For a complete list of NIH-sponsored global health funding opportunities, visit the NIH Directory of Grants and Fellowships in the Global Health Sciences (click here).
Funding for Faculty
Explorations in Global Health Grants
Designed to foster the development of research projects and partnerships in global health, IGHID awards grants to UNC faculty for international travel or to bring international colleagues to campus to establish or maintain research relationships (e.g. clarify joint research interests, plan and organize institutional linkages, jointly develop or write research proposals, etc.) or to undertake small research projects with international collaborators. Faculty may apply individually, together with a student, or with another faculty member from a different discipline.
For the full program description and application instructions, click here.
Seed Grants for Galapagos Research
A “seed” grant program to promote research by UNC faculty in the Galapagos archipelago of Ecuador as part of a pan-university Galapagos Initiative and the newly formed Center for Galapagos Studies. Applications are welcome from faculty throughout the University.
For latest funding information and formal announcement, click here.
Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations Grants
Grand Challenges Explorations fosters innovation in global health research. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $100 million to encourage scientists worldwide to expand the pipeline of ideas to fight our greatest health challenges.
Launched in 2008, Grand Challenge Explorations grants have already been awarded to more than 100 researchers from 22 countries.
For more information please click here.
NC TraCS Pilot Grant Program
The NC TraCS Pilot Grant Program has $4.3 million available this year to support basic, clinical and social scientists for bench to bedside and bedside to practice translational research. The goal is to promote development of novel solutions that will ultimately improve patient and community health outcomes for the citizens of North Carolina.
Eligibility: Faculty members with a primary appointment at UNC-Chapel Hill and faculty members of external NC TraCS Institute-affiliated institutions collaborating with UNC faculty may serve as principal investigators on pilot proposals. Applicants who are not faculty members of UNC should provide a letter of collaboration from a UNC faculty member with their application. Trainee involvement is encouraged. Trainees must have a UNC faculty mentor sponsor, and the faculty member must be the individual responsible for the completion of the work. The list of NC TracCS Institute-affiliated institutions include Research Triangle Institute, GlaxoSmithKline, NC State, NCCU, IBM, Moses Cone, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Carolinas Medical Center and many other institutions. Total funding is $50,000 for one year. The deadline is January 5, 2009 and consists of a 5-page research plan.
For more information please click here or contact Mary Beth Lister.
RTI University Collaboration Fund
This fund has been created by Duke University, North Carolina State University, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), and UNC-Chapel Hill to provide small grants for activities that will promote greater dialog among researchers at the four participating institutions. The broader aim is to enhance collaborative scientific work.
Small grants (less than $20,000 each) will be made available for activities that bring together researchers from at least three of the four institutions (one of which must be RTI). These collaborations should ultimately lead to joint proposal development for external funding. Some possible areas of common research interest include energy, global health, biomarker research, and global climate change. Examples of the type of activities that may be funded are:
- discussion groups around a specific area of common interest
- seminar series
- small conferences on specific topics
- support for inviting prominent external speakers
- other mechanisms that promote communication and joint proposal development
This is a continuous application opportunity; applications are considered in the order received. For more information please click here.
Funding for Students
Burch Fellows Program
The Burch Fellows Program was established in 1993 by a gift from UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus Lucius E. Burch III. Its purpose is to recognize undergraduate students at the University who possess extraordinary ability, promise, and imagination. It grants up to $6,000 to support self-designed off-campus experiences that will enable them to pursue a passionate interest in a way and to a degree not otherwise possible.
Applications for Burch Fellowships are generally due in February for the following academic year.
For more information please click here.
Rotary Center for International Studies Fellows (International students only)
The Rotary Center for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution operates in conjunction with UNC’s Center for Global Initiatives and Duke’s Center for International Development. One of only six centers worldwide, the Center has hosted 82 fellows from 45 different countries since the program began in 2002. Rotary Peace Fellows are looked to as leaders who will promote national and international cooperation, peace and the successful resolution of conflict throughout their lives in their careers and through service activities.
Rotary Peace Fellows are fully-funded through the Rotary World Peace Fellowship (RWFP), a program of the Rotary Foundation. The funding supports a master’s degree including tuition & fees, a living stipend, a summer internship, conference & research funding, and travel to and from the home country. Ten fellows are awarded the fellowship each year at Duke-UNC, with 5 assigned to Duke and 5 to UNC.
For more information, please click here.
Carolina Enrichment Experience Scholarship
Carolina students planning to study abroad or work as an unpaid intern for the first time are eligible to apply for a Carolina Enrichment Experience Scholarship. A preference is granted for exceptional non-traditional, Carolina Covenant, student parent, and transfer students as well as requests accompanied with a grant application from a nonprofit organization. For 2010, two $1500 CEES fellowships or one $1500 CEES fellowship and one $1500 CEES grant will be awarded.
CEES applications are generally due in March.
For more information please click here.
Infectious Diseases and Public Health Summer Research in Malawi
For the past 10 years, the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases and the Division of Infectious Diseases has sponsored two, first-year UNC medical students to conduct research at UNC Project in Lilongwe, Malawi for eight weeks during the summer. If chosen, UNC faculty will sponsor and assist in applications for scholarships and grants; however, students must procure their own funding.
Although students do not design or select their own projects, their areas of interest will be discussed and matched to existing projects and mentors in Malawi. Previous students have worked on chart audits in clinical settings, including inpatient adult medicine, pediatrics, prevention of HIV mother to child transmission, HIV outpatient care. Additional research studies are listed on the UNC Project-Malawi website.
Eligibility
First-year medical students who are available for eight weeks during the upcoming summer. Student must procure their own funds. Total costs between $4,500-$5,000.
Application Deadline
Applications are typically due in November.
Application Requirements
1. Current CV
2. One-page description of why you want to conduct research in Malawi, including your short- and long-term goals
Electronic applications should be sent to:
Irving Hoffman (hoffmani@med.unc.edu).
Doris Duke International Clinical Research Fellowship
The Doris Duke International Clinical Research Fellowship (ICRF) is a national award program sponsored by UNC. The ICRF offers research opportunities in Malawi and China.
Malawi Program Description
UNC has been conducting successful STD and HIV/AIDS research in Malawi and providing research and training opportunities for medical students for two decades. The UNC Project-Malawi, a research, care and training facility in Lilongwe, is a collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of Health and Kamuzu Central Hospital. UNC Project-Malawi is equipped with clinical research space, a state-of-the-art laboratory, satellite-linked data management, a UNC-linked library with high-speed internet access, a lecture hall, teleconferencing capability and student housing.
In addition to seven full-time UNC clinical research faculty living on-site, the center has 300 Malawi employees conducting over 15 HIV-related clinical research protocols with an annual budget of over $8 million. Each research project has an investigator in Malawi and a counterpart based in Chapel Hill.
China Program Description
UNC Faculty have been working in China for over 30 years. During that time, UNC has developed strong collaborative relationships and has the capacity to provide a unique research experience for a medical student fellow. One of UNC’s primary collaborators is National Center for STD and Leprosy Control in Nanjing. The work done in the Nanjing Center is critical to control and prevention of STDs and HIV in China. UNC participates in the NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows Program (FICRS/F) with a site in China. This program has successfully supported a series of US medical and public health students and postdoctoral fellows. The site has sufficient capacity to support an outstanding year-long experience for an ICRF fellow.
For more information please click here.
Fogarty International Center Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows (FICRS/F) Program
The NIH/Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars Support and Research Center at the Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) offers a one-year clinical research training program for persons regardless of citizenship. The scholars program is open to current medical students and the fellows program is available to students enrolled in either post-residency clinical fellowships or in other health-related post-doctoral programs. Since international applicants may not have U.S.-style fellowships or post-doctoral programs, they may apply if they are within three years of completing their training. This program is sponsored by the Fogarty International Center and several collaborating institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health and managed by the Support Center at Vanderbilt University , with fiscal support from the Office of AIDS Research, National Cancer Institute, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and National Eye Institute.
The FICRS/F Program supports one year of mentored clinical research only in a developing country. Applicants for the fellowship must develop a collaborative research proposal with an eligible institution overseas. Thirty-six sites were pre-approved as suitable for FICRS/F in a site competition completed in 2008. UNC has sites in Nanjing, China and Lilongwe, Malawi.
For more information please click here.
Internships
Laboratory Internship – UNC Project-Malawi
The UNC Project-Malawi, an infectious diseases research, care and training facility at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, is offering a 13-month internship as a laboratory technician/research assistant who will work under the supervision of highly experienced UNC faculty supervisors. Interns will spend the first month on the UNC campus in appropriate lab settings learning lab safety, bio-ethics, microbiology and HIV diagnostic techniques. The remainder of the time will be spent in either the microbiology or HIV PCR lab, depending on staffing needs. Typically interns also spend several hours each week serving as a study coordinator for one of UNC Project’s smaller studies and assisting the quality assurance department. This is a unique opportunity to learn and practice laboratory and field research skills and gain international work experience. Travel expenses, housing arrangements, and small stipend provided.
Who may apply: Graduating seniors at UNC-Chapel Hill or associated universities who have an interest in laboratory science, medicine, or public health careers. Applicants should send a copy of their c.v., a 1-page statement of interest, and a recommendation from a past supervisor or advisor to: Irving Hoffman, Director of International Operations, Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases, CB#3368, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3368 or irving_hoffman@med.unc.edu.
For more information please click here.
Additional global health internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students can be found on the Office of Global Health (public health) and Office of International Activities (medicine) funding pages.