Cochrane is committed to promoting and supporting the involvement of contributors to Cochrane who are from developing countries.

Stipends to help cover travel costs and other expenses associated with attending the Global Evidence Summit are available for residents of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) that are actively contributing to Cochrane.

Funds are, however, very limited, so if you can find some or all the money you need from another source (such as the Cochrane Group with which you are involved or your institution), please do so. Before submitting your application for a developing country stipend, please read the following criteria and application instructions carefully. 

Application criteria

Individuals who wish to apply for a stipend must be:

1. permanent residents in low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank.
2. active Cochrane contributors as a review author, editor, information specialist, methodologist, hand searcher, peer reviewer, translator or co-ordinator of local Cochrane activities; active involvement must have started no later than one year before the Global Evidence Summit.
3. able to attend the entire Global Evidence Summit. Make sure that the conference dates do not conflict with any other commitment you may have, and that your employer is happy for you to attend the Global Evidence Summit. We will not fund partial attendance of the Global Evidence Summit.
4. strongly recommended by a Cochrane Group (Review Group, Field, Network, Centre) or an individual highly involved with Cochrane. You will be asked to indicate the Cochrane Group that you are most closely associated with or an individual that can comment on your involvement. In the event that your application ranks highly, the Stipends Committee will contact this entity or individual for a statement of support.

Application recommendations and limitations

• Partial funding: to be able to fund as many people as possible to attend the Global Evidence Summit, our preference is to provide partial support only. Your chances of receiving a stipend are higher if you are able to cover part of the costs yourself or from other sources. The application form will ask for information on other organizations that you have contacted to obtain funding.
• Geographical proximity: people from the region and neighbouring regions where the Global Evidence Summit is held are especially encouraged to apply.
• Upper-middle-income country residents: contributors based in upper-middle-income countries are expected to cover at least 25% of their costs themselves.
• Cochrane employees: applicants who are employed - and paid - to do Cochrane work are eligible for partial funding only. For the purpose of their application, a Cochrane employee is anyone hired by any institution who has protected time on a weekly basis to work for a Cochrane Group (Review Group, Methods Group, Field, Centre or Branch, and group satellites). As a guideline, applicants who have protected Cochrane work time for less than half time (less than 2.5 days per week) can apply for a maximum of 75% of funding support. Applicants who have protected work time for more than 2.5 days per week paid to do Cochrane work should not request more than 50% funding support. If a person’s paid Cochrane work finishes before the start of the Colloquium, these eligibility criteria do not apply.
• Persons temporarily based in high-income countries: applications from residents of low- and middle-income countries that are currently based in a high-income country may be considered on a case by case basis if the stay is clearly limited to a specific period of time and the applicant does not receive a salary. Please contact Cochrane's Central Executive (dcstipends@cochrane.org) before you submit your application if this applies to you.

Assessment of applications

Applicants will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Cochrane involvement
• contribution to the Global Evidence Summit programme
• anticipated gains from attending the Global Evidence Summit
• ability to raise partial funds to support attendance
• geographical proximity to the Global Evidence Summit host country
• recommendation from a Cochrane Group
• previous receipt of a Cochrane Colloquium stipend

What costs are covered?

Funds may be available for one or more of the following:

• Travel to and from Cape Town (most economical return air fare)
• Ground travel expenses from your home to the airport
• Visa and travel insurance
• Accommodation at one of the Global Evidence Summit hotels for a maximum of five nights
• Registration fee, which entitles you to attend all sessions, conference materials, lunches and coffee breaks, incl. attendance at the social events
• Allowance for ground travel and meals not included in the registration fee

How to apply

People who wish to be included in the selection process are required to complete the online application form and to create a user account on the Global Evidence Summit website. Once you created an account, log in and complete the application form under the menu ‘Make a submission’.

Application deadline: extended to 19 May 2017

Please note: DO NOT register for the Global Evidence Summit before you receive notification of the result of your stipend application.

Selection and notification of stipend recipients

All submitted applications will be screened and those meeting the eligibility criteria will be considered by the Stipends Committee.

You will be notified of the results of your application by 1 June 2017.

Further help

If you require assistance with your application, please contact Maya Sapir at dcstipends@cochrane.org.