ASTDA Summer Research Fellowship for Graduate/Professional Students and Post-Doctoral Trainees

The Summer Research Fellowship is designed to provide financial support for students and post-doctoral trainees to conduct a mentored STI-related research project during a 3-4 month period over the academic summer break.

The goals of the Summer Research Fellowship are to:

• • Encourage trainees to conduct STI/sexual health research
  • Provide financial support that permits trainees to dedicate time to an STI or sexual health research project
  • Encourage established STI and sexual health researchers to dedicate time to mentoring trainees and recognize the mentor’s contribution with an honorarium
  • Advance the ASTDA mission to foster scientific knowledge, develop leadership, and champion practice in the field of sexually transmitted infections

Eligible applicants include students enrolled in graduate (masters or doctoral program) or professional school and recent graduates who have completed their degree within the past 3 years and are now post-doctoral scholars. Faculty are not eligible. People who are newer to the field of sexual health/STI will be given priority for this award.

Awardees will receive up to $5,000 stipend to conduct the project. Funds can be used for direct project support or to support the summer living expenses of the awardee (or a combination of these). They will separately receive financial support, up to $2,000, to attend a professional conference to present the research results (including travel, lodging and registration). Mentors will receive a $2,000 honorarium. Given prior challenges with awarding payment for international awardees, the 2024 summer research fellowships are open to U.S.-based applicants and mentors. We expect to fund at least five awards through this award mechanism.

Awardees will be expected to complete a mid-project progress report and a final report and present their research results at a professional conference.

Application

All applications require the following (any missing information may invalidate the submission):

• Cover sheet with project title, applicant’s and mentor’s contact information (including email, phone number, social media handle(s))
• Personal statement describing the applicant’s career goals and how this award will advance those goals (1 page maximum)
• Description of the research project, including objective, activities, and timeline (2 pages)
• The applicant’s CV or biosketch (no more than 5 pages), including funding
• The mentor’s CV or biosketch (no more than 5 pages)
• A brief statement from the mentor confirming a commitment to mentor the applicant if selected for this award

All applications should be submitted as a single pdf to astda@astda.org no later than Friday, January 19, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

Selection

Applications will be reviewed by members of the ASTDA Board of Directors and evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Applicant’s commitment to (or, for those earlier in the training process, interest in exploring) an STI-related career
• Applicant’s previous record of accomplishments
• Significance of the proposed research
• Strength of the proposed research plan
• Feasibility of the proposed timeline
• Appropriateness of the identified mentor
• Contributions to diversity (applicant or research), broadly defined

We encourage applicants from populations underrepresented in the scientific workforce, as defined by the National Institutes of Health.

Please note: The proposed project must be focused on an STI or sexual health topic. We will not fund applications exclusively focused on HIV.

Timeline

• January 19, 2024: Applications Due
• March 2024: Awards announced
• May 2024: Stipends and mentor honoraria distributed
• July 2024 – December 2025: Fellows present at national professional conference (e.g., STD Prevention Conference, ISSTDR, STD Engage, IDSA/ID Week, IDSOG, National Sexual Health Conference, or others as relevant)