What We Do > Training and Education > Fellowships and Grants

Fellowships and Grants

Through fellowships and grants, the Global Virus Network identifies and supports promising researchers, engaging them with top virology experts and cutting-edge research initiatives. In addition to the postdoctoral GVN Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program (GPFTP) offered through the GVN Drs. Yang Liu & Pan Zheng Academy, the GVN partners with institutions and industrial partners to nurture junior scientists in pursuing their careers in virology.

Fellowships are typically in the form of financial support for postdocs for one year and include attending GVN meetings and opportunities to train in grantsmanship, identifying research collaborators, networking with industrial partners, and so strengthening Fellows' research programs and publications. As appropriate, trainees in two-year postdoctorate programs may rotate to two designated GVN Centers of Excellence. Preference is given to candidates from low- and middle-income countries who are also from GVN Centers of Excellence or Affiliates and are 0-5 years post-PhD.

Grants through the GVN are for specific projects and often involve projects that benefit the capabilities of the GVN's Centers of Excellence, Affiliates, and industrial partners.

Examples of recent fellowships and grants are below.

If you are interested in partnering with GVN to offer a fellowship or grant, please contact Andrea Ridenour—for interested corporate/industrial partners—or Linman Li for interested academic/institutional partners.

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Fellowships

Below is an example of a recent fellowship program. If you are interested in partnering with GVN to offer a fellowship, please contact Andrea Ridenour—for interested corporate/industrial partners—or Linman Li for interested academic/institutional partners.

The GVN-Abbott Pandemic Defense Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

An important aspect of GVN’s mission includes training future virologists to meet the current, and future, need of highly qualified, well-trained virologists worldwide. Since late 2019, through the GVN Corporate Partnership program, Abbott and GVN have been working collaboratively to mitigate viral threats and subsequently the current pandemic. Last year, Abbott established the Pandemic Defense Coalition, the first-of-its-kind, industry-led, global scientific network dedicated to the early detection of, and rapid response to, future pandemic threats. The Coalition comprises 14 entities, including networks, governments, and public health organizations on five continents that are actively identifying, analyzing, tracking and testing viral threats.

In this context, GVN and Abbott launched The GVN – Abbott Pandemic Defense Postdoctoral Fellowship Program to nurture junior scientists in pursuing their careers in virology and to build global scientific network in response to the early detection and mitigation of future pandemic threats. The Fellowship supports one-year post-doctoral training fellowship for applicants with a MD, PhD, or DVM degree(s) with the potential to extend to a two-year program. This program ensures junior scientists receive elite training in the identification of unknown diseases through surveillance, viral genomic sequencing analysis and bioinformatics. It also helps build research capacity by enhancing participants’ research portfolio and creating and establishing connections with scientists from developing nations.

BENEFITS

Financial support for 1-year Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program
Financial support to attend GVN meetings and other related meetings
If appropriate, each trainee will have the possibility to rotate at two designated GVN Centers of Excellence during their 2-year program
Opportunity to train in grantsmanship
Opportunity to identify research collaborators and strengthen research program and publications
Networking with GVN industrial partners for further collaborations

APPLICATION DEADLINE

July 15, 2022

AVAILABILITY

1 vacancy

PROGRAM DURATION

One-year, October 3, 2022 – September 29, 2023, with the potential to extend to a two-year term.

WHO CAN APPLY FOR THIS PROGRAM?

A junior or experienced post-doctoral researcher from the GVN Centers of Excellence and Affiliates, 0-5 years post-graduation with PhD degree
Research interest and/or experience on infectious diseases, pathology, immunology, virology, vaccinology, genomics, or other related research areas
Productive research experience with a substantive record of publications
Candidates from developing nations are preferred

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please submit all the required documentation in one package with subject line: GVN – Abbott Pandemic Defense Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and send to [email protected].

Grants

Below is an example of a recent grant. If you are interested in partnering with GVN to offer a grant, please contact Andrea Ridenour—for interested corporate/industrial partners—or Linman Li for interested academic/institutional partners.

Global Virus Network – Virtual Biobanking Initiative Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI)

Application deadline and review procedures

The GVN will accept expression of interest submitted by January 13, 2023, 5PM EST to [email protected]. Funding decisions will be made within two months of the application submission. Funding will be provided 50% at the start of the program, 50% after reporting achievement of half of the milestones. All publications related to the studies described in the proposal must indicate the GVN as a source of funding.

Introduction and purpose

The Global Virus Network recognizes the importance of convenient, facile access to samples for research purposes. This is relevant to a great number of studies: epidemiological surveys, identification of new viral variants, characterization of the breadth of activity of antibodies and drugs, the occurrence of resistance, etc. However, resources that are key to the research efforts of one group may be stored at centers located in various geographical areas. One approach to ameliorating availability of samples is to establish a biobank. This approach, however, raises a number of ethical, regulatory and logistical issues; access to samples needs to be subjected to evaluation and approval by ethical and regulatory committees; samples can only be shipped to other countries once a research protocol is approved. Moreover, biobanking requires a significant investment to purchase and maintain capital equipment, storage facilities, and training specialized personnel. In some cases, virtual biobanking offers an alternative approach. Instead of centralizing sample storage, samples are kept at the site of origin. The GVN will offer the necessary coordination, and connect centers and partners that need certain samples with the centers that have collected samples. The approach is based on three scopes:

Creation of a virtual biobanking network of GVN centers, with the intent to share documents/protocols/information to cope with regulations and hurdles that affect sharing of
samples
Setting up bilateral collaborations among centers and with partners. This will be achieved using a GVN database, with the information provided by centers.
Providing assistance to centers that are interested in acquiring on site capacity, providing proper protocols, information on proper storage of samples, etc., connecting them with more established centers; reinforcing the human resources.

Funding mechanism

This RFEI is aimed at supporting the achievement of the three scopes indicated above. Applications will be prepared on a one-page template (described below). The expression of interest must include Introduction, Preliminary studies, Proposed goals, conclusions, and Budget total. Introduction: provide information on the background of the studies and critical unmet needs. Preliminary studies: provide information on past and current studies and their impact on virtual biobanking, and how they enable the current proposal. Proposed goals: explain how the study will address any of scopes 1-3 above, or any combination of them. Indicate tentative timelines and milestones, centers that will collaborate, and any information useful to evaluate the impact and chance of success of the study. Conclusion: Indicate what will be the anticipated impact of the study on the specific research field, whether it will enable future studies supported by other agencies, whether the future funding will be pursued by extending the partnership supported by the GVN, and if future funding applications will involve the GVN. Total budget: In one line, indicate the total budget request.

Proposal Template

Name of Principal Investigator (PI) and/or Co-PIs in top left of document

INTRODUCTION including scientific question/hypothesis, significance
PRELIMINARY STUDIES
PROPOSED GOALS can be more than one; if applicable, highlight how the GVN will catalyze achieving the goals of the study; for each goal, provide a brief description of how the goal will be pursued from an experimental viewpoint and the expected outcomes
CONCLUSIONS if necessary; can be a recap on how the research will impact the field, and how it will evolve after the funding period; if it is expected that studies stemming from this proposal will result in applications for funding with other agencies, please indicate if they will be an extension of this proposal and whether GVN will be a partner
BUDGET TOTAL provide the amount of TOTAL costs over the ENTIRE period of funding, and the total length of the funding period; this should be ONE LINE ONLY

Note: 1-page limit, Arial 11, 1-inch margins, use line spacing as you prefer. Please fill out the fields as above. There is no recommended length for each section, except the “Total Budget” which has a one-line limit with both an amount and a duration. Figures can be included. References can be included if necessary using a DOI number. Text in parentheses must be deleted before submission.

To request further information on this RFEI, please contact Program Director Dr. Alfredo Garzino-Demo.

External Grants, Fellowships, and Scholarships

Below is a list of external grants, fellowships, and scholarships that may be of interest to GVN Members, industrial partners, junior virologists, or students interested in virology.

The GVN only occasionally updates this list, so if you see something that is out of date or to suggest an additional opportunity, please contact us.