Epilepsy Society of Australia Travel Scholarship

The Epilepsy Society of Australia offers travel scholarships of up to AUD $2,500 to assist health professionals in the early stages of their careers to present their research at an ILAE related international epilepsy conference (e.g. the IEC, AOEC, EEC, AES Meeting). The health professional must be in training or within 5 years of completing training, and currently undertaking research related to epilepsy. The ESA Executive, dependent on finances, determines the number of scholarships awarded per year. Applications are assessed quarterly, with the closing dates March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 each year, for meetings in the following six months.

The scholarship must be used for travel, accommodation or registration. The applicant’s supervisor or head of department needs to confirm that the applicant will attend the conference and has an abstract accepted (or submitted with likely acceptance). It is expected that if the investigator receives funds from the conference or another sponsor (e.g. investigator award) and all the conference expenses are covered, that the monies will be refunded to the ESA for distribution to other applicants. If an abstract is not accepted, the scholarship will not be paid. Following the meeting, the applicant is requested to write a short report on the meeting and their presentation and email this to the ESA Secretariat.

To be eligible, the applicant must:

• Be residing in Australia at the time of application.
• Have completed at least 12 months of epilepsy-related research or training in Australia, and intend to continue a career in epilepsy.
• Be currently in training, or within 5 years of qualification, in an epilepsy-related discipline.
• Have been a financial member of the ESA for at least the previous 12 months, and have current financial membership status.
• Have an abstract submitted to an ILAE-affiliated international epilepsy conference (e.g. IEC, AES, AOEC, EEC) on work undertaken in Australia. Scholarships are not for Australian meetings.

It is an expectation of the ESA, that if successful, the candidate will continue to be a financial member of the ESA for at least the following 3 years. Applications must be emailed to the ESA Secretariat, and must include:

• An accompanying letter of support from the principal supervisor or head of department, where the applicant undertook the research.
• Curriculum vitae.
• A summary of the research and a copy of the abstract.
• Details of the conference and a detailed summary of expenses.
• Names of two referees.

Previous recipients of an ESA Travel Scholarship cannot reapply. Successful applicants of an ESA Travel Scholarship can claim payment of expenses up to $2,500 by submitting receipts and proof of payment to the ESA Secretariat. This can be done prior to attending the meeting, with the understanding the monies must be refunded if the recipient does not attend or an abstract is not accepted.

For any other information please contact the Epilepsy Society of Australia.