ISN CAEN Award Application Guidelines

Applications for financial support from the ISN Committee for Aid and Education in Neurochemistry (CAEN) are invited from independent investigators, particularly scientists in early stages of their careers (postdoctoral young investigators; Ph.D. students at the final stages of their studies may also be considered for some activities), from countries with limited financial support for research in Neurochemistry (defined broadly as molecular and cellular neurobiology).  

Early stage career researchers are typically viewed as scientists who are within 8 years of completing their PhD. Concerning this rule, special consideration will be provided to scientists who have taken a career break or have similar extenuating circumstances.

APPLICATION DEADLINES

There are three application deadlines per year:
April 30, August 31 and December 31

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

  • To be eligible for funding in Category 2, meetings must not have commenced until 2 months after a CAEN committee deadline.  
  • Activities for which support is requested should be undertaken in the 4 months immediately following the relevant deadlines.
  • Applications MUST be from individuals and not organisations.
  • Applicants for CAEN funding MUST be active members of the ISN or their application must be accompanied by an ISN Membership Application (in process).
    Not a member yet? Click here

HOW TO APPLY?

If applicants are not members, they should visit the ISN Membership section under “Become a member” and return their completed application form (please download below within the correct category) plus short CV (prepared in English, word or PDF format) with three publications (List in order: authors, title, journal, volume, pages and year) and indication of their ISN account number (active members should indicate their ISN membership number) to the CAEN chair.

ISN membership is free for the first year and support from an existing ISN member is not required with this application.  

BECOME AN ISN MEMBER or RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP

The following activities are currently eligible for support:

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CATEGORY 1: RESEARCH

A. Visit by the Applicant to Another Laboratory

These visits are intended to allow the applicant to develop new technical or conceptual expertise for further application to the applicant's research program upon return to the home institution. Support may be applied to travel, accommodation and insurance. It is expected that funds for laboratory expenses will be provided by the host laboratory.

The applicant should complete the application form (below) which requests:

1) Letter of support from the applicant's home institution
2) Letter of support from the principal investigator of the proposed host laboratory
3) Short description of the project, including the expected benefit to the applicant and his/her institution
4) Curriculum vitae information
5) Complete information on other external funds made available/requested for the same purpose including those requested from local sources. Applicants are encouraged to actively seek additional sources of support, particularly from the receiving laboratory.

Application Form Category 1A - click here

An advance sum (or the total if required) will be transferred to the applicant’s institution. Upon completion of the visit, the awardee should provide a full report (including a photograph of the awardee in the host laboratory) indicating the outcome and benefit derived from the award. The remainder of the financial support, if any, will be transferred to the awardee upon approval of the scientific report. Awardees are expected to acknowledge ISN in any publications resulting from the funded activity.

Awards will generally be in the range of 1,000 - $4,000 (US dollars).

B. Research supplies for use in the applicant's home laboratory

The applicant (normally young independent investigators, NOT PhD students) should complete the application form (below) which requests:

1) Brief description of the research project and its significance
2) Detailed budget of how the requested funds will be spent
3) Curriculum vitae information
4) Letter of support for the proposed research from the applicant's Departmental Chair

Application Form Category 1B - click here

Awards will generally be in the range of $500 - $5,000.

C. ISN CAEN “Return Home Grant”

Research supplies for the use of the applicant that is moving to a country with limited financial support for research in Neurochemistry after a postdoctoral fellowship in a developed country.

The applicant should be:
1) At the end of a postdoctoral fellowship in a developed country and moving to a country with limited support for research.
2) In a laboratory within a country with limited support for research up to one year after returned from a postdoctoral fellowship in a developed country.
At the time of application, candidates are not required to have a commitment of a position and laboratory space but they need to have a support from Departmental Chair where he/she would be initiating his/her activities.
3) Be a current member of the ISN or be in the process of becoming one at the time of application.
 
Candidates should submit below information in order to apply:
1) Brief description of the research project and its significance
2) Detailed budget of how the requested funds will be spent
3) Curriculum vitae information
4) Letter of support for the proposed research from the applicant's Departmental Chair
5) Letter of recommendation from the group were the postdoctoral fellowship was completed

Important: It will be requested that the awardees submit a review to the Journal of Neurochemistry (JNC) in the first year.

Application Form Category 1C - click here

Awards will generally be up to 10’000.00 (USD). 

 

D. ISN CAEN CAREER INTERRUPTION RE-ENTRY GRANT

The ISN Career Interruption Re-entry Grant supports the return to an active research career of high quality researchers, working in the field of neurochemistry, who have experienced significant career interruptions as a result of childbirth, carer responsibilities or a major illness. 
The career interruption would generally be of the order of approximately 12 months or longer, although other timeframes of interruption will be considered (i.e. regular interruptions over a number of years).
Applicants need to demonstrate how the career interruption impacted upon their research (i.e. loss of funding, loss of position/lab members, significant decrease in productivity, etc). 
This will be a highly competitive scheme and the applicants must demonstrate an excellent track record in neurochemistry research, and that they were a productive and internationally competitive researcher prior to the career interruption.
 In general applicants must be a current ISN member, and have been an ISN member prior to the career interruption. 
The funds can be used for research supplies, and/or salary support for the researcher or a staff/student member of their group. 
 
The applicant should submit the below information to apply:
1) Description of the career interruption and its impact on research output
2) Description of research activities leading up to career interruption
3) Description of the research project to be supported by the re-entry funds, and the applicant’s career plans
4)  Curriculum vitae
5) Letter from the applicant's Departmental Chair confirming the impact of the career interruption upon the applicant 
6) Letter of support from the applicant's current or proposed Departmental Chair confirming the applicant’s position in the department and that the necessary laboratory space and infrastructure support will be provided to the applicant
7) Detailed budget describing how the requested funds will be spent
 
Awards will be up to 10,000.00 (USD), for one year.

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CATEGORY 2: ATTENDING OR HOLDING SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

C. Travel awards for individuals to scientific meetings of ISN Sister Societies

A limited number of travel fellowships are available for travel to meetings of the ISN Sister Societies (i.e., ESN, APSN, ASN) when these meetings are not being held jointly with ISN.

1. Applications for travel to ISN biennial meetings or ISN-sponsored schools will not be considered by CAEN since such travel fellowships are reviewed by a separate ISN committee.
2. Applications should be received prior to submission of the meeting abstract. To be eligible for funding, the meeting must not commence within 2 months of a CAEN committee deadline. Acceptance at a meeting does not necessarily imply eligibility for funding.
3. Batch applications will not be accepted. Applications to attend sister society meetings will be judged on their individual merit. Each applicant should apply individually and not through a meeting organizer.

The applicant should complete the application form (below) which requests:

1) Name, location and dates of the meeting
2) Letter of support from the applicant's home institution
3) Detailed budget of expenses for which funds are requested
4) Title and type (i.e., oral, poster, etc) of any presentations the applicant will make of his/her research
5) The expected benefit to the applicant and his/her institution
6) Curriculum vitae information
7) Letter of acceptance from the meeting organizers.

Application Form Category 2C - click here

Awards will generally be in the range of $250 - $1,500 (US dollars). Awardees are expected to provide 1 photograph of themselves at the relevant meeting attended.

D. Support for participation by individuals in scientific workshops in developed countries

Applications for travel to ISN-sponsored schools will not be considered by CAEN since such travel fellowships are reviewed by a separate ISN committee.

Applications should be received prior to submission of the meeting abstract. To be eligible for funding, the meeting must not have commenced until 2 months after a CAEN committee deadline. Acceptance at a meeting does not necessarily imply eligibility for funding. Batch applications will not be accepted. Applications to scientific workshops will be judged on their individual merit. Each applicant should apply individually and not through a meeting organizer.

The applicant should complete the application form (below) which requests:

1) Name, location, dates and organizers of the workshop, and an outline of the workshop topics and speakers/instructors
2) Letter of acceptance from the organizers for attendance at the workshop
3) Letter of support from the applicant's home institution
4) Detailed budget of how the requested funds will be spent
5) Title and type (i.e., oral, poster, etc.) of any presentations the applicant will make of his/her research
6) Expected benefit to the applicant and his/her institution
7) Curriculum vitae information

Application Form Category 2D - click here

Awards will generally be in the range of $250 - $2,000 (US dollars). Awardees are expected to provide a photograph of themselves at the relevant workshop attended.

E. Support for the implementation of scientific/educational Workshops and small schools

Applicant(s) should be principal organizers of the workshop/school and should complete the application form (below) which requests:

1) Name, location, dates and organizers of the workshop or school, an outline of the topics to be presented and the speakers/instructors who have agreed to participate
2) Significance of the topic and expected impact of the workshop on the field of research
3) Budget of the total projected costs, and details of any funding being sought from other organizations (all other sources of finance should be clearly stated, indicating in particular whether other ISN committees have been approached for support for the event).
4) Detailed budget of costs to be covered by funds requested from CAEN
5) Summary of the proposed number and countries of origin of the students expected to attend (particularly in the case of schools)
6) Curriculum vitae information of the applying organizer(s)

Application Form Category 2E - click here

Upon approval of an application the amount granted will be transferred to a bank account of the applicant’s institution, the host’s institution, or a designated bank account associated with the meeting. Other arrangements may exceptionally be considered but must be approved in advance by the ISN Treasurer. Transfer to any private bank account is not possible.At the conclusion of the activity, a full report should be submitted to CAEN within one month of the end of the workshop, indicating the outcome and benefit derived from the funds provided. A list of recipients and the support provided for them should be included. The responsible organizer is expected to provide 1 photograph of attendees at the relevant workshop or school. The remaining 20% of the financial support will only be made available and transferred to the conference organizers or chairs upon i) receipt of the invoices corresponding to approximately 80% of the expenses and ii) approval by CAEN of the scientific report.

Awards will generally be in the range of $1,000- $6,000 (US dollars).

IN ORDER TO ASSURE A FAIR DISTRIBUTION OF CAEN ’S RESOURCES, APPLICANTS MAY ONLY APPLY FOR 1 (ONE) OF THE ABOVE TWO CATEGORIES OF AWARDS EVERY 3 (THREE) YEARS. FOR EXAMPLE: AN APPLICANT COULD ASK FOR RESEARCH MONEY IN YEAR 1 AND THEN CONFERENCE MONEY IN YEAR 3. THIS WOULD MEAN THAT THE APPLICANT COULD NOT ASK FOR RESEARCH MONEY AGAIN UNTIL YEAR 4 (FOUR) AND FOR CONFERENCE MONEY UNTIL YEAR 6 (SIX).

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SUBMISSIONS OF APPLICATIONS

Application and ISN membership forms should be directed to the Chair of CAEN:

Vilma Martins
Head, Molecular & Cell Biology Group
CIPE-A.C.CamargoHospital
Rua Tagua 440, Liberdade
01508-010, São Paulo, Brazil
Phone 55-11-21895000 ext 2973
e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.