HIV Research Trust 2021 Scholarships

Overview

The HIV Research Trust is a charitable foundation that provides financial support to physicians, nurses, scientists and other health care professionals in resource-limited settings from low-income and lower-middle-income countries working in the field of HIV infection. The Trust supports early/mid career researchers.

The support is in the form of financial awards allowing the scholar to undertake a placement or course of a few months’ duration intended to cover course or placement costs, travel, consumables and living expenses. The scholarships are awarded competitively based on a peer-review process on an annual basis. They are designed to enable the candidate to travel to another research unit to learn skills and techniques which should develop the candidate’s career and, on return to the home institution, add to the capacity of the department to carry out research related to treatment and prevention.

Examples of skills and techniques that may be acquired are; clinical management, clinical trial experience and practice, data and trial management, statistical expertise, acquisition of laboratory techniques and analysis, cell and molecular biology. The HIV Research Trust aims to support a broad mix of disciplines. All aspects of research related to HIV infection and its consequences are eligible including clinical care, basic and applied biology, epidemiology, psychological, ethical, economic, educational and societal aspects. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship click here to find out more about the application process.

In light of the ongoing travel restrictions, and the uncertainty of when these may be lifted or reinstated, the Trustees are particularly interested in receiving applications for on-line or remote courses. Scholarships that involve travel within the scholar’s home country will also be prioritised.

Whilst the Trust will consider funding international travel, applicants should be aware of the inherent problems associated with such travel during the ongoing COVID-19 global crisis. Applicants wishing to apply for funding for international travel should consider the following:

• Budgets for travel, accommodation, and insurance should reflect the high costs currently seen around the world. Applications with disproportionately high travel costs will need to demonstrate exceptional value-for-money for the course or tenure applied for.
• Flights may be cancelled and/or international travel restrictions introduced/re-introduced at short notice. In such instances, additional funding to cover extra costs incurred will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but is in no way guaranteed. The Trust reserves the right to withdraw any scholarship deemed unsafe or impractical for these reasons.
• Adequate travel and health insurance must be budgeted for in the application and must be in place before scholars travel.
• Successful applicants accept responsibility for their ability to return to their home country under travel restrictions, and agree to fulfil any quarantine requirements in their home or host countries at their own expense.
• Applicants should at all times consider their personal safety the highest priority throughout the planning and application stages of their proposed scholarship.

Scholarships are for physicians, nurses, scientists and other health care professionals from low-income and lower-middle-income countries undertaking research in resource-limited settings working in the field of HIV infection.  All aspects of research related to HIV infection and its consequences are eligible for support.

Applications must fulfil the necessary criteria.  Full details on the application process and the scholarships can be found on the Trust website at http://www.hivresearchtrust.org.uk/.

In early 2020, the Trustees of the HIV Research Trust took the decision to postpone the 2021 Scholarships in response to the COIVD-19 pandemic. The Trustees have now decided to go ahead with the 2021 scholarships, on a revised schedule:

• Monday 11^th Jan 2021 –          Applications Open
• Mon 7^th March 2021 –          Applications Close
• April 2021             –          Awards announced

Scholarships may be applied for with start dates no earlier than 1^st April 2021 and no later than 31^st March 2022.

Online applications are invited until Midday on Monday 1st March, 2021.