Fighting Blindness 2024 Career Development Award (Call now closed)

Fighting Blindness is delighted to announce that we are now accepting applications for our third round of Career Development Awards.

The image contains an orange background with the text "Career Development Award 2024" in white. To the right of the text, there is an outline of a microscope in a lighter shade of orange. Below this, the logo of "Fighting Blindness" is displayed in white. The logo consists of two interlocking circles on the left and the words "Fighting Blindness" in bold capital letters on the right.

The Fighting Blindness Career Development Award supports early-stage researchers and clinicians in advancing their careers. These awards have funded attendance at international conferences and laboratory training abroad. Our awardees have participated in prominent conferences, including ARVO and the FENS forum.

Grace Ruddin, was the recipient of the award in 2023:

I was very grateful to be an awardee of the Fighting Blindness Career Development Award. This award provided me with funding to attend the ARVO 2024 meeting in Seattle.

I had the opportunity to present my research at an international level which increased my visibility as a young female researcher.

The presentations which I attended were both informative and thought provoking. I interacted with expert researchers in the vision field, which I hope will result in future collaborations.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience!

Please review our Guidelines for Applicants for full information on applying for the 2024 Fighting Blindness Career Development Award.

Introduction:

A key priority for Fighting Blindness is to support the next generation of vision researchers. We recognise that training, networking and developing collaborations are key to the career development of early-stage career researchers and clinicians.

With this in mind, we are pleased to announce the ‘Fighting Blindness Career Development Award’.

The purpose of the award is to provide funding for applicants to:

A. Attend an official training course (in-person or virtual), and/or

B. Attend training in another laboratory on a specific technique(s), and/or

C. Present research papers/posters at national/international conferences/workshops (in person or virtual), and/or

D. Facilitate national and/or international networking and collaboration meetings or events

All activities must be in the area of vision loss specifically in the areas of inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Applications in the area of diabetic retinopathy will also be considered.

Funding available:

The maximum total funding available for the award is €1,500. Eligible costs include registration, travel, accommodation, subsidence and activity costs.

The activity must take place between January 2025 and December 2025.

Applicants can apply for funding for more than one activity, but costs must be no more than €1,500 total. For example, an applicant can apply to attend a vision research-related training course and also to present at national/international conferences/workshops once the budget does not exceed €1,500 and it is clear how these activities will be of benefit to their career development.

Please see Use of Funds Guidelines before completing budget section.

Eligibility Criteria:

Open to PhD students, early career stage postdoctoral researchers and clinicians. Please see the guidelines for the eligibility criteria for applicants. We strongly recommend that you read the guidelines to be made aware of requirements.

Timelines:

Below is an indicative timeline for the award.

Applications open Wednesday 24th July 2024
Deadline for submission 5pm, 14th October 2024
Review October – November 2024

Application Process:

Please use the Application Form which you can download from this page. Use one application form even if applying for funding for more than one activity. The associated documents can also be downloaded from this page.

Completed application forms should be sent to research@fightingblindness.ie in Word format by 5pm, 14th October 2024.

Checklist for submission-

  • Application form
  • Applicant CV (using Fighting Blindness applicant CV template)
  • Host Institute Declaration of Support (using Fighting Blindness Declaration of Support template)
  • Host PI Letter of Support (only needed for applications for training on specific techniques in a laboratory)

Contact:

If you have any questions please contact our Research department via email at research@fightingblindness.ie.

Documents: