PSANZ J. Gupta Scholarship

Background

The award was created in memory of Prof Jagdish Gupta, a neonatologist who was the first director of the children’s intensive unit of the Prince of Wales Children’s Hospital, Randwick. He was a paediatrician at the University of New South from 1969 and the Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington from 1972. He wrote a very famous Mcq book with John Beveridge that was used by all exam candidates and was also an AMEC examiner. Unfortunately, he resigned from clinical work due to macular degeneration and was almost completely blind at the end. His life’s passion was to promote equity and access to research, especially for ECRs and MCRs.

Purpose

The PSANZ J. Gupta Scholarship will be used to fund first time researchers who have not previously been a Senior Chief Investigator on a grant from a major national or international granting body (e.g. NHMRC, ARC, NHF, NIH, and MRC).

The applicant must be a lead researcher on the project and primary beneficiary of the funds for one of the following purposes:

To undertake an extended study tour or laboratory visit resulting in the publication of a report, preferably a peer-reviewed manuscript.
To attend an international conference to present a paper and visit the laboratory or clinical centre of an internationally renowned researcher.
To provide seed funding to assist the development of an independent research project which leads to publication of a peer-reviewed manuscript or to submission of a grant application. (Note that the scholarship is not designed to fund the entire project and so the applicant will need to identify other sources of confirmed funding).
To assist in paying a stipend or course fee leading to a higher degree in perinatology. How the degree relates to perinatology should be clearly specified for the understanding of a multidisciplinary committee. The applicant must indicate whether they have applied for any other scholarships or bursaries to cover these fees.

The Scholarship will not be used for the purpose of ‘top up funding’ for large multicentre studies supported by existing grants

Scholarship

The scholarship will be awarded annually. Selections will be made by January ahead of the upcoming Congress.
Announcement and presentation of the award/s will be made to recipient/s at the PSANZ annual congress dinner. Recipient/s is/are expected to attend the congress dinner to be presented with the award.
It is anticipated that winners will be invited to present at a subsequent PSANZ annual congress, following completion of the award, although this may depend on program availability and is not guaranteed.

Eligibility

A current financial member of PSANZ in any discipline
Preference will be given to active members who regularly participate in PSANZ activities (e.g. presentations at the PSANZ Congress)
A demonstrated commitment to perinatology
Beginning a research career (in keeping with the eligibility Criteria for a PSANZ Early Career Researcher Career (ECR)
Has not received this award previously
Has not been awarded another PSANZ Scholarship in the current year.

Eligibility by category

ECR discovery Science - Enrolled (full or part time) in a post-graduate research degree (Masters or PhD) or within 5 years award of a Bachelor/Honours degree or 2 years of a postgraduate degree (e.g. Masters or PhD);

ECR Nursing/Midwifery - Enrolled (full or part time) in a post-graduate research degree (Masters or PhD) or within 5 years of a postgraduate degree; OR Actively involved in research (1st author for presentation of research findings at scientific meetings) for less than 5 years;

ECR Medicine - Enrolled in a higher degree (Masters or PhD) and within 5 years of completion of a clinical training programme.

ECR Allied Health and Other Disciplines (e.g. ethics, pathology, epidemiology, public health, social work, counselling, biomedical engineering) - Enrolled (full or part time) in a post-graduate degree (Masters or PhD) or within 5 years of a postgraduate research degree;

Actively involved in research (1st author for presentation of research findings at scientific meetings) for less than 5 years

Amount

The PSANZ J. Gupta Scholarship is a single award that has a value of $5,000 annually or $10,000 over two years. Applicants must stipulate clearly whether they are seeking 1 or 2 years of funding and justify their request. The maximum allocated to any one applicant will be $5,000 in one year. Whether or not the applicant is successful in gaining 2 years of funding (when requested) will be at the discretion of the selection committee and based on both the merit of the applicant as well as the nature of the proposal.

Selection Criteria and Committee

The selection criteria used for judging these scholarships will include the following three components:

1. the merit of the proposal (40%),

2. the merit/track record of the applicant and their perceived potential for ongoing perinatal research (40%) and

3. the relevance of the research to PSANZ and its objectives (20%)

A committee will be selected by the PSANZ Board with one representative from each discipline and will be chaired by a Board member. The committee reserves the right to not award a J. Gupta Scholarship in any one year if it considers that it has not received an application of sufficient merit.

Reporting

The successful recipient will:

Submit a report to the Board of Directors stating how the money was spent and highlight achievements from the award - this will be at the end of the year if a one-year award and at the end of the first year and end of the second year if a 2-year award.
Prepare a short article for inclusion in a PSANZ newsfeed

Applications

A full application will be comprised of the following documents.

1. A formal application of no more than 3 pages which:

demonstrates applicant eligibility (as per the above criteria);
details the proposed use of the scholarship, in a manner suitable for assessment by a multidisciplinary selection panel (this section not to exceed two typed A4 pages, including references); and
presents and justifies a detailed budget (including detail of financial support from other sources, if relevant)
includes a lay (plain language) summary of the proposed study (100 words)

2. A current curriculum vitae, with names and contact details of two referees

3. Referee reports. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that each referee uses the appropriate report form which can be downloaded here.

4. Applications, in full, must be submitted and this online form completed by 19th November 2024. Late applications will not be accepted.

5. Applicants must only submit one project to be considered for the J. Gupta Scholarship.

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