PrometeoNetwork Travel Awards (PNTA)

PrometeoNetwork Travel Awards (PNTA) provide recognition for outstanding scientific research performed by Young Scientists. The awards are intended to support Members to attend and present their work at scientific conferences.                                       

Applicants

The awards are open to any PrometeoNetwork members younger than 40, who submitted an oral or poster presentation to a recognized conference, regardless his/her career stage. PrometeoNetwork members are required to complete a detailed profile on the networking platform provided to PrometeoNetwork by Within3. Submitted abstracts will be reviewed in a blind study section competition.

Recognized conferences

Recognized conferences are defined as relevant scientific conferences which may contribute to scientific growth of the applicant and might be helpful to his/her scientific career. Such conferences do not need to mirror the applicant’s scientific topic and interests.

Applications

PrometeoMembers can submit, by April 30th, 2008, their applications via email to: or Applications must include abstract, field of interest, title, dates and place of the conference which the candidate has submitted the work to, proof of submission, and contact information of the applicant and for the mentor. Please include mentor’s email address at this time. This email address will be used to obtain mentor’s approval.The abstract may have a maximum length of 2,500 characters, including spaces. Longer abstract will be administratively withdrawn and will not be reviewed.

Mentor’s approval

All submitted abstracts will be automatically emailed to mentors indicated at the time of submission. Only mentors-approved abstracts will be reviewed. The deadline for mentor’s approval is May 15th. 

Judging Committee and Methods

Abstracts will not be evaluated by the Managers of PrometeoNetwork, but by independent Members of this Community. Judges will be selected by PrometeoNetwork Advisors between May 1^st and May 10^th. Criteria for a Member to be chosen as judge will be: compelling resume, personal experience with the subject of at least some of the abstracts, no evident relationship with any applicant (members who work or have worked closely with applicant, or family members of applicants will be excluded) PrometeoAdvisors closely related to applicants will not be allowed to select judges. In order to prevent biases in the evaluation of projects, identity of judges will be blinded to the community and to the other judges; as well, abstracts will be stripped of any personal information of the applicant before being sent to judges for evaluation. Each judge will give grades from 1 to 10 and send them back to PrometeoAdvisors by May 31st.

Prizes

5 PNTA of $1,000 will be assigned to the best abstracts presented by Members of any of the groups of PrometeoNetwork. (International, Latin American, Italian Life Sciences; US West Coast, Boston, Vienna Life Sciences; Neurosciences, Multidisciplinary Oncology and Cancer Research, Proteomics & Microarrays, Stem Cells, Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology, Young Surgeons;  Oncology and Hematology Dept. of Istituto Clinico Humanitas, CTMO Reggio Calabria. 1 award of $500 will be reserved to the best abstract presented by members of the Neurosciences Group, as the PNTA project was significantly pushed forward by the Manager of this Group. The number of awards may increase if more sponsors will offer us support. Awards may be entitled to donors upon request.PNTA will be awarded to the first author of submitted abstract and can be used by him/her to pay meeting-related expensed such as hotel accommodation, meeting registration fees, airplane tickets. For this reason, the award will be issued pending proof of payment for any of the above. Only under winner’s consent, the PNTA can be used by other co-author(s) of the application. None (besides first author or other authors of the abstract) will be allowed to use an assigned PNTA. If an assigned PNTA is not used within a period of 12 months from the date of approval, it will be withdrawn and money will be used for following call.

Publication of Results

A chart with titles of abstracts, relative names of participants, grades and judges will be published on www.PrometeoNetwork.com by June 5th. The awards will be issued pending proof that: i)  the abstract has been approved by the conference committee ii) proof of payment for hotel accommodation/airplane ticket/meeting registration fee has been received. Prizes not given will be assigned to the next classified participant.

Note

We are very proud of launching a serious, transparent and efficient means to support research on a worldwide scale. Any suggestion on how to improve the PNTA will be highly regarded, as we count on continuing and widely expanding this kind of initiative in the close- and mid-term future.

Frequently asked questions FAQ

·         Who can apply for PNTA?

·         What data should I present?

·         How do I apply?

·         When do applications need to be submitted?

·         How does the application process work?

·         How are the abstracts judged?

·         Why does my mentor have to approve the application?

·         What if my mentor rejects my abstract?

·         Should I put my name on my abstract?

·         Can I put references in my abstract?

·         Can I submit more than one PNTA 2008 abstract?

·         Can I submit an abstract that I have already written for another occasion?

·         I applied to PNTA but did not win, even though the same work has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal. How can this happen?

·         How do I activate my PNTA award?

·         Will my PNTA expire?

·         What happens to my PNTA award if I leave NIH before I get a chance to use it?

·         How do I get additional help?

Who can apply for PNTA?

The PNTA 2008 competition is open to Members of any Group of the PrometeoNetwork community, they must be under 40, who submitted an oral or poster presentation to a recognized conference, regardless his/her career stage. PrometeoNetwork members are required to complete a detailed profile on the networking platform provided to PrometeoNetwork by Within3. PNTA committee members are not eligible for PNTA awards. Other questions about eligibility should be addressed to  or

What data should I present?

The abstract you submit to PNTA 2008 should reflect your own current data. The data must be recent: submitted, accepted, in press, or published not earlier than 2007. Please check with your co-authors and mentor before submitting your abstract. PNTA abstracts may need to have more background than usual for an abstract intended for a scientific meeting. Remember that the people evaluating your PNTA abstract may not be as knowledgeable as you are in your specific area of research. 

How do I apply?

Simply email your abstract and contact information to: or

When do applications need to be submitted?

Electronic applications must be submitted by April 30th, 2008 at 5:00 PM EST. Mentor approvals must be submitted by May 15th, 2008 at 5:00 PM EST. No extensions will be granted. 

How does the application process work?

All applicants submit their application and abstract online by April 30th, 2008 (5:00 PM, EST). The abstract may have a maximum length of 2,500 characters, including spaces. The submitted abstract will be automatically emailed to your mentor, who will have until May 15 to approve it. Approved abstracts are stripped of identifying information, divided into study sections, and reviewed. Winners will be notified by June 5^th, 2008. The travel award must be used within 12 months from its activation. 

How are the abstracts judged?

After we receive the abstracts, we delete all identifying information except for an internal tracking number, and divide them in study sections according to the subject of the abstract. We attempt to place each abstract in the first-choice study section. The abstracts in each section are judged by a panel of scientists. 

Why does my mentor have to approve my abstract?

The PrometeoNetwork Committee feels that PNTA is part of the mentor/trainee experience, and both will benefit from working together on the abstract. Mentor sign-off is also intended to avoid the possibility of authorship disputes. Mentor approval is carried out by electronic mail. Your mentor will receive a copy of your application via email after you submit it. She/he will be instructed to use an online form to approve or reject your application. Your mentor’s approval must be received by May 15th, 2008 at 5:00 PM EST. Any application not approved by that date will be deleted from our database. You will receive an email notifying you of whether your mentor has approved or rejected your abstract. 

What if my mentor rejects my abstract?

If that happens, you have until May 20th (5:00 PM EST) to submit a revised abstract. Your mentor has until May 20th to accept or reject it. However, after May 20th (5:00 PM EST), no abstracts will be accepted. This means that if your mentor fails to approve your abstract you cannot resubmit. It is to your advantage, therefore, to submit your abstract well enough in advance of the deadline to allow for the possibility of rejection. 

How long can my abstract be?

Your abstract must be not longer than 2,500 characters, including spaces and carriage returns. Note: some word processing software (e.g., MS Word 6 for Macintosh) do not include spaces in its character count.

Should I put my name in my abstract?

No. The abstract (and abstract title) should not contain any information that could be used to identify you. Do not include any identifying information about yourself in your title or abstract.  

Can I put references in my abstract?

No. The abstract and title cannot contain any information which might be used to identify you, such as references.

Can I submit more than one PNTA 2008 abstract?

No. Each qualifying fellow may submit only one PNTA abstract. 

Can I submit an abstract that I have already written for another occasion?

Yes. However, the abstract you submit to PNTA should reflect your own current data. The data must be recent: submitted, accepted, in press, or published not earlier than 2007. 

I applied to PNTA but did not win, even though the same work has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal. How can this be?

Your abstract may not have been written appropriately for the PNTA competition. Remember that the people evaluating your PNTA abstract may not be as knowledgeable as you in your specific area of research. Thus, PNTA abstracts may need to have more background than would be usual in an abstract for a scientific meeting or a journal article. Look at the score sheet used to evaluate PNTA abstracts. We welcome you to submit your new data to next PNTA.

How do I activate my PNTA award?

Winners should contact either their Group Manager, or  or to learn how to activate their PNTA award. 

Will my PNTA expire?

Yes, it will. Your PNTA award should be used by the winner or co-author(s) to cover costs related to attending a scientific meeting within 12 months after approval. If a PNTA will not be used within 12 month period, it will be administratively withdrawn and used for the following call for proposal.  

How do I get additional help?

E-mail or and your question will be answered within 24 hours.