The Union-North America Region (NAR) Early Career Investigator Award (ECIA)
The Union-North America Region (NAR) Early Career Investigator Award was established in 2019 by the North America Region Executive Committee to recognize an early career researcher for work in tuberculosis (TB) within the first five years of their academic appointment/independent professional career. The monetary portion of this award is to support research activities related to TB.
Award Eligibility:
- Early career researcher within 5 years of first appointment as faculty member of TB program member (e.g., public health program)
- Can be a nurse, physician, PhD scientist, or other health professional; must have completed all professional and research training (i.e., cannot be a trainee)
- Working in NAR countries*
- Published research in the field of TB
- Union membership with regional affiliation in NAR is encouraged but not required
- Abstract acceptance by the NAR Annual Conference at least once in the last 5 years (can include year of nomination)
Required Documents:
- Completed nomination form by an eligible nominator
- A letter of nomination that describes the novelty, impact, and significance of the nominee's work, and that includes a statement of the role of the nominee
- Updated curriculum vitae (CV) of the nominee outlining their education, past and current positions, grant support, training, and publications (CV must be dated within 6 months of the call for nominations)
The Process:
Nominations for The Union-North America Region (NAR) Early Career Investigator Award will be solicited 4-6 months before the NAR Annual Conference. All nominations will be reviewed by the NAR Nominating Committee with reccomendations to the NAR Executive Committee.
The Union-North America Region (NAR) Early Career Investigator Award will be presented at the Union-North America Region (NAR) Annual Conference.
Any Union Member in good standing is welcome to nominate candidates for this award.
Please note that the following individuals cannot be nominated for this award:
- Employees or paid consultants who have worked for a Union affiliated office in the past year
- NAR or Union Board Members
- Members of the Award review committee
- Previous NAR-Early Career Investigator award winners
- Individuals or organisations cannot nominate themselves
The Award and Presentation:
The Union-North America Region (NAR) Early Career Investigator Award will be presented at the Union-North America Region (NAR) Annual Conference Award Ceremony. The recipient will also be recognized in the final program.
The award includes a monetary prize or USD $2,000, which will be deposited into a university or institutional research account (or issued as a cheque payable to the recipient's university or institution), as designated by the awardee. The recipient will also receive a certificate of achievement. The award recipient will be recognized in the final conference program and formally acknowledged during the award ceremony, which will be held in person at the 2027 Union-NAR Conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada from February 24-27, 2027.
In addition, the award recipient will be invited to serve as Co-Chair of the Early Career Investigator Award (ECIA) Session, alongside the previous year's recipient, for a term of two consecutive years.
The Union-NAR reserves the right to present no ECIA award in a given year if they deem there to be no meritorious candidate.
*Canada, United States, or English, French, or Dutch speaking countries of the Caribbean and the Americas