Search for Mentors for young ISAC scientists

Dear Colleagues,
In our effort to give our young members more opportunities in our society, the Membership Service Committee would like to establish a mentorship program and are asking our senior members about their availability and interest in being mentors. This would involve possibly even hosting for a short period of time a young scientist interested in working in the field in which the mentor is an expert. In addition, we would expect a mentor to assist the professional development of an individual by helping them with critical review of grants and manuscripts, perhaps even reviewing their presentations. Mentorship may take some significant effort on behalf of a mentor, but the return on investment for the professional growth of our younger scientists would be significant. If you would like to contribute scientifically to this program please give us your name, e-mail address and the specific topic you are available to mentor. We are in the process of establishing funds for this project. We will post a list of the volunteers on the ISAC webpage. We appreciate your valuable help.

The following is a list of links to funding opportunities for young scientist/students around the world. The sites below are not exclusively devoted to young scientists but the search has been done with particular attention to sites including opportunities for them. The list is partial and it reflects a very dynamic situation (web sites and opportunities normally have deadlines and expiration dates). However, we think it is found important to pinpoint specific sites that do offer such opportunities: since the funding process is cyclical, most institutions announces new programs every few months.

 European and other international sources

• EC’s Sixth Framework Programme (2002–2006) - http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6/index_en.html
• EC’s Marie Curie Actions (human resources and mobility) - http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6/mariecurie-actions/indexhtm_en.html
• Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) - http://www.hfsp.org/home.php
•  North Atlantic treay Organization - http://www.nato.int/science/
  NATO offers grants to support collaboration between scientists in countries of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Mediterranean Dialogue on projects in priority research topics of Defence Against Terrorism, or Countering Other Threats to Security; Partner-country priorities are also taken into account. There are six types of collaborative grant offered, viz:- Collaborative Linkage Grants, Expert Visits, grants to organize Advanced Study Institutes and Advanced Research Workshops, “Science for Peace” grants in support of applied R&D projects in Partner or Mediterranean Dialogue countries, and Reintegration Grants which offer the opportunity to young research scientists from Partner countries to reintegrate into the research communities of their home countries after a period abroad.
• European Molecular Biology Laboratory - http://www.embo.org/yip/index.html
  The EMBO Young Investigator Programmehas been identifying and supporting outstanding life scientists in Europe since 2000. The programme targets researchers who are within four years of having established their first independent laboratories in an EMBC member state. The aim of the programme is to give these promising young scientists an added advantage in the early years of their independent careers, drawing attention to the quality of their research and enhancing their standing in the scientific community.
• The Fogarty International Center Directory of International Grants and Fellowships in the Health Sciences - http://www.fic.nih.gov/news/directory.html

Austria

• Lise Meitner Program - http://www.fwf.ac.at/en/projects/meitner.html
  Fellowships for highly qualified scientists of any discipline who could contribute to the scientific development of an Austrian research institution by working at it and who have not already spent more than 6 months in Austria.
• Erwin Schrödinger Fellowships - http://www.fwf.ac.at/en/projects/erwin_schroedinger.html
  Young and especially highly qualified scientists of any discipline who have completed their university studies in Austria.

France

• EC Marie Curie Researchers Mobility Portal - http://europa.eu.int/eracareers/index_en.cfm
• Blaise Pascal Research Chairs - http://www.chaires-blaise-pascal.org/
  Each chair allows highly qualified, internationally acclaimed, foreign research scientists in all disciplines, accompanied if they wish by other research workers, to continue their work on a scientific project in a higher learning institution or research institution in Paris/Ile-de-France.

Finland

• Sigrid Justus Foundation (1-12 month grants for foreign medical researchers to work in Finland) - htp://www.sigridjuselius.net/

Germany

• Ernst Schering Foundation (pre-doc fellowships) - http://www.scheringstiftung.de/htl/stipendien-en.html
•  Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
  • Feodor Lynen-research scholarship (long-term sholarship) - http://www.avh.de/de/programme/stip_deu/flf.htm
  • Research scholarships for Japan or Taiwan - http://www.avh.de/de/programme/stip_deu/index.htm
• Roman Herzog research scholarship - http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/de/programme/stip_aus/index.htm
• German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Leopoldina Scholarship - http://www.leopoldina-halle.de/
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), PostDoc scholarships - http://www.daad.de/stipendien/de/index.de
• German Science Foundation (DFG) - http://www.dfg.de/forschungsfoerderung/index.html
  Research scholarships, Postdoc scholarships, Emmy Noether-program, Heisenberg-program
• Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • www.heinrich-hertz-stiftung.de
  • www.innovation.nrw.de
• German Cancer Aid
• Mildred-Scheel-scholarship program und Max-Eder-young researcher program - http://www.krebshilfe.de
• Ernst Schering Foundation, postdoctoral fellowships - http://www.scheringstiftung.de/html/index.html
• Volkswagen-Foundation - http://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/foerderung.html
• Fritz Thyssen-Stiftung, postdoctoral fellowships - http://www.fritz-thyssen-stiftung.de
• G.I.F. Young Scientists Program - http://www.gifres.org.il/

Italy

• Italian CNR - http://www.cnr.it/sitocnr/IlCNR/Attivita/PromozioneRicerca/EURYIAwards_eng.html
  European Young Investigator Awards for research in Italian scientific institutes
• Italian Ministry of University and Research - MIUR - http://cofin.cineca.it/cervelli/
  Financial support for young Italians holding a position in a foreign academic institution aimed to return to work in Italy
• Italian Telethon - http://www.telethon.it/english/research/calls.asp
  Grants for scientists working in Italy in public or not-for-profit private Institutions: focus on genetic diseases. Founding opportunities include start up grants for young investigators within the Dulbecco’s Telethon institute.
• Commissione per gli Scambi Culturali fra l'Italia e gli Stati Uniti (The Italian Fulbright Commission) - http://www.fulbright.it/index2.htm
  Financial support for exchange of young scientists/students between the two countries.
• Interuniversity Institute of Myology - http://iim.altervista.org/index_netscape.html
  Research grant opportunity dedicated to emerging investigators.

New Executive Director for ISAC

I am delighted to introduce Laureen Rowland as the new Executive Director (ED) of ISAC. She begins her tenure today February 12, 2007. We welcome Laureen onto the ISAC team and look forward to her guiding our organization in a positive and fruitful way.

Laureen Rowland has over 27 years of experience in association management and has a comprehensive background in fiscal, business, personnel and program/project management. Laureen’s most recent position was as account executive for Drohan Management Group (DMG), a full service association management company. While with DMG, Laureen served as executive director of two full service associations – the Association of University Research Parks and the American College of Medical Physics. In her capacity as executive director, Laureen served as the chief staff executive managing all fiscal, business and operational aspects of both of these associations.