Growing the Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship Programme

Growing the Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship Programme

Paediatric and adolescent HIV clinical science

Mentors: have you identified a young investigator with immense potential?

Junior investigators: are you the next young leader in paediatric HIV clinical science?

The CIPHER Growing the Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship Programme aims to contribute to strengthened HIV clinical research capacity in high-burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa by providing two-year research fellowships to three emerging young leaders in paediatric HIV clinical science.

Specifically, the programme is aimed at medical practitioners from SSA with clinical research experience and the potential to become the next generation of leaders in paediatric HIV clinical science. Candidates will have established links with a potential mentor, who is a prominent researcher in paediatric HIV with an established clinical research collaboration based at an institute of excellence in SSA. By supporting their work with the mentor, the programme will strengthen each fellow’s research skills and facilitate their integration into international clinical research networks while also contributing to increased institutional capacity in SSA. The fellowship funds are to provide a stipend for the fellow and can support travel to attend one academic meeting to present results; fellowship funds are not intended to cover direct research expenses, which must be provided by the host institution or additional grants.

The programme has four key outcomes:

1. Fellows have increased knowledge and skills in HIV clinical research;
2. Fellows can compete more effectively for international research funding opportunities;
3. Fellows have strengthened relationships with a leading clinical scientist in paediatric HIV and with an institution of excellence in SSA;
4. Priority research gaps in paediatric HIV clinical science are addressed.

The Call for Applications is now available on the CIPHER website and submissions are accepted. Junior investigators, who have obtained their doctoral degree (PhD) or doctor of medicine degree (e.g. MD, MBBS, or equivalent) within the past 10 years and who have less than 5 years of relevant research experience, are eligible to apply. Proposals for research projects can be submitted until 15 March 2017, 18:00 CET through an online submission system on the CIPHER website. The research project should demonstrate the potential to contribute to the optimization of HIV diagnosis, prevention, treatment and care for infants, children and adolescents affected by HIV in sub-Saharan African countries by responding to identified clinical research gaps. The list of gaps can be found here.

Awards are for up to US$ 70,000 in total, including indirect costs and travel expenses. It is expected that the majority of the award will be used for the fellow’s stipend, distributed over the two-year fellowship period. The award will be made available to the mentor’s host institution.

Please kindly assist us by informing eligible candidates you may know of about the Growing the Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship Programme and disseminating this message and the Call for Applications within your professional networks, and through relevant media outlets, such as newsletters, websites and social media channels.

Thank you very much for your support in reaching out to potential candidates. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information: cipher@iasociety.org.