Please note: DO NOT register for the Global Evidence Summit before you receive notification of the result of your stipend application.

Cochrane is committed to promoting and supporting the involvement of active members to the Global Evidence Summit who are living and working in low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries (LMIC and UMIC).

Stipends help cover travel costs and other expenses associated with attending the Global Evidence Summit and are available for residents of LMIC/UMICs that are actively contributing to Cochrane.

Funds, however, are very limited, so if you can find some or all the money you need from another source (such as the Cochrane Group with which you are involved, or your institution), please do so.

• Stipend application deadline is 09 May 2024
• Stipend recipients notified on 06 June 2024

Application criteria

Individuals who wish to apply for a stipend must be:

• permanent residents (living and working in) in low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank.
• active Cochrane members as a review author, editor, information specialist, methodologist, peer reviewer, translator or coordinator of local Cochrane activities; active involvement must have started no later than one year before the Global Evidence Summit.
• able to attend the entire Global Evidence Summit (10-13 September 2024). Make sure that the conference dates do not conflict with any other commitment you may have, and that your employer is happy for you to attend the Global Evidence Summit. We will not fund partial attendance of the Global Evidence Summit.
• recommended by a Cochrane Group (CRG Network, Review Group, Field, Network, Centre, Associate Centre or Affiliate) or an individual highly involved with Cochrane. You will be asked to indicate the Cochrane Group that you are most closely associated with or an individual that can comment on your involvement. A support letter is optional but with same scores, applicants with a support letter will be preferred. This can be sent over to lmicstipends@cochrane.org
• a new scholarship recipient applicant –you must not have received a stipend to attend the last three Cochrane Colloquia or previous Global Evidence Summit.

Application recommendations and limitations

• Partial funding: to be able to fund as many people as possible to attend the Global Evidence Summit, our preference is to provide partial support only. Your chances of receiving a stipend are higher if you are able to cover part of the costs yourself or from other sources. The application form will ask for information on other organisations that you have contacted to obtain funding. You will not be able to request further funding once your application has been accepted.
• Upper-middle-income country residents: contributors based in upper-middle-income countries are expected to cover at least 25% of their costs themselves.
• Cochrane employees: applicants who are employed - and paid - to do Cochrane work are eligible for partial funding only. For the purpose of their application, a Cochrane employee is anyone hired by any institution who has protected time on a weekly basis to work for a Cochrane Group (CRG Network, Review Group, Methods Group, Field, Centre, Associate Centre, Affiliate, and Group satellites). As a guideline, applicants who have protected Cochrane work time for less than half time (less than 2.5 days per week) can apply for a maximum of 75% of funding support. Applicants who have protected work time for more than 2.5 days per week paid to do Cochrane work should not request more than 50% funding support. If a person's paid Cochrane work finishes before the start of the Global Evidence Summit, these eligibility criteria do not apply.
• Persons temporarily based in high-income countries: applications from residents of low- and middle-income countries that are currently based in a high-income country may be considered on a case-by-case basis if the stay is clearly limited to a specific period of time and the applicant does not receive a salary. Please contact Cochrane's Central Executive (lmicstipends@cochrane.org) before you submit your application if this applies to you.

Assessment of applications

Applicants will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Cochrane involvement
• contribution to the Global Evidence Summit programme
• anticipated gains from attending the Global Evidence Summit
• ability to raise partial funds to support attendance
• recommendation from a Cochrane Group/individual highly involved with Cochrane
• previous receipt of a Cochrane Colloquium or Global Evidence Summit stipend

What costs are covered?

Funds may be available for one or more of the following:

• Travel to and from Prague (most economical return fare), up to £500 in total
• Accommodation will be reserved and paid directly by the Stipends team, unless you wish to reserve your own hotel. If reserving your own room, reimbursement will not exceed £500 in total for a maximum of four nights
• Registration fee, which entitles you to attend all sessions, conference materials, lunches and coffee breaks from 10-13 September 2024, including attendance at the Evening Social Event
• Allowance for ground travel and meals not included in the registration fee, up to £25 per day (no more than £100 in total for the four days)

Scholarship recipients will need to

• Produce a report on their experiences at the Global Evidence Summit. This may be used as a blog or news item for the Cochrane websites.
• Produce receipts for expenses covered by the scholarship.
   

Selection and notification of scholarship recipients

All submitted applications are screened and those meeting the eligibility criteria will be considered by the LMIC Stipend Committee.

LMIC Stipend Committee:

Barbara Nussbaumer-Streit
Ana Beatriz Pizarro
Netzahualpilli Delgado
Luis Rafael Moscote
Revathi Somanthan
Aishath Mala
Radheshyam Meher
Balendra PratapSingh
Munzer Naima
Natalia Moros

Further help

If you require assistance with your application, please contact lmicstipends@cochrane.org