IFSO-EC Scholarship 2024

One of the main activities of IFSO-EC is the organization of the biennial European Chapter Congress and the biennial European Chapter Symposium, which provide a forum to exchange knowledge on surgical treatment of severely obese patients, to present new techniques, research and concepts, and to meet the experts in the field.

In support of this aim, IFSO-EC offers every year 3 Scholarships to young members from countries whose Bariatric Surgery Societies are members of IFSO-EC and who show strong interests, initial accomplishments and potential for future career development in bariatric surgery and/or other obesity related specialties.

The principal purpose of the Scholarship is to support attendance at the IFSO-EC biennial congress or IFSO-EC Symposium. If an applicant wishes to use it to attend a different conference he/she will also be considered, provided the focus of the meeting is clearly obesity/bariatric/metabolic.

Each Scholarship offers a stipend of: 1.000,00 Euros + the registration at the IFSO-EC Congress or IFSO-EC Symposium. Registration fees at other conferences or meetings will not be supported unless the conference enjoys IFSO endorsement. Public recognition of the Award will be made at the IFSO-EC or IFSO-EC Symposium.

The applications must be sent in writing to IFSO Secretariat (info@ifso.com) by February 15, 2024.

Regulations:

1) Applicants must be IFSO-EC members in good standing and not over 40 years of age at the date of the Congress

2) Applicants must be graduates of schools of medicine and/or other associated disciplines.

3) Applicants must demonstrate interest in bariatric surgery and/or other allied health disciplines.

4) Applications will be accepted only when the applicants have been in surgical or other specialist practice for a minimum of one year at their intended permanent location, or be on a nationally recognized specialist training program (excluding freestanding fellowships/other scholarships).

5) Applicants whose careers are in the development stage are deemed more suitable than those who are serving in senior appointments.

6) Applications must be supported by the documents listed below under “Requirements for Application”.

7) Successful applicants are expected to provide a written report within 2 months of completing the Scholarship 8) Applicants may only be awarded this prize once

8) Applicants may only be awarded this prize once

The Presidents of the member Societies are kindly requested to inform their members about the availability of Scholarships and about the regulations and requirements for applications. The applications must be sent to the IFSO secretariat: info@ifso.com along with the requested documentation.

Applications received by the deadline will be graded according to an objective system by an ad hoc “Scholarship Committee”, which will award the 3 Scholarships after first informing the Executive Council. The Committee will ordinarily be composed of: President, President elect, Executive Director and two co-opted members from National Societies who should not be members of Executive Council.

The Secretariat will inform all applicants of the result in a timely way by email and will request their bank details for the bank transfer.

Requirements for Application

Applicants should apply in writing to IFSO-EC secretariat. All applications must be supported by the following 4 documents:

A structured 1 page CV giving
-Name
-date of birth
-demographic data & personal details
-qualifications
-training
-employment history
-current post
-anything else relevant that will fit on this single page
The CV should not include title pages or photos.
A 1 page (only) list of principal publications or presentations
Listing should separate:
-bariatric
-other
A 150 word (maximum) statement by the Applicant covering:
-Overall future career aim in bariatric surgery
-What is the next step in career development
-Why the scholarship will help the Applicant in this
-How the scholarship will help contribute to the development of bariatric surgery in the Applicant’s home country / institute
A letter from the Head of Department or professional mentor describing the Applicant’s
-ability,
-current level of training
-proposed career development