Fellowships for cancer research
The project 'Co-funding of international fellowships in cancer research' (FELCARES) partnered with the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC) and Marie Curie Actions to establish a two-year fellowship programme to support cancer research. Project aims were to allow for mobility of researchers worldwide, create new knowledge by allowing researchers the freedom to choose their research areas, broaden expertise of fellows by integrating professional development, promote training of scientists from less favoured countries/regions, and establish gender balance in the community. Fellows were selected based on a fair and rigorous process. International mobility was achieved by establishing three types of fellowships: outgoing fellows (OFs), those who left Italy for other countries; incoming fellows, those who came to Italy from other countries; and reintegration fellows, those who had left Italy and wished to return. In the first call, 18 fellows were selected, 11 of whom were OFs. In the second call, 12 fellows were selected, 8 of whom were OFs. While gender balance was slightly skewed in the first call (11 females and 7 males), a perfect gender balance was achieved in the second call. The project provided fellows with a living and mobility allowance, as well as funds to visit their host institutions and travel to scientific meetings. Fellows were monitored at the end of their first and second years. The final report showed that they participated in continuing education in the form of workshops and international meetings while achieving their research goals. The areas of investigation chosen by the fellows encompassed several different disciplines, from cancer genetics to systems biology. The project succeeded in accomplishing all of its goals. The wide range of research accomplished by the fellows has the potential to open the door to broad, multi-faceted approaches in the fight against cancer. The way the network of researchers was established may serve as a model to other countries looking to build expertise among their scientists.