The Neuroscience Research Grants are awarded for the purpose of advancing basic and clinical research in the fields of neuroscience including psychiatry, pain medicine, neurology, and associated areas.

NSR Grants are designed to encourage young researchers to enter or continue in the field of neuroscience. Therefore, applications are invited from medical graduates, who have obtained, or in the process of obtaining specialist qualifications/doctorate and/or currently in advanced training. Applications will also be considered on a case by case basis from graduates returning to research after an appropriate break. Applications will not be accepted from established researchers including professors, associate professors, or CIAs with any competitive grant of $50,000 or above, or in receipt of a fellowship of $100,000 or more. Previous successful applicants will not be eligible.

The principal applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia and the majority of the research must be conducted within Australia.

Grants will be awarded for one year.

Funding for NSR Grants will be up to $44,000 (including GST) per annum and will be awarded to cover part salaries, equipment, research materials and expenses.

Grant recipients must notify the NSR Grant Coordinator of any other funding obtained (or applied for) during the tenure of the NSR grant. Only one NSR Grant will be allocated to a single applicant in a given year although applications will be accepted and reviewed for more than one project. Applicants will not be eligible to receive funding from more than one Pfizer Australia Research Grants Program in the same financial year.

Applications for the research grants will be reviewed by two independent reviewers and by the Australian Physicians Independent Committee (APIC), which is composed of leading clinicians and researchers from around the country. Pfizer will also review proposals involving any Pfizer compounds. The APIC is responsible for independent objective evaluation and recommendations of funding proposals for research projects. All decisions of the APIC are final and no correspondence will be entered into.

All personal information provided in your application, project summary and assessment details will be kept by the NSR Grant Coordinator, Pfizer Australia Pty Ltd and only be used for the purposes of administering this application, and if successful, the grant. Your personal information will be disclosed to reviewers as noted above. You have the right to access your personal information at any time. If you wish to do this please contact the Grant Coordinator. The details of all successful applications will be published on the NSR website.

The funding is not being used to influence or reward the recipient for present, past or future use or support of Pfizer medicines or to influence the outcome of clinical trials.

If you are a successful recipient you will be required to provide Pfizer with a tax invoice inclusive of GST from your academic or medical institution. This tax invoice must include the institutions’ ABN.

The application must be submitted via the online application form which can be accessed on the NSR website.

If you have any questions regarding the completion of the application form please contact Trudy Snape on (02) 9850 3973.

Required documents

• Completed Grant Application Form
• Study Proposal
• CV – Principal Investigator only
• Publication list
• A letter from the supervisor or department head supporting the project
• Approval letter from Institutional Ethics Committee and Drug Sub-Committee, if applicable (funding will not be granted until the ethics approval letter has been received by the NSR Grant Coordinator).

NSR grants are awarded with the expectation that timely submissions for presentation will be made at appropriate medical meetings or research forums and that papers will be submitted for publication in appropriate peer-reviewed medical journals. The grant recipients will be required to provide Pfizer with an opportunity to review any proposed publications. A copy of all published papers must be sent to the NSR Grant Coordinator. Furthermore, Pfizer Australia will be acknowledged for sponsoring the research.

It is a requirement of NSR that protocols that receive funding are not altered following the review process.

We understand that applicants may apply for funding from other sources. Please inform the NSR Grant Coordinator if you do receive funding prior to grants being awarded.

Twelve months after receiving funding support grant recipients will be required to provide a 500-word research summary to the NSR Grant Coordinator.

Pfizer Australia reserves the right to publicise the names of the grant recipients, their institutions, titles and summaries of their research projects, following consultation with the APIC.

All decisions made by the APIC are final.