ESCMID: ECDC Observership

The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) observership welcomes 20 observers for a 5-day programme at the ECDC headquarters in Solna, Sweden. The ECDC is an ESCMID Collaborative Centre (ECC) and an agency of the European Union that carries the mission to strengthen Europe’s defences against Infectious Diseases (ID) through data collection, analysis and knowledge sharing.

Objectives

Throughout your observership, you will dive into ECDC activities and professional network with the following main objectives:

to understand ECDC’s role and responsibilities in supporting European and global public health in the field of communicable diseases
to understand the interplay between ECDC and competent bodies in EU Member States, the WHO and other global public health organisations
to acquaint observers with public health microbiology, surveillance, scientific advice and epidemic intelligence at the European level
to share information on ECDC’s activities and key outputs and the way they are produced (e.g. risk assessments, scientific advice, support to laboratory network activities)
to facilitate networking between ECDC experts and observers.

More information can be found on the ECDC website

Deadlines

ECDC observership calls are held once a year.

Applications will be accepted from	16 April 2024, 12:00 CEST
Deadline for applications	15 May 2024, 12:00 CEST
Date of visit	14–18 October 2024
Applicants will be informed about the result by	beginning of July

Application procedure

Application process

To apply for the ECDC observership, please follow these steps:

Send an official application

Use your ESCMID member login details to connect
Click the ‘Apply now for observership’ link at the top of the ECC profile page of ECDC
Select funded observership
Complete and submit your request through the online application form with your proof of current position and CV as attachments

Receive a final approval:

The ESCMID Professional Affairs Subcommittee will evaluate your application and make a decision
The ESCMID Executive Office will notify you of the evaluation results around 8 weeks after the deadline has closed

Eligibility criteria

To qualify for the ECDC observership, please make sure you meet the eligibility criteria:

Be an ESCMID Young Scientist Member or LMIC member fulfilling the criteria of Young Scientist Membership
Hold a relevant degree in infectious diseases, clinical microbiology, public health and/or any related degree may be considered
Must not have participated in a previous ESCMID-ECDC observership visit during the last 24 months
Have a proven interest and/or experience in public health, e.g. degree, research interest, research for policy /creating policy
Have an interest that extends beyond a regional level, e.g. EU or internationally
Have a strong interest in the ECDC/public health fields. ECDC’s activities should be pertinent to their work

Selection criteria

ESCMID evaluates applicants based on their demonstrated interest and experience in public health, extending beyond regional levels to include the EU or international sphere. This includes a strong interest in ECDC and related fields, with relevant activities or future projects integral to their work. The applicant’s focus should be in the infectious disease, clinical microbiology and public health fields: health services, outbreak detection and control, infection control and infectious disease epidemiology, etc.

Applicants will be considered based on the following criteria in the public health fields:

Degree
Research, publications, presentations at meetings
Current or past projects
Experience
International collaboration
Active engagement with a public health organization such as ECDC, or use of resources from ECDC (or similar public health organisation) in the course of their work.

Applicants are encouraged to highlight relevant experience and interest in their applications, which will then be used to select participants.

Funding

For the ECDC observerships, ESCMID will sponsor your travel costs according to these regulations.

Intra-European Observership visits

For ESCMID members from Europe visiting an ECC in Europe ESCMID, subsidises travel costs and subsistence for outside-of-country visits and inside-of-country visits for ECDC as follows:

A maximum of 500 EUR to cover your travel expenses (airfare, train tickets, and car expenses at 0.3 EUR/km)
70 EUR/day for a maximum of 7 days to cover any expenses onsite during your visit (accommodation, food, transportation, etc.)

Intracontinental Observership visits

For ESCMID members from outside Europe visiting an ECC in Europe, ESCMID subsidises travel costs and subsistence for outside-of-country visits as follows:

A maximum of 1.3K EUR to cover your travel expenses (airfare, train tickets, and car expenses at 0.3 EUR/km)
70 EUR/day for a maximum of 7 days to cover any expenses onsite during your visit (accommodation, food, transportation, etc.)

List of countries

A list of countries and respective geographic regions can be viewed here

Report

After completing your special funded observership, you will need to submit an official evaluation form, including a report, to be published on the ECC website or in any other ESCMID publication. ESCMID may share your name when publishing this report.