Research Fellowship

This Fellowship succeeds the Nordisk Grant for the Study of Growth which was established in 1978 on the initiative of the late Professor Andrea Prader, the late Professor Henning Andersen and the late Henry Brennum (Nordisk Gentofte A/S).

The Research Fellowship is supported by an unrestricted grant from Novo Nordisk Health Care AG, Switzerland.

Applications are now closed. 

Grant Information

• One Research Fellowship grants of €125,000 will be available in 2023 for application for up to two years of research training in a centre of excellence, for those who are intending to pursue a career in
  paediatric endocrinology. This will also cover the living expenses of the fellow.

• An additional €15,000 is available for the two year period, in addition to the €125,000, for consumable costs (travel and laboratory expenses). These costs need to be outlined in the application and original receipts will be required for payment of these costs. Please note the host/home institutions that supervise the fellow are not eligible to claim overhead costs.

• Travel and accommodation should be arranged by the fellow. In addition, travel costs are to be reasonable and kept to a minimum.

Eligibility

Specific Requirements

• Applicants should be at pre-doctorate level and demonstrate an interest in, and potential for, performing high quality research in any field of paediatric endocrinology. However, please note that projects related to diabetes and obesity will not be considered in this call. 
• Applicants should be based in Europe at the time of application
• Applicants should be an ESPE member or should have applied for ESPE membership at the time of application. Apply here.
• The applicant will be proposed by their current Supervisor/Head of Department, who must be an ESPE member
• Current members of the Science Committee and ESPE Council are not eligible to apply for this grant 
• Applications from candidates who are based in the same research group as any member of the Science Committee cannot be considered for the grant, i.e. members of the Science Committee cannot be involved in the development, execution or outcomes of the project, including any publications resulting from the grant to upcoming projects and activities, nor in the decision on the grant allocation.
• The fellowship can be held in the applicant's current department or could be held at another institution with the relevant expertise in paediatric endocrinology
• If the fellowship is held in the applicant's current department, a period of time spent in another institution to, for instance, learn another technique would be viewed favourably but not mandatory
• Please include a contingency plan for travel disruption due to the pandemic, whereby the research could be conducted at your home institute or delayed appropriately
• A grant must be activated within 6 months of receipt
• No Principal Investigator can hold two Research Fellowship grants at any one time. If they wish to apply again they must have completely finished their previous project. Principal Investigators can however be supporting investigators in new applications whilst they hold a grant as PI. Applications will be selected on merit as per usual.
• ESPE is not currently accepting grant applications from Russia or Belarus

Selection Criteria

The applications will be scored based on the following criteria: 

• Applicant CV 
• Host CV and institution 
• Focus and quality of application
• Hypothesis
• Methodology and experimental design
• Potential for publication and further research
• Timing and feasibility
• Budget justification
• Benefit for applicant and home institution
• Relevance of the topic

If you have any queries regarding the scientific content of your application please contact the Research Fellowship Convenor Professor Svetlana Lajic (svetlana.lajic@ki.se) for discussion. Any queries regarding documentation administration, both in the application stage and in the grant claim stage, should be directed toward the ESPE Office (espe@mci-group.com). 

Evaluation

All applications will be subjected to a peer review by at least three members of the Science Committee Expert Panel, the Research Fellowship Convenor and one external expert in the field using the reviewer evaluation form.

How to Apply

The following documents should be submitted by the application deadline:

• Application form
• Work Plan (Gantt Chart)
• Short CV of applicant (1 page max) - some research experience required
• List of publications that have been published as a full paper in a peer reviewed journal - please highlight the best five publications and include their impact factor
• Invitation from host institution
• Two page CV of host supervisor 
• Declaration from home institute that the applicant will be allowed to perform the proposed research
• A detailed expenditure budget should be included in the application form.

Applications must be submitted electronically to the ESPE Team.

For more information about how to write a good grant application, please click here*.

Post Award Information and form submission guidelines

• The grant is paid in quarterly instalments (€31,250  per instalment = €125,000  fellowship
  amount) to the fellow for salary and living costs, as outlined in the expenditure budget. An
  additional €15,000 is available for consumables which will be paid in two instalments (€7,500 per instalment) to the host/home institution. Please note receipts will be required for all expenses.
•  Expenditure for the Fellowship should reflect the detailed budget in the application.
• Any funds left unused upon completion of the fellowship are to be returned to the ESPE bank by the Fellow within 3 months of completion of the project. Please contact the ESPE Team for more information about how to return the remaining funds.
• The initial grant payment form must indicate the start date of the project, and the first payment will be scheduled for 1 month before this date.

The forms below are for recipients of this grant only.  

• Grant Payment Form - Should be submitted within 6 months of being awarded the grant before beginning the project and then each time a payment is being requested (every 6 months). (4 required in total)
• Grant Accountability Report - Should be submitted after the first 6 months (then subsequently every 6 months until completion). (4 required in total)
• Grant Report Form- A grant report should be submitted 12 months into the fellowship and within 3 months of completion of the fellowship. (2 required in total)

Completed forms must be submitted electronically to the ESPE Team.