The ESCMID CAREer Grant is aimed at ESCMID members working in the fields of clinical microbiology, infectious diseases and infection control who need support to advance their scientific career whilst looking after their children or suffering from an unexpected situation that prevents them from working full-time (disease, care of ill parents, …).

IMPORTANT: The call for up to three ESCMID CAREer Grants opens on 14 November 2022, 12:00 noon CET and the deadline to apply is 15 January 2023, 17:00 CET.

The ESCMID CAREer Grant, by paying a support person (scientific/technical staff member or assistant), allows the recipient to reduce his/her work-time percentage from 100% to 80% or from 80% to 60%. The grant contributes to the salary of a support person by financing him/her with the 20% of the gross salary (full-time, 100%) of the recipient for a maximum of 2 consecutive years. However, the entire grant may not exceed EURO 20’000/year.

Example: Gross salary of the recipient: 40’000 EURO (full-time, 100%). The recipient will reduce his/her working hours by 20%. ESCMID CAREer Grant will offer 8’000 EURO/year for a maximum of 2 years to pay a supporting person (newly or already hired by the Institution of the applicant) working on the project of the recipient.

Please note that the support figure can be a newly hired person, or he/she can be already an employee of the same applicant’ Institution/laboratory which will dedicate working time (20%) to support the applicant.

You can apply if:

• You have a valid Young Scientist or Full ESCMID membership.
• You are a postdoc (or equivalent) or a doctoral student leading a research project in the field of basic/clinical microbiology, infectious diseases, infection control.
• You work in a public research Institute or in a public or private hospital. Applications from employees of companies/start-up research firms will not be considered.
• You intend to reduce your working time by 20%.
• You and your supervisor agreed that a support person would work on your research project.
• You have at least one child below 5 years of age or suffer from an unexpected situation (disease, ill parents care, …) that impedes you to work fulltime / go on with your training.

Please note that you can apply independently from your gender, the gender of your partner and your marital status.

Document 1: A PDF file (max. 4 MB) named “YourSurname_YourName_1” containing:

• Family certificate (or equivalent) stating the birth date of your child OR Proof of needed support for your health / parents’ care*.
• Applicant’s working contract.

*It would be sufficient a doctor note, stating the name of the person needing treatment/care. No details on the medical condition are needed.

Document 2: A PDF file (max. 4 MB) named “YourSurname_YourName_2” containing:

• Applicant’s Research project and planned activities of the supporting person (max 2 pages).
• Applicant’s scientific CV (max. 2 pages) including list of relevant publications.
• A sponsoring letter from the applicants’ scientific supervisor stating that the support person can substantially contribute to the professional development of the applicant (max 1 page).
• A letter from the applicant specifying how he/she would mostly benefit from this grant, in relation to his/her familial and financial situation. 

Document 3: A Colour photograph (only JPG, TIF, EPS, max. 4MB) named “YourSurname_YourName_3”

Step 1: Eligibility criteria check

ESCMID Science Managers will first check the validity of Document 1.

Step 2: Review process

The ESCMID Parity Commission will assess the applications.

The following criteria will be taken into account for the final evaluation:

• Potential benefit of a supporting person for the applicant research project.
• Scientific quality of the applications
• Overall familial and financial situation of the applicant.

Step 3: Approval

ESCMID Executive Committee will finally approve the applications proposed by ESCMID Parity Commission.  Please note that, in the final decision, gender balance and geographical distribution will be taken into account.

The awarded grant for the first year will be transferred to the institution hiring the support person immediately after the signature of the grant agreement. Within 2 months, the recipient must provide the following documents:

• Proof of reduction of his/her working hours (amendment of the working contract).
• Proof of employment of the supporting person for a minimum of 1 year (working contract or amendment of the working contract).

The grant for the second year will be transferred after receiving an actual proof of the employment of the support person.

Please note that:

• ESCMID must be informed about any changes of the grant recipient working condition and of the support person. ESCMID may modify or terminate the grant should the grant conditions no longer be met.
• Scientific reports are not required.
• Any award, publication or career progression of the applicant must be communicated to the ESCMID office.

In case of questions and/or assistance please contact paritycommission[at]escmid.org.