For the second time the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) announces the “BIH Excellence Award for Sex and Gender Aspects in Health Research”. The award aims to bring more visibility to sex and gender issues in translational research. It recognizes research excellence among scientists working in the field of biomedicine, who integrate sex and/or gender aspects into their research.
The award focuses on both the research impact of the applicant and their future research cooperation with a partner from the BIH translational research commons of BIH, Charité or Max Delbrück Center (MDC). In bringing the laureate’s expertise to Berlin, BIH aims to connect the award winner with their chosen collaborators in the BIH translational research commons. Thus developing a joint research project, which serves the BIH mission (see www.bihealth.org) and has a focus on sex and/or gender aspects in research.
Eligibility
To be eligible for participation in this competition, applicants must:
- be a scientist in the field of biomedical research
- have made significant contributions to translational research with clinical relevance
- show that sex and/or gender are an integral aspect of the applicant’s research approach and design
- develop and provide a concise research program proposal for a joint research project with a partner from the translational research commons of BIH, Charité and Max Delbrück Center, that is of relevance to the BIH mission and has a focus on sex and/or gender aspects in research
Funding details
The winner will receive 40.000 € in total - 10.000 € for own (research) activities at the home institution and 30.000 € to accelerate the common research project with the Berlin partner, used preferentially to supervise an early career scientist together with the Berlin partner and to prepare applications for other grants in the future. You could use the money for example for a scholarship for a medical doctorate or the co-funding of a MD/PhD student.
How to Apply
Applications for the BIH Award must be submitted electronically via the BIH application portal at https://portal.bihealth.de/portal/. The portal will be open from January 21, 2019.
The application deadline is June 30, 2019.
In the portal you will be asked to provide a brief description about how you integrate sex and/or gender aspects into your own biomedical research and teaching (methodology, own achievements, impact, novel findings, methodological innovations, theoretical advancements) (max. 3500 characters including spaces).
You will be asked for the following information, as PDF documents only:
1.) Your CV (max. 5 pages) including:
- 5 most relevant publications with a description of your own contribution
- Relevant grants and awards
2.) Your full publication list
3.) Exposé (max. 5 pages) of the planned common research project with scientists from the translational research commons of BIH, Charité and Max Delbrück Center including an overview how you plan to use the 30.000 € in personnel and non-personnel costs
- title of the research project, description of the project (objectives, relevance, scope), planned activities, working group, position of the project in the international research context, description of already existing cooperation (if applicable)
4.) A confirmation letter of your Berlin partner
Review Process and Evaluation:
Applications will be assessed according to the following two criteria:
a) Past research performance with a focus on sex and gender aspects (50%)
b) Attractive research program proposal with a partner from the BIH translational research commons (BIH, Charité, MDC) (50%)
The past research performance will be evaluated with regard to:
- The impact in the field with a focus on sex and gender (track record, contribution to research and teaching in the field, publications, novel findings, methodological innovations, theoretical advancements)
- Translational relevance of the research
The research proposal will be evaluated with regard to:
- Fit to BIH mission and research foci according to the BIH strategy (www.bihealth.org)
- Potential for further cooperation
The evaluation committee for the award is composed of internationally recognized experts in translational medicine with a focus on sex and/or gender aspects and will meet in August 2019. The award ceremony will take place on September 24, 2019 in Berlin. BIH plans to organize a symposium to present current research on sex and gender difference in translational research at which the winner will be the keynote speaker.