McDonald
Fellowships

Professor
McDonald had a monumental impact on MS research, treatment and understanding,
providing invaluable breakthroughs in the field. He was a member of the MS
International Federation’s International medical and scientific board from 1980
and its chairman from 1999 to 2003.

The McDonald
Fellowship was formerly known
as the Du Pré Fellowship.

Fellowship

Every year the MS
International Federation offers a number of McDonald Fellowships to young
researchers from emerging countries*. From 2016 one of these fellowships will
be a joint MSIF-ECTRIMS fellowship which is funded by ECTRIMS.

Fellowships enable
the recipient to travel to an established research institution to work with
leading researchers in MS, with a view to returning to their own country to
establish a programme of MS research that involves the application of the newly
learned techniques.

The fellowship
consists of a two-year grant, around UK £30,000 per year, to cover travel and
living costs, and an additional contribution of UK £2,000 per year to the host
institution. We anticipate that part of the second-year grant to the host
institution will be used to cover the expenses of the candidate attending the
annual congress of ECTRIMS, the European
Committee for Treatment and Research in MS.

In 2015, we will
accept applications from all areas of research related to MS and encourage
applications in the areas of symptom relief, rehabilitation and palliative
care.

Who
is eligible?

Candidates must be
under 35 at the time of application and must be citizens of an emerging
country* as defined by the World Bank.

Candidates must be
in one of the following situations:

• working
  or studying in an emerging country* at the time of nomination

• working
  or studying in another country on a project which started within the six months
  prior to nomination

• studying
  in another country on a project supported by an MS International
  Federation grant.

The candidate’s
focus of research should be an area of neuroscience relevant to MS.

Before nomination,
candidates need to have identified a suitable project and discussed their
involvement with the project supervisor of the institution.

It is anticipated
that the award may be seen as a contribution to the country from which the
candidate comes, as a step toward establishing greater expertise in MS research
in that country.

The fellowship may
also be used as a supplement for work related to MS by a candidate who has been
accepted for training in a recognised institute (within the six months prior to
nomination) but who doesn’t have enough money to cover the total cost.

The research should
be in an area that makes it likely that the studies and expertise can be
transferred to the candidate’s home country.

* – Emerging
countries are all countries with a low, lower middle or upper middle income as
defined by the World Bank.

What
is the deadline?

The deadline for
nominations is 30 June 2016.

Who
awards the fellowships?

The executive
committee of the MS International Federation ‘s International medical and
scientific board will consider and select successful candidates.

What
evidence of results is needed?

The MS International
Federation requires a short report at the end of the first year of the
fellowship. Second-year funding depends on the submission of this report.

Upon completion of the
fellowship, a final report is required. This should detail:

• What
  the recipient has gained from the fellowship
• Their
  achievements in the project field
• The
  area of expertise which is being transferred back to the country of
  origin.

In addition, the MS
International Federation requests electronic copies of papers, abstracts and
posters resulting from the fellowship.

Who
do I contact?

For more
information, including a list of possible host institutions, please contact our
head of international research, Dr Dhia Chandraratna, using the contact us form.

Click here to apply for a McDonaldFellowship