Key Point Summary of the research using The Center’s Knowledge Repository format.
All publication and presentation materials will be required to identify funding support from the Douglas S. Erickson Research Award, administered by the Facility Guidelines Institute and the Center for Health Design.
Budget
| Budget | Overview | Allowed Expenses | Disallowed Expenses |
| Requirements | A research budget worksheet is required with the application. Favorable consideration may be given to proposals that demonstrate a committed financial match to maximize financial support for the funded research project. | Expenses directly related to the funded research are allowed. These direct expenses include researcher time, research assistant time, research equipment/technology, project-related travel expenses (e.g., travel to project site, field work) and required travel to present research findings. Other expenses may be considered. | This award is not permitted to be used to pay indirect expenses such as program administration and overhead. Indirect expenses include but are not limited to office supplies, postage, travel to visit research consultants, and administrative/clerical support staff not directly engaged in the funded research. |
Timeline
YEARS 1-2
A progress report needs to be submitted by the recipient to the Douglas S. Erickson Research Award selection committee no later than 24 months from the award date. The intent of this report is to update the selection committee on progress to-date.
YEAR 3
The recipient must complete the draft of the research paper and submit it to the selection committee for review no later than 36 months from the award date.
YEAR 4
The complete and final research paper manuscript, the Key Point Summary, and the ASHE PDC Summit presentation are required to be completed no later than 48 months from the award date. The presentation to the Health Guidelines Revision Committee shall be completed no later than the first in-person HGRC meeting of the 2034 Guidelines revision cycle.
Policies
Non-discrimination
FGI and the Center for Health Design (CHD) are each independent 501(c)(3) non-profit corporations. FGI and CHD do not discriminate based on race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status.
Ethics
Research studies that involve human subjects must satisfy the following requirements prior to commencing research (though not necessarily prior to application):
- 1. Human Subjects Training (such as Collaborative Institutional Training (CITI) or National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Subjects Training) must be completed for all actively involved investigators.
- 2. Applicants must have an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval on file and available if requested.
Application schedule
Award RFP announced
June 2026
Submission deadline
September 2026
Recipient(s) announced
October 2026
Research commences
January 2027
Contact
Facility Guidelines Institute
Heather Livingston
Chief Executive Officer
heather@fgiguidelines.org
Center for Health Design
Ellen Taylor
Vice President for Research
etaylor@healthdesign.org
