Eligibility

This fellowship is open to:

U.S. postdoctoral applicants (PhD, MD, DVM, DrPH, etc.)

Must have a have a doctoral or health professional degree (e.g., PhD, DrPH, MD, DO, DVM, DDS) by the time training begins (July 1, 2024).
- Candidates with a doctoral degree must be within five years of completion of their terminal degree (graduated in 2019 or later).
- Candidates with a health professional degree should be within five years of completion of their clinical training (completed in 2019 or later).
- The terminal, meaning doctoral/health professional degree, must have been received in 2019 or later. If you received your doctoral/health professional degree before 2019 and then a master’s degree between 2019 and the present, you are not eligible to apply.
U.S. citizens or permanent residents from ANY college or university in the country can apply.
- You do not have to be part of or affiliated with one of the GHES partner institutions (Stanford University, University of Arizona, University of California Berkeley, or Yale University). However, you do need to have a professional relationship with a GHES U.S. faculty mentor at one of the partner institutions in order to apply.
Must be able to spend 10-12 months at LMIC site.

U.S. predoctoral applicants

Must be currently enrolled in a doctoral (e.g., PhD, DrPH) or health professional (e.g., MD, DO, DDS, DMV) degree program.
- Must have passed qualifying examination(s) at the time of application.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents at ANY U.S. college or university in the country can apply.
- You do not have to be part of or affiliated with one of the GHES partner institutions (Stanford University, University of Arizona, University of California Berkeley, or Yale University). However, you do need to have a professional relationship with a GHES U.S. faculty mentor at one of the partner institutions in order to apply.
Must be able to spend 10-12 months at LMIC site.
If your degree will be completed by July 1, 2024, you are eligible to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship. If accepted, you must provide proof that you received your degree before you can officially start the fellowship.

LMIC postdoctoral applicants

Must have a doctoral or health professional degree (e.g., PhD, DrPH, MD, DO, DVM, DDS) at the time of application.
- Candidates with a doctoral degree should be within five years of completion of their terminal degree (graduated in 2019 or later)
- Candidates with a health professional degree should be within five years of completion of their clinical training (completed in 2019 or later).
- The terminal, meaning doctoral/health professional degree, must have been received in 2019 or later. If you received your doctoral/health professional degree before 2019 and then a master’s degree between 2019 and the present, you are not eligible to apply.

Must be a resident of one of the 24 collaborating LMICs.
Must be affiliated with GHES medical/research institutions in the collaborating LMIC or have a professional relationship with GHES U.S. and/or LMIC faculty member affiliated with the institution.
LMIC applicants are not eligible to apply for predoctoral fellowships.

Key Terms:

To help you understand the eligibility criteria, key terms are defined here:

Health professional degree - You have a health professional degree if you treat patients or provide direct patient care of any type.
Comparable doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution - Comparable doctoral degrees include, but are not limited to, the following: D.M.D., DC, DO, DVM., OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, DPT, PharmD, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), DSW, PsyD, as well as a doctoral degree in nursing research. If you are not sure your degree is comparable, contact a Program Manager.
Terminal degree - A terminal degree refers to the highest academic degree that can be awarded in a particular field.
U.S. applicant - Must be a citizen of the United States or its territories or possessions or be a U.S. permanent resident. A permanent resident number must be included in the application of a U.S. permanent resident.
LMIC applicant - Must be a citizen of one of the 24 collaborating LMICs: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Samoa, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, Zambia or Zimbabwe.
Professional relationship – We ask that you have a professional relationship with your proposed GHES mentors. A professional relationship is between individuals in a professional setting. Mentors serve as guides for their mentees, and both parties take responsibility and actively participate in the relationship. A professional relationship between mentors and mentees should be respectful, positive, and encouraging. A professional relationship with GHES mentors means that your proposed mentors support your research focus area(s) and you are willing to listen to work with them to create opportunities for your growth and development.

Program Commitments and Requirements:

If you are accepted to the program, you must adhere to the following commitments. Please make sure you can meet these commitments BEFORE you apply:

This is a full-time 12-month fellowship. Full-time usually means working 40 hours per week for all 12 months. In other words, trainees must devote 100% of their time to their fellowship for 12 months. Trainees will not be permitted to hold another job (even if it’s temporary or part-time) during their fellowship period.
All U.S. trainees must spend 10-12 months at their LMIC research training site.
LMIC trainees will spend the majority of their fellowship at their GHES-affiliated LMIC research training site. LMIC fellows are required to participate in a 1–3-month training experience at their primary U.S. mentor’s university. This experience should be tailored to each fellow’s specific needs, incorporating structured learning, skills development, networking, and mentoring activities to enhance the trainee’s fellowship year.
All trainees must attend a mandatory 5-day orientation session at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland at the beginning of the fellowship year, anticipated to be held mid-July.
This is a mentored research training program, and you are expected to work closely with your U.S. and LMIC mentors for the duration of your fellowship year. Your mentors’ job is to provide supervision and oversight. Decisions should be made together. Any significant changes you make to your research project or training plan must be discussed and approved by both mentors before any changes are implemented.

For applicants with other sources of funding:

The program can provide partial fellowship to applicants already supported. For instance, T32 fellows can be awarded research-related and travel funds while their stipends are provided by the T32 fellowship.
Keep in mind that FIC concurrent support must be allowable from the other sources’ perspectives.
We encourage the application of candidates who have additional funding. However, when describing your research proposal, keep in mind that FIC cannot support research activities already funded. You will need to highlight how the GHES proposal differs from your funded activities, and/or how the GHES award would cover expenses not supported by your additional funding.