Early Career Support Program Awards $229,720 for Georgian Researchers

CRDF Global, the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation (SRNSF), and the Georgian Research and Development Foundation (GRDF) are pleased to announce that eight early career researchers under the 2013 Early Career Support Competition (ECSP) have been selected to receive awards of up to $30,000 each. This program supports the early career development of talented young Georgian scholars and strengthens Georgian international research collaborations in biological/medical fields. The grantees are affiliated with various universities and research institutions in Georgia, including the National Center for Decease Control and Public Health (NCDC)/Richard G. Lugar Center (CPHR); G. Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology; Tbilisi State Medical University; and, Agricultural University of Georgia.
The program will support early career researchers for research-related visits to a foreign research laboratory and individual financial support on their return to Georgia to share knowledge gained and skills learned. The grantees will be hosted by research institutions and universities in the U.S. and U.K. The program starts with a 2-3 month preparation period in Georgia. Similar to other competitions, all funding decisions were based on independent, peer-reviewed assessments of each application, with final decisions based on combined results from U.S. and Georgian subject matter expert reviewers.
Of the $229,720 in funding being provided, CRDF Global will be providing $137,832, while SRNSF will provide a 40% cost-share totaling the remaining $91,888. CRDF Global’s portion of the funding for this program has been provided by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency under Fundamental Research Award #HDTRA1-11-1-0061 to CRDF Global.