Dr Hadwen Trust, the UK's leading non-animal medical research charity is launching a fund for science students graduating this summer.
The Alan and Kathie Stross Summer Fellowships will be available to graduates to begin straight after their degree, before they continur biological sciences post-graduate education. Research activities should focus on the direct replacement of primates, cats or dogs in biomedical research.
The fellowships have been named after Alan and Kathie Stross, committed supporters of the Dr Hadwen Trust who left the DHT a substantial legacy to fund the fellowships.
The Dr Hadwen Trust launched a Summer Studentship Programme in 2012 where undergraduate students gain practical laboratory experience working on animal-replacement projects in the biosciences. In 2015 the DHT funded 14 studentships that included research into tuberculosis, childhood lung cancer and Tourette syndrome. The students worked on projects including tissue engineering, brain imaging and the development of 3D mini-organs.
Dr Brett Cochrane, Group Head of Science at the Dr Hadwen Trust, said: “Our summer studentships create the opportunity for early career scientists to experience, and actively participate in, the development of innovative research to help improve the ‘toolbox’ of non-animal technologies and advance biomedical research.
"In conjunction with our summer studentships, PhD studentships and post-doctoral research positions, the Alan and Kathie Stross Fellowships will allow us to further embed non-animal medical research as an option for the next generation of scientists.
“Scientific research can suffer from the ‘leaky bucket’ effect whereby too many highly-talented young scientists leave promising research careers. An additional benefit of the Stross Fellowships, we hope, will be to not only encourage newly qualified scientists to stay in research but to also provide them with a little extra practical laboratory experience to give them the edge in an increasingly competitive employment market.”
Each 12 week fellowship, worth up to £3,400, will be allocated through an application and selection process. Details of how to apply can be found at: http://www.drhadwentrust.org/supporters/alan-and-kathie-stross-summer-fellowships
