The Audrey S. Bingel Fellowship is intended to provide funds, up to $25,000, to assist a female scientist in transitioning from a current career track to another, or to bolster the likelihood of success in her current, preferred career path. This fellowship is made possible by a bequest from the estate of Professor Audrey S. Bingel to the American Society of Pharmacognosy Foundation and was inspired by her keen interest in women’s health, other issues of concern to female researchers, and mentoring young female scientists.
Despite significant increases in the number of women entering the broad field of natural products over the past 30-40 years, there remain formidable challenges for women to succeed (or, in some cases, even enter or gain a foothold) in certain career paths in natural products. Further, women can face obstacles that do not appear to impact men to the same extent. Sometimes, these issues prompt women to consider alternative career paths. Such issues may include, but are not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, and neonatal childcare; care of an elderly or ill parent, which disproportionately falls to daughters; and gender bias in the workplace.
The funds could conceivably be employed for, but are not limited to, additional time for research, formal training, a sabbatical or an internship in a laboratory or other organization with a new focus for the applicant, seed money to initiate a truly new research direction, course buy-outs, bridging funds for childcare, and time for grant writing/job hunting/attendance at scientific meetings.
In developing the Audrey S. Bingel Fellowship, the Board sought to be flexible about what constitutes a challenging situation constituting need for financial help and how a female colleague might use the fellowship to achieve her objective(s); consequently, the Audrey S. Bingel Fellowship selection committee will be expected to exercise due diligence and concern in evaluating the details of each proposal/application. [It should be noted that, as with all the ASP awards and grants, the ASPF Board, individually or collectively, will have no involvement in the selection of awardees.]
The key to a successful application, then, will be making a clear, cogent case for the need for funding and a well-designed plan for the use of the funds to attain the desired outcome.
Application Process
Eligibility: The applicant must be an American Society of Pharmacognosy member in good standing for at least three years. Trainee applicants with less than three years of membership will be considered with appropriate justification.
The application form will be comprised of:
- A narrative (2-5 pages including citations) which must include the following:
- circumstances prompting the proposal (and need for support)
- plan for intended use of funds
- anticipated outcomes
- how this fellowship will impact career path of applicants
- Brief budget outlining timeframe and use of requested funds
- Curriculum vitae including:
- summary of current position and activities
- current and pending grants/other funding
- complete list of publications
NOTE: The fellowship will not be subject to indirect costs by the parent institution/employer of the awardee. Should the awardee not be employed in academia, this fellowship might be vulnerable to taxation by federal, and possibly state, authorities.
The Fellowship is intended to assist female researchers at critical points in their careers to allow them to remain active in the broad field of Pharmacognosy. Proposals that seek to continue research along established directions for the applicant, without clear justification of the need and circumstances why the funds cannot be obtained through other funding sources, will not be considered responsive to the Fellowship.
Decision Process
An ad hoc committee, appointed by the ASP president and comprised of 3 to 5 members of the ASP (with a majority female), will review any pending applications twice a year. The deadlines for the normal review cycles are 15 May and 15 November. However, proposals can be submitted at any time and if the applicant make a case that her circumstances warrant a more rapid review, the committee chair may exercise discretion in arranging an accelerated committee review. The name(s) of selected awardee(s) will be forwarded to the Executive Committee for approval. Awardees will be publicly announced at the next annual ASP meeting.
Follow Up Reporting
After completion of the award timeframe (anticipated to be 1-2 years), each awardee must submit a brief report (2-4 pages) to the ASPF Board within two months, summarizing the specific impact(s) of the fellowship with regard to career development and advancement.