Institute of Tropical Medicine

52nd Annual Colloquium

Health Research towards Universal Coverage

Calling upon Emerging voices to make the difference

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The global health scene is still largely dominated by Northern stakeholders. In the spirit of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium (ITM) wants to encourage “Emerging Voices” from developing countries to participate actively in international academic conferences and to raise their voice in the scientific debate.

We will support young researchers from the South, below 45 years old, to actively participate in what promises to be a landmark conference on health in developing countries: the First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (Montreux, Switzerland, 16–19 November, 2010).

To identify those promising experts, we invite “Emerging Voices” from developing countries to submit a personal single author essay. The essay can be in English or in French. The theme of the competition is in line with the essay competition for young researchers launched on 5 March in The Lancet: “health systems research: towards universal health coverage” (Samarasekera & Jupp 2010) and advertised on the Symposium Website.

Theme

The paper submitted should provide a clear argumentation on how health research can foster significant progress towards universal health coverage in low income countries. There is no limitation on the perspective taken to improve universal coverage.

A scientific committee will select the essays with the most innovative and provocative views. The logical structure of the essay and the quality of critical analysis will be key criteria in the selection.

Conditions

Authors must have been born on or after 1 Jan 1965. They must be citizen from one of the low income or lower middle income countries as defined by the World Bank and have a relevant recent experience in those countries. They must have at least one of the following:

  • A master’s degree in health or a health-related field.
  • Be enrolled in a doctoral-level programme in health or a health-related field.
  • At least two years’ work or research experience in public health or development.

Submission rules

Inform us about your intention to participate by 4 June 2010. The registration must at least include an outline with the arguments that will be developed in the essay; a short curriculum including nationality and relevant experience and a cover letter stating why you are interested in participating.

  • The final submission has to reach us before 1 August 2010. The address emergingvoices2010@itg.be is the only valid email account to register your submission.
  • Only one submission will be considered for each author.
  • The final submission must include an original, single author essay of no more than 1500 words in English or in French, with no more than 20 references.
  • Send the submission as a .doc file. Use 12pt Times New Roman (single spaced) as font.
  • Use the Citing & Referencing Guide: Harvard Style for your references.
  • Include a one page cover letter and a Curriculum Vitae of no more than two pages. Don't forget to list your nationality and relevant experience.
  • Adding an abstract, draft article or published article describing the research in which you are involved is an asset. If you add an article, multiple authors are allowed.
  • The Essay can be cross posted with the Global Symposium and Lancet call for young researchers (see specific conditions here). State this clearly in your cover letter.

To ensure that topics fit with the expectations, we encourage potential participants to send us a pre-submission enquiry for further orientation.

Benefits for authors of selected essays

 

Intensive training and personal coaching.

From the time their essay is selected and if required, ‘Emerging Voices’ will benefit from didactic coaching to improve the quality of their personal essay and to help them prepare their oral presentation. They will also be invited to participate in an intensive training workshop in Antwerp early November. This training will offer content courses on issues related to Universal Health Coverage & Global Health Governance; as well as skills building workshops on scientific presentation and scientific writing, both in English and in French, and with special attention for non-native speakers preparing to write and present in English.

Participation in ITM Colloquium, 8 - 10 November 2010, Antwerp

The week prior to the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, the Emerging Voices will be invited to present their work at the ITM colloquium, in a variety of scientific formats ranging from small group sessions, fish bowl sessions, oral poster presentations, to debates between scientists and large auditorium presentations. They will receive constructive feedback from senior scientists and from fellow emerging voices and other colloquium participants. The ITM colloquium will thus become a 'step-up conference' to the Global Symposium. On 12 November, personalised feedback from the Colloquium experience will be discussed and further didactic coaching organised.

Participation in the Global Symposium, 15-19 November, Montreux

Selected Emerging Voices will participate in the Symposium on Health Systems research and where possible be invited to present their work. The Symposium also offers a variety of capacity building tracks on Health Systems Research. This collaboration is still to be defined.

Coaching towards publication in the scientific literature

For authors interested and if deemed possible, “Emerging Voices” will be encouraged to finalise papers to be submitted in scientific journals.

Evaluation

Members of the ITM Colloquium Scientific Committee will evaluate the essay using the following criteria:

  • Relevance to the theme of the competition.
  • Originality and quality of the essay (clarity, coherence, style and organization).
  • Demonstration of the impact of the research referred to in the essay on health and health equity.

 

Call Schedule

  • Register before 5 June 2010.
  • Submission deadline for the final entries is 30 July 2010.
  • A shortlist will be announced by mid September.
  • The winners will be announced during the ITM colloquium 2010.

Travel grants

We will award a limited number of travel grants to participate in the Antwerp and Montreux events to the selected authors. Please state in your cover letter if you need financial support and of which kind.

Examples

 

In English

In French

ITGBecauseHealthBTCDGOS