GENERAL INFORMATION

To honour the memory of Robert Austrian for his pioneering and immensely important research on pneumococci and pneumococcal diseases, Pfizer is sponsoring research awards in the field of pneumococcal vaccinology. Pfizer has selected the International Symposium of Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases, ISPPD, to manage the Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology. The ISPPD Board is responsible for the Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology and has defined the research topics and criteria for the selection of award recipients. Based on these criteria, a subcommittee, consisting of ≥3 members of the ISPPD Board will propose the award recipients to the full ISPPD Board for approval. Recipients of the Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology will be selected on the basis of an application detailing career achievements and a research proposal.

Up to ten Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology of approximately $25,000 USD each will be awarded at the ISPPD-12 Symposium, 19-23 June 2022. Payments will only be made to host institutions or hospitals and not to individuals, and will be made by wire transfer. ISPPD takes no responsibilities for the further administration or use of the funds beyond the point of disbursement. The award recipients are expected to submit a short final report within two years of being awarded, and to present their results at the following ISPPD Symposium, ISPPD-13, 2024.

RESEARCH TOPIC

Preventing pneumococcal disease by affordable and effective vaccination. Research proposals must be aimed at discovering, developing, and evaluating new and improved vaccines, delivery systems or vaccination strategies, and/or investigating the value of vaccination.

CANDIDATES

Geographical representation

At least one applicant from each major geographical region (Africa, Asia/Australasia, Europe, Latin America and North America) will receive an award, provided that the ISPPD Board considers that the submitted application is of suitably high quality.

Eligibility requirements

• Early-career scientists including PhD students, and post-doctoral researchers who have received their PhD in the previous 5 years.
• <40 years of age at the date of application
• Professorial level scientists are not eligible for the awards.

At the sole discretion of the ISPPD Board, these criteria may be waived for:

• Career interruptions – Applicants who have received their PhD more than 5 years ago and/or who are aged over 40, but whose career development was interrupted because of major illness, substantial caring responsibilities including pregnancy and caring for small children, prolonged part-time study/employment or extensive employment in an unrelated field.
• Other postgraduate qualifications – Applicants with other postgraduate qualifications that will enable them to undertake high-quality research.

Applicants who are applying for an eligibility waiver will need to provide additional information as indicated in the online form. You must include sufficient detail to enable the reviewers to determine whether an exemption can be granted. No determinations will be made in advance.

If you have applied for the 2020 funding round and still meet the eligibility requirements, you are still welcome to apply in the 2022 funding round. If you no longer meet the eligibility requirements, you may apply for an eligibility waiver as outlined above. For more information on the 2020 funding round, please click HERE.