Rules governing the award of a prize for medical research in the fields of neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric illnesses.
Article 1
The ROGER DE SPOELBERCH Foundation, based in Geneva, was set up to implement the wishes of Viscountess Amicie de Spoelberch, in particular to grant funding and foster research on neurodegenerative diseases and especially psychiatric illnesses.
Article 2
To achieve its purpose, the Foundation decided to award an annual Prize. The Prize awarded by the Foundation is intended to clinical and fundamental scientific research projects. The amount of the Prize awarded shall be such sum as the Foundation Board shall determine and which shall be notified in due course. The Foundation Board shall determine the amount of the Prize at its sole discretion.
The Prize is awarded annually.
Until otherwise decided by the Foundation Board, the amount of the Prize is set at EUR 750,000, at least two thirds thereof being devoted to face the development costs of the research, which is the subject of the Prize, with the balance being awarded to the Prize-winner individually.
The Prize may, if necessary, cover staff, investment or operating expenses of the Prize-winner and/or his/her team after the Prize is awarded. In such case, the applicant shall inform the Scientific Committee in writing of his/her intention to do so, by way of derogation from Article 7 below.
Article 3
Each applicant shall be nominated by a person duly qualified to assess the value of his/her work.
The upper age limit for all applicants is set at 55 on the day of filing the application. Nominees cannot have previously won a prize equal to the ROGER DE SPOELBERCH Prize.
The Foundation Board may authorize a derogation from the provisions of this Article in exceptional circumstances, and upon duly substantiated proposal from the Scientific Committee.
Each applicant to the annual Prize of the ROGER DE SPOELBERCH Foundation shall preferably be national of one of the member states of the European Union (EU), or of a member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), of the United Kingdom or, in general, of a country whose scientific societies in neurology, psychiatry or neurosurgery, are members of the corresponding European societies.
Moreover, only applicants who shall provide evidence that they carry out their activities in a laboratory, a clinic, a hospital or an institution established in one of the member states of the European Union (EU) or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) or the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) or in the United Kingdom or in Israel, because these countries belong to the European Research Area (ERA), may apply.
No application form is available. Applicants shall send their application dossier in a single PDF file in English including:
- A summary of their main scientific achievements and current research activities (up to 5,000 characters maximum);
- A summary CV (maximum 3 pages, including his/her birthdate and a link (PubMed/Orcid/Google Scholar) to the full publications list);
- A list of his/her major peer-reviewed publications (maximum 10, and a maximum 3 to 5 lines justifying the choice for each publication);
- A research project (Background and importance / Objectives / Research strategies / for up to five years of research, maximum 4 pages, including, if any, figures/diagrams – references included in separate page(s)).
An application dossier failing to comply with the above instructions may be deemed incomplete or invalid. Any questions on this subject matter can be sent by email to moc.liamg@hcrebleops.ed.regor.noitadnof.
Applications must be submitted electronically prior to 30 June of the current year and sent to the Chairperson of the Scientific Committee by email to moc.liamg@hcrebleops.ed.regor.noitadnof or moc.liamg@sdr.noitadnof.
Article 4
Candidates for the Prize must hold a Ph.D.
The Prize cannot be divided.
Article 5
Projects are analyzed by the Scientific Committee. The latter shall make recommendations to the Foundation Board, solely empowered to take award decisions on the basis of the proposal(s), which was (were) submitted to it.
The proposal is subject to an absolute majority of the votes cast. In the event of a tie, the Chairperson of the Scientific Committee has the casting vote.
The Scientific Committee shall give its decision at short notice and within the same year of the Prize award, by an absolute majority of the votes cast, without any recourse.
Should the Scientific Committee consider that no work is of sufficient value, it will inform the Foundation Board as soon as possible. In this case, no Prize shall be awarded. In that event, the Foundation Board may ask the Chairperson of the Scientific Committee to initiate a new procedure aiming to award a Prize during the same year.
Article 6
The amount of the Prize awarded to the Prize-winner shall be paid through a one-off payment, subject to exceptions agreed upon by the Foundation Board. The amount of the Prize shall be transferred to the bank account of the institution to which the Prize-winner is attached, as well as the part devolved to the Prize-winner himself/herself pursuant to Article 2 to his/her bank account.
The Prize-winner must personally take the necessary steps to receive the amount of the Prize net of any withholding that the institution to which he/she belongs shall make.
Should the Prize-winner leave the Institution hosting him/her before the amount of the Prize is fully used, he/she will retain the balance of the Prize, which shall be transferred, at his/her initiative and under his/her responsibility, to his/her new host institution.
In the event of the death of the Prize-winner before the amount of the Prize is fully used, the institution hosting the Prize-winner before his/her death may keep the unspent part of the Prize amount and use it to meet earlier contractual commitments entered into or to pursue the work in progress not yet entirely completed.
Article 7
The Prize-winner is required to provide the Chairperson of the Scientific Committee with a detailed annual report on the scientific work for which the Prize was awarded, as well as the accurate allocation of the amount of the Prize and justification for the expenses incurred.
The Foundation Board may ask the Scientific Committee for a further analysis should it be deemed necessary.
Upon expiry of a three-year period, or at a later date if the Foundation Board considers it appropriate, the Prize-winner will submit to the Scientific Committee a summary report on the work conducted and a final report about the use of the funds received.
The report is analyzed by the Scientific Committee. Within two months from receipt of the report, the Scientific Committee shall send its assessment to the Foundation Board.
The Foundation Board shall reserve its right to request from third-party experts confirmation of the relevance of the financial reports, which was submitted.
Article 8
The recipients of the Prize, namely the Prize-winner and members of his/her team, for whom the Prize-winner is a guarantor, whose work motivated the award of the Prize, undertake to explicitly mention the name of the Foundation in their acknowledgements in any publication, including scientific ones, that would either cover work carried out with the Foundation’s assistance or mention it.
Article 9
Any questions regarding the admissibility of applications shall be decided by the Chairperson of the Scientific Committee. Any possible differing opinion regarding the award of the Prize shall be decided on by the Foundation Board, which shall make its decisions in a sovereign manner, after consulting, if necessary, the Chairperson of the Scientific Committee.