Young scientists paper award

"EXCELLENT PAPER IN NEUROSCIENCE" AWARD 2010

General call description

The thirteen ERA-NET NEURON partner countries will issue an EXCELLENT PAPER IN NEUROSCIENCE AWARD to recognize the most remarkable and outstanding scientific publications by young researchers in the field of disease related neurosciences. First authors of candidate publications published between the period 1.1.2009 - 31.12.2009 affiliated in the ERA-NET NEURON partner countries are eligible to apply. The deadline for proposal submission is September 15th, 2010.
A total of 6000 # will be awarded among up to three best proposals, # 5000 being the maximum award for one proposal. The winners will be invited as special ERA-NET NEURON Young Investigator lecturers in an international conference. The award and travel costs related to the lecture will be covered by ERA-NET NEURON.
Partner Countries: Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Luxemburg, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom

1. Aim of the call

ERA-NET NEURON (the Network of European Funding for Neuroscience Research) has been set up to link 18 European national research funding programmes and funding organizations in the field of disease related neurosciences. The EXCELLENT PAPER IN NEUROSCIENCE AWARD will emphasize the importance of neuroscience and will contribute to integrate the neuroscience research community. The award is designed as a form of support and encouragement for young researchers at the early stage of their career.

2. Eligibility: The candidate must fulfil the following criteria

Author:
- First Author in the proposed publication
- Age below 35 at the date of publication, eligible breaks include parental leaves, long-term illness and national service. Other legal or personal circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis. Concerning parental leave, national rules apply, or 12 months per child, whichever is the greater.
- Less than 5 years from PhD-dissertation
- The Author must be affiliated in an ERA-NET NEURON partner country at the time of publication.
- In case of equal first co-authorship the award may be split if all authors meet the eligibility criteria for the award.

Publication:
- Award period: published between 1.1.2009 - 31.12.2009
- Original research article in an international peer review journal
- Impact factor of the journal above 10 based on the ISI Web of Knowledge
- Topic of the article must be clearly relevant to disease related neuroscience
- Affiliation of the first author in ERA-NET NEURON partner country as stated in the publication.

3. Application

Young researchers from the ERA-NET partner countries may submit a proposal for the EXCELLENT PAPER IN NEUROSCIENCE AWARD. The proposal must be submitted electronically using the online form available through the NEUORN web page http://www.neuron-eranet.eu/. Both pre- and postdoctoral young researchers working in ERA-NET NEURON partner countries are encouraged to apply.
Applications are accepted from the first author of an original article published within the award period. The application consists of the following documents, bundled together into a single PDF file:
- One page summary addressing the significance of the work
- Short biosketch (max 1 page for each first author)
- PDF of the article

The deadline for applications is September 15th, 2010

4. Evaluation

ERA-NET NEURON will carry out the evaluation of the proposals by consulting high-level scientists in the neuroscience field. The proposals will be evaluated for the following criteria:
- theoretical approach and scientific quality
- scientific impact for the area
- novelty and innovativeness of research

Based on the evaluation, up to the three highest ranked proposals will be awarded. Preference will be given to young researchers at the beginning of their career.

5. Management

The ERA-NET NEURON Joint Call Secretariat together with the national funding agencies will be responsible for the management of the evaluation process.
The applicants will be informed about the decisions individually by the Joint Call Secretariat on November 2010.

6. Award Presentation

The winners will be invited as ERA-NET NEURON Young Investigator lecturers in an international conference relevant to the subject area to the awarded paper. The award and travel costs related to the lecture will be covered by ERA-NET NEURON. The winners may also be invited to contribute to the planning of the future activities in young investigator support within the ERA-NET NEURON network.

7. Call Schedule

8. National Contacts for further information

For further information follow the links below or contact your national representative: