CIPHER Grant Programme, International AIDS Society, Switzerland (2016)

The Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER) Grant Programme is designed for mentored early-stage investigators to advance paediatric HIV research and to fill critical knowledge gaps that impede paediatric HIV diagnosis, prevention, treatment and care in resource-limited settings. It does this by promoting and encouraging HIV research related to infants, children and adolescents, thereby contributing to scientific progress in the field. Scientific areas of interest include both clinical and operational research.

US$ 1.2K will be dispersed in research grants and the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary from application to application, and therefore, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary. Awards will be funded for up to two years and for up to US$ 75,000 per year (including direct research costs and applicable indirect costs). Second-year funding is contingent upon demonstration of satisfactory progress during year one. The CIPHER Grant Programme encourages collaborations between different study sites and institutions; at least 80% of the direct grant expenses have to be spent in LMICs. Additional support will be provided for grantees to attend the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), which will be held from 17 to 22 July 2016 in Durban, South Africa, where they will present their research projects and will be officially awarded.

Any individual with the skills, formal education and access to resources necessary to carry out the proposed research is welcome to submit an application for the CIPHER Grant Programme. The principal investigator (PI) is encouraged to work with a mentor and his/her institutional colleagues and partners to develop the research plan.

The PI must be an early-stage investigator, i.e., individual who obtained her/his final research degree (e.g., PhD, MD followed by research training, MBBS) less than 10 years before the application deadline.

The PI must serve for the first time as primary PI for a non-training research grant. The PI must fulfil one of the following criteria prior to the submission deadline for the Letter of Intent:
- He/she is a clinical/research trainee (e.g., fellow, senior resident) at an academic institute or an institute whose primary mission is research,
- He/she has a faculty or comparable position (e.g., assistant professor, lecturer) at an academic institute or an institute whose primary mission is research,
- He/she has an established position at an organization with adequate research infrastructure to undertake the proposed research activities.

The research project should demonstrate the potential to contribute to the optimization of HIV diagnosis, prevention, treatment and care for infants, children and adolescents affected by HIV in resource-limited settings by responding to identified research gaps.

The PI must choose a mentor with relevant expertise in paediatric HIV research. (A mentorship plan and letter of commitment from the mentor will be requested from shortlisted applicants invited to submit a Full Proposal.) The budget should reflect that at least 80% of the direct grant expenses will be spent in LMICs.

Further details:
http://ec.europa.eu