LGBTQ+ and Aging Scholar’s Award Call for Applications
The Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in collaboration with AARP, is accepting applications for the inaugural LGBTQ+ older adults and Aging Scholar’s Award. The award will be given to an early career scholar (i.e., having received their doctoral or medical degree in the last 10 years) whose research and scholarship focuses on the experiences of LGBTQ+ older adults in the United States. The award recipient will be form among the community of rising scholars in this area who demonstrates resourcefulness, initiative, and potential to develop a robust and long-term program of research and scholarship that focuses on LGBTQ+ older adults and aging in the US.
The Opportunity
The Scholar’s Award recipient will be notified by ISGMH on December 23, 2024, and subsequently will engage in a year long period of focused research and scholarship from January 1-December 31, 2025. The Scholar’s Award recipient will receive a $5,000 award to support research-related activities during the year and will be provided access to select AARP qualitative and quantitative research data upon request and approval by AARP. Additionally, the Scholar’s Award recipient will be invited to participate in a multiday residency on the Northwestern University Chicago Campus in ISGMH. During the Scholar’s Award recipient’s residency in ISGMH, they will network with ISGMH faculty and community partners such as AARP, have opportunities for in-person collaboration, and receive mentoring from core and/or affiliate faculty with similar research interests in LGBTQ+ adults and aging. The dates of the residency will be negotiated with the award recipient. At the end of the yearlong period the Scholar’s Award recipient will have completed a first authored qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method manuscript for publication and will be invited to present on their research at the 2026 National LGBTQ Health Conference in Chicago, IL.
Eligibility
This award is open to early career investigators/researchers (i.e., who completed their doctoral level or medical training within the past 10 years) in a relevant discipline (e.g., psychology, public health, social work, sociology, medicine, etc.) with a current postdoctoral or faculty appointment in an academic institution in the US.
How to Apply
All application materials must be submitted online by December 2, 2024, at 11:59pm PT. No late applications will be accepted.
Applicants are required to complete and submit an online application package that includes all of the following:
- Online demographic questionnaire
- Curriculum vitae (CV) including a list of publications
- Brief (1/2 single-spaced page) abstract of applicant’s research interests in LGBTQ+ adults and aging, description of applicant’s training and skills, applicant’s mentorship needs, and a statement indicating the applicant can commit to the one-year award period
- A writing sample (e.g., doctoral dissertation chapter, single authored peer reviewed publication, first authored peer reviewed publication)
- Doctoral or medical program transcript (an unofficial copy will be accepted)
Innovative and unique projects are encouraged, particularly projects that focus on LGBTQ+ subpopulations such as women, trans and gender diverse persons, and bisexual persons.
The application package must be submitted as a single PDF. Please submit the application package here. Online applications will be accepted until December 2, 2024, 11:59pm PT.
Additionally, three (3) letters of recommendation must be submitted separately by recommenders by December 2, 2024, 11:59pm PT. Please submit letters of recommendation here.
All applicants will be notified by December 23, 2024.
For more information, please email the ISGMH Associate Director, Dr. Jagadīśa-devaśrī Dācus, at jagadisa@northwestern.edu.