The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Foundation will award six scholarships to assist young pharmacists or pharmaceutical scientists to attend the 2024 FIP World Congress and participate in the Leadership Development Workshop, which are planned to take place in September in Cape Town, South Africa.

The deadline for submission of applications is every year on 15 February. 

What is the FIP Foundation Early Career Leadership Development Scholarship?

The FIP Foundation, has partnered with the ECPG and the Regional Forums to award six scholarships to assist young pharmacists or pharmaceutical scientists to attend the FIP World Congress and participate in the Leadership Development Workshop.

Objectives of the scholarships

1. To assist young pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists or pharmacy educators from low- or middle-income countries to attend an FIP World Congress.
2. To provide an opportunity for the recipient to further develop his/her leadership skills and knowledge and to apply these skills in future professional organization leadership roles,
3. To support the recipient in applying leadership skills to improve pharmaceutical practice, pharmaceutical sciences and/or pharmaceutical education in his/her home country and globally.

What does the Early Career Leadership Development scholarship include?

• FIP Congress registration
• Hotel accommodation  (up to 500 EUR in 2024)
• Financial Compensation for travel will be based on the recipient’s region for the most economic travel relative to the location of the Congress.  Preapproval of travel is required from the FIP Foundation Office (foundation@fip.org) – by Submission of travel plan and expense amount prior to purchase of airfare. 
• One-year Individual Membership of FIP
• A meeting with the leaders of the FIP Foundation, FIP ECPG, Regional Forum ExCo, and FIP
• A mentor appointed from the Early Career Pharmaceutical Group (ECPG) and a mentor appointed from the region to assist with project planning and implementation

Who is eligible to apply?

1. Applicants must be pharmacists, pharmacy educators, or pharmaceutical scientists, under the age of 35 years (by 31 January of the year of the congress to which the application refers);
2. Applicants must live and work or study in a country or territory with an income level classified as low, lower-middle or upper middle by the World Bank in the latest available classification. It is not mandatory that applicants are nationals of, or live in, countries or territories where FIP has member organisations.
3. Regardless of the nationality of the applicant, the application will be evaluated according to the WHO region of his/her country or territory of residence and work/study.
4. Applicants who have previously received financial support or a scholarship from the FIP Foundation are not eligible to apply for a FIP Foundation early career leadership development scholarship.

How can applications be made?

Applications are submitted electronically through the FIP Foundation’s website.

A complete application should consist of:

1. A complete application form
2. A two-page (maximum) letter of interest by the applicant describing:

• how attending the FIP Congress and the Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) will help him or her to further their engagement in a professional society in their country of origin and
• how the applicant intends to share and/or apply the leadership knowledge and experience gained through the FIP Congress, in a project to improve pharmaceutical practice, pharmaceutical science and/or pharmaceutical education in their country of origin. This concept will be developed and presented at the LDW and further refined in the post-congress period.

3. The applicant’s curriculum vitae (CV) not exceeding two pages, highlighting the applicant’s academic background, language skills, professional experience and development, contributions in terms of leadership and innovation and any other elements the applicant considers relevant for the application.
4. A letter of recommendation from, for example, the applicant’s supervisor, manager, employer, or dean of school.
5. A letter of recommendation from a national professional pharmacy or pharmaceutical sciences organization (the organization does not have to be an FIP member organization).
6. Proof of identity (e.g. copy of passport);
7. A recent photograph of the applicant.

What is the application deadline?

Complete applications must be submitted by 15 February of the year in which the FIP Congress takes place. All applications will be acknowledged. Any applications that do not comply with the formal requirements described in these guidelines will not be accepted/considered.

How are applications assessed and selected?

All valid applications will be reviewed by the members of the appropriate Regional Evaluation Committee (REC). Such Committees will be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Regional Pharmaceutical Forum to make suitable recommendations to the Board of the FIP Foundation. In addition to the REC members that are appointed by the Regional Pharmaceutical Forums, each REC shall have one member appointed by the Early Career Pharmaceutical Group (ECPG) to provide a youth perspective on the selection committee. If there is not a Regional Pharmaceutical Forum in any of the recognised WHO regions, the FIP Foundation will appoint an ad hoc REC for that particular region following the same rules.

All applications from each region will be evaluated and ranked according to a common set of criteria and pointing. The aim of this evaluation is to identify the applicants within each region with the highest merit, using a scale from 1 (poor) to 25 points (excellent).

1. Academic and professional experience and achievement – up to 6 points
   Elements to be considered include academic degrees, professional expertise (quality and length), research work and published articles (relevance, impact, number of publications), career and professional society leadership positions, awards and recognitions, innovation in the work or academic environment, and any other elements that indicate the merit of the applicant in his/her work, research or studies.
2. Capacity to obtain the highest possible benefit of attending the FIP congress – up to 6 points
   Aside from the applicant’s individual merit, this parameter will particularly assess the alignment between his or her personal knowledge/skills/expertise and that year’s specific congress topics and sessions, as well as his or her language skills, to ensure that he or she will be able to fully understand the sessions and interact with other participants.
3. Potential for affecting change as described in their project –up to 7 points
   As stated on the first page, one of the key objectives of these scholarships is to provide an opportunity for the recipient to further develop his/her leadership skills and knowledge and to contribute towards improving pharmaceutical practice, pharmaceutical sciences and/or pharmaceutical education in his/her home country. The applicant’s project description should address the applicant’s capacity to affect change based on their position or practice environment of the applicant, his/her capacity to make decisions that impact the change, and his/her demonstrated leadership skills, and commitment.
4. Potential for professional engagement including third-party recognition of the applicant’s merit – 6 points
   This parameter will provide an additional verification of the applicant’s merit through the appraisal by his or her supervisor, manager, employer, dean of school as well as from his/her national professional organisation. The quality of the applicant’s capacity for contributions or achievements as described by the author of the letters should be considered by the REC members.

The final decision on the granting of the Leadership Development Scholarships will be made by the Board of the FIP Foundation. The Board’s decision will be final and unappealable. All applicants will be informed of the Board’s decision once it has been made, but no rationale for the decision will be provided. Any attempt to lobby the Regional Evaluation Committee or the Board of Directors of the Foundation is strictly forbidden and will result in disqualification of the applicant.

The Board’s decisions will be announced at least three months prior to the Congress/conference.

What about successful applicants?

1. Successful applicants need to register for the Congress with a special code that will be provided to them.
2. Successful applicants will receive 50% of the total amount in Euros (€) before the Congress by bank transfer upon receipt of a completed reimbursement form with as many original receipts attached as possible. The remaining 50% will be transferred after the Congress upon receipt of the final report (see paragraph below) and reimbursement form with the remaining original receipts/invoices attached.

What is expected from scholarship winners?

1. To attend the entire duration of the FIP congress
2. To attend the Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) held by ECPG at the start of the FIP Congress and the Early Career Social Night hosted by ECPG during the FIP Congress.
   1. Attendees will be asked to give a five-minute presentation of their project concept as part of the LDW requirement.
   2. All successful applicants are then expected to take feedback from the LDW and refine their project plan.
   3. Upon return to their home country, applicants are expected to implement their project and provide updates to their mentor on the progress of the project.
   4. Successful applicants may also refine, implement, and submit their project for a chance of being awarded the Ton Hoek scholarship to attend FIP Congress again the following year (i.e. – the winner will be able to attend 2 consecutive FIP Congresses).
3. To be present at the Opening Ceremony of the FIP congress
4. To attend specified meetings and programmes during the congress, as defined by the Board of the Foundation.
5. To submit to the Board of the Foundation a brief report (maximum two pages) within 30 days of the FIP Congress, including the following elements:
   1. A description of the applicant’s activities carried out during the congress and an evaluation of the objectives achieved;
   2. The occasions where the FIP Foundation for Education and Research was/will be acknowledged;
   3. A description of how the applicant proposes to use the experience and knowledge gained during the Congress
   4. An updated project plan based on feedback at the LDW;
   5. A detailed account of all relevant expenses incurred (including receipts).
6. For all successful candidates, they will be required to check in with their mentors 3 months post-Congress to provide updates on implementation of their project for professional engagement in their country.
7. All successful candidates also have the option to submit a 6-month progress report on their project with an application for the Ton Hoek scholarship. More details on the requirements for this award can be found under that scholarship.

The report should be submitted electronically (foundation@fip.org) and it may be used in the International Pharmacy Journal (IPJ), for publicity purposes, and/or to report to the Foundation’s contributors accounting for the disposition of funds. It should be written with these objectives in mind.

Note: By accepting a scholarship, the applicant automatically grants FIP and the FIP Foundation for Education and Research permission to use any materials associated with the application (including the applicant’s photograph) as described above.

Other matters

• All unexpended funds must be returned to the Foundation;
• All financial transactions and reports may be subject to audit. In the event that the funds are not being properly administered, the Foundation reserves the right to ask for a refund, without prejudice;
• Funds accepted for specific purposes may be utilised solely for these purposes.

More Info: International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)