The International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS), is a worldwide Federation of National and International Societies and other organisations having a common interest in Microbiological sciences. The Society for General Microbiology, UK a member Society of the IUMS, is making a separate contribution to this program from its International Development Fund.
The IUMS-SGM short-term fellowship is a cooperative scheme between the various listed organisations to provide an opportunity to young microbiologists from any developing country to pursue, or to complete, a part of an ongoing research program at a laboratory in an industrialised or developed country and/or to acquire theoretical or technical knowledge in their particular area of research.
Microbiologists in developing countries aggressively pursuing research, often reach a facility cul-de-sac where research plans cannot be accomplished due to lack of materials, equipment or facilities and/or where essential theoretical or experimental knowledge is not available. The IUMS-SGM short-term fellowship is designed to ease these problems for deserving microbiologists from developing countries to enable them to overcome their research bottlenecks, and to strengthen the bonds of interregional scientific cooperation.
Awards will be made only to applicants who are residents and who are submitting applications from a developing country. IUMS adopts the criteria defined by the World Bank. Fellowships can be awarded for a research period of up to three months in a developed country. The visit can be extended up to a maximum of six months, provided that additional funds are obtained from a different source. The IUMS-SGM fellowship cannot be combined with another fellowship to the same purpose covering travel and housing expenses. The applicant from a developing country:

• should be a permanent employee in the country of residence, or should have a research fellowship in the country of residence that extends a minimum of six months beyond the period of training under IUMS-SGM support, or is enrolled in a graduate program and is performing his/her doctoral thesis work in the developing country of residence.
• must have adequate research work experience;
• must have completed at least 3 years of training in any of the microbiological sciences;
• must provide specific evidence in the form of a proposal about the work the applicant is involved in and the objective that is intended to accomplish at the host laboratory.

The number of fellowships available will be announced when the call for applications is released.  Two or three fellowships should be preferably served in laboratories in U.K. The award will be up to US $4000 for travel, housing and meal expenses. Additional funds for salary and medical insurance will not be provided. Coverage for life and accident or health insurance is the personal and sole responsibility of the individual or the host Organisation.

Application procedure
Applications must be submitted in English as e-mail attachments and should include:

• a cover letter from the applicant, indicating his/her personal data, institution that he/she is working, institution he/she plans to visit, name of the scientists at such host institution and a listing of the documents enclosed in the application.
• a nominating letter from the Head of the Organisation in which the applicant is working;
• The scientific project that you are involved in, indicating the objective/s that you would like to develop at the host institution. The presentation should include:
• introduction
• research hypothesis
• rationale of the research
• importance of the project to be developed at the host institution to your research and to your career
• proposed timetable
• literature cited
• a statement indicating the objective/s that you plan to achieve in the host institution. The scientific project should be concise and its size should be kept within 6 pages, typed in simple-space with font type not smaller than 11 point.
• the applicant's full curriculum vitae;
• a brief CV from the researcher at the host institution;
• a letter of invitation or acceptance from the host Organisation (IUMS-SGM-UNESCO Fellowship) describing facility support for the applicant;
• two supporting letters addressing the applicant's achievements.
• a letter from the developing country institution stating the position that the visiting scientist holds if he/she is a permanent employee, or a letter stating the award of a graduate student fellowship in the applicant's developing country of residence, or a letter from the institution stating the applicant is enrolled in a graduate program and is performing his/her doctoral thesis work in the developing country of residence. The letter requested in (g) may be omitted if the information is provided in the presenting letter by the Head of the Organisation in which the applicant is working.
• Successful applicants should submit, before the award is disbursed, proof that he/she has appropriate visa to enter the country he/she intends to visit. In this regard, copy of the passport pages showing the visa and the applicant's personal data is requested.

Applicants must submit all documents electronically, including scanned letters.  In any event, the original signed letters (cover, nominating and supporting letters) should be sent by airmail to arrive within 10 days after the deadline closing.

Closing date for 2009 to be announced

All enquiries should be submitted to:
Yuan Kun LEE
Department of Microbiology
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
National University of Singapore
5 Science Drive 2
Singapore 117597
Email: micleeyk@nus.edu.sg
Last modified November 2008