France Parkinson - France Parkinson Fellowships

France Parkinson Fellowship

You will receive a research grant (a funded position to work on your own project) amounting to 12 months for clinical or laboratory-based research into Parkinson’s disease. The amount depends on your career stage: final-year PhD students will receive up to 43,000 EUR, and postdoctoral researchers up to 60,000 EUR. The amount covers your full salary, including social security contributions. You may also apply for up to 10,000 EUR in additional funding for project costs, such as the use of research facilities (sequencing, animal housing facilities) or to attend a conference at which you will present a poster. The grant is provided by Association France Parkinson, a Paris-based charity that funds Parkinson’s research.

Who can apply

• Career stage: You are a PhD student in your fourth (final) year, or a postdoctoral researcher in your first or second year following the defence of your thesis.
• Research topic: Your project focuses on Parkinson’s disease, whether in the field of clinical or basic research.
• Field: This round is intended for medicine, clinical sciences and basic sciences. There is a separate call for applications for the humanities and social sciences.
• Where you work: Your laboratory and your employer must be based in France; for example, a university, a CNRS laboratory or an INSERM laboratory.
• Nationality: Any nationality can apply.
• One per team: Your research team may submit only one application per year and is ineligible to apply if it is already receiving a grant from France Parkinson.
• No double funding: If you have applied for the same scholarship elsewhere, you must state this. France Parkinson may withdraw the award if you are awarded both scholarships.

How to apply

Applications must be submitted online via the ‘France Parkinson’ platform, selecting the form for medicine, clinical research and basic science. The deadline for applications is 22 March. A scientific advisory board comprising clinicians and Parkinson’s researchers will review the applications, and the results will be announced in early July.

How realistic are your chances?

This scholarship is very narrowly defined. Your research must relate to Parkinson’s disease, be carried out at a specific career stage, and be supervised by a laboratory in France. As a result, the pool of applicants remains small compared to open research grants. A suitable candidate with a compelling Parkinson’s project has a genuine chance of success, but as each project is assessed by a scientific panel, the quality of your application will ultimately be the deciding factor.