Eligibility
Candidates eligible for application include Swiss graduates/scientists (MD and PhD), younger than 40 years of age who are committed to research careers.

Time Period
The award is designed for young investigators to spend a meaningful period of time in a research institute of recognized excellence in the field of hypertension or cardiovascular diseases outside Switzerland.
The minimum full time commitment is twelve months.

Site
Scholarships will be awarded to candidates with a prospective documented research project in institutions where clinical or research training in hypertension or cardiovascular diseases under qualified supervision is available to research fellows.

Selection of Institution/Candidates
Selection of the project and candidate will be based on the quality of the proposal and supporting supervision, and will be determined by a reviewer board chosen by the Council of the Swiss Society of Hypertension.
Applications must be made by the current mentor for specific candidate(s) by name; terms such as "to be selected" or "to be named later" are not acceptable.
Only one award will be made to a single candidate in a given year.
No candidate may receive a scholarship more than once.

Preceptor
The institution must appoint a preceptor who will be responsible for guiding the candidate during the scholarship period. All scholarships are awarded with the understanding that the preceptor will accept full responsibility for the program, its supervision, and the completion and submission of the formal reports.

Application
Each application must include:

1. A brief description of the proposed program including facilities and personnel to be involved;
2. A statement describing the duties and responsibilities of the candidate, time period to be spent (including anticipated start and end dates) and specific education and training that will be provided;
3. A statement of anticipated gains in knowledge and experience for the candidate upon completion of the program;
4. Curriculum vitae of the candidate and preceptor, including the latter's active research funding support.

Deadline
Applications must be received at the SSH office no later than June 30 of each year. Awards will be announced in July of the same year.

Payment
The 40'000 CHF scholarships will be awarded to the candidate. The entire amount must be used for the candidate's salary. Partial payment of 20'000 CHF will be made upon receipt of the signed acceptance agreement at the SSH office; the remaining 20'000 CHF will be paid upon receipt of proof that the candidate is still working with its designated preceptor 6 months after beginning of the project.

Evaluation
Upon completion of the program, the preceptor and candidate must submit

1. A report by the candidate describing the goals and accomplishments
2. A summary by the preceptor
3. A structured abstract of 300 words or less co-authored by the candidate and the preceptor of the results of the training experience for the Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society of Hypertension
4. A financial report declaring that the funds were used as a salary for that candidate. The completed report in the designated format is a requirement for the preceptor to be eligible for future scholarships.

The preceptor and candidate must agree to allow the Swiss Society of Hypertension future contact to determine how well the program is meeting its objective.

Acknowledgments
Scientific publications by the recipient during the period of the scholarship should contain the following statement:
This work was supported in part by the AstraZeneca Scholarship of the Swiss Society of Hypertension.

Application form
Click here to download the application form