Visiting Professorship of Rare Diseases

How to apply

Please read all the information contained on this page prior to application.  The following documents should be submitted by the application deadline.

• ESPE Visiting Professorship application form 
• Short CV 
• List of publications 
• Invitation from host institution(s)
• Short CV of the host(s)
• Declaration letter from home institute
• A three-year work plan outlined in the application (which should be reflected and referenced on the interim, and final reports).
• Ethical committee approval – if applicable

Applications must be submitted electronically to the ESPE Office. For more information about how to write a good grant application, please click here*.

Grant Information

The Visiting Professorship of Rare Diseases aims to enable scientific renewal and to develop and enable long lasting collaborations. Its model involves multiple short visits over a longer period of time. The grant can also be used to host a visiting professor at the applicant’s home centre. The Professorship is available to mid-career paediatric endocrinologists (not just professors) and is designed to allow a flexible schedule for the visits. Projects that include collaboration with a centre a low or middle income country (LMIC) will be considered favourably. The Visiting Professorship of Rare Diseases offers three grants per year, each for a maximum value of €15,000.

Benefits expected

• Development of new research in paediatric endocrinology, in the area of rare diseases
• Increasing ESPE’s international standing through successful partnerships
• Increasing and maintaining the scientific output of the ESPE membership
• International collaborations.

Timescales

• There will be one call for applications per year
• A maximum of three applicants will be selected
• The visits will add up to a maximum of 12 weeks per year, but the splitting up of this maximum can be flexible
• Each Visiting Professorship will consist of multiple short visits over the course of three years.

Financial guidelines

• A maximum of €15,000 is available to each applicant to last the course of three years (maximum €5,000 per year)
• The grant covers travel and housing expenses. Personal living expenses, including food and beverages, are not included and the grant cannot be used for overheads. Other expenses can be included in the budget (e.g. consumables, salary support for the person substituting the applicant at the home institute) if these are regarded necessary for the visiting professorship
• The grant must NOT be used to purchase/distribute 'items of value' (items that possess a discernible value on the open market, such as textbooks) for faculty, learners or participants
• Left over funds can be moved to subsequent visits
• Allocation of funding can be flexible to each project
  The applicant can opt to co-fund the professorship
• Any funds leftover at the end of year three must be transferred back to ESPE within three months of completion of the programme.

Eligibility

• Applications should be made individually
• Research in a rare disease area (prevalence less than 1:2000) in endocrinology
• Applicants should be over the age of 40yrs
• Applicants should be an ESPE member in good standing, based in Europe
• If the applicant is hosting a visiting professor, it is not necessary for this visitor to be an ESPE member
• If the applicant is the visiting professor, the visitor can visit one or more centres
• Applicants are not required to have the title of ‘Professor’ in their home institute
• 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 grant must be activated within six months of receipt
• No Principal Investigator can hold two Visiting Professorship 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

The applications will be scored based on the following criteria: 

• CV of Visiting Professor and Host
• Focus and quality of application
• Expected objective outcomes for Year 1, 2, and 3
• Potential for publication and further research
• Potential for grant applications
• Timing and feasibility
• Budget justification
• Benefit for applicant and home institution
• Relevance of the topic to paediatric endocrinology.

If you have any queries regarding the scientific content of your application please contact the Visiting Professorship in Rare Diseases convenor Dr Evelien Gevers 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.

Evaluation

All applications will be reviewed by the Science Committee and external review will be sought when necessary.