ARVO to award young scientists

A series of awards granted to scientists under the age of 45 has been announced by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Foundation for Eye Research (AFER) and Merck & Co, Inc.

The ARVO-AFER/Merck Innovative Ophthalmology Research Award (IORA) grants, totalling $70,000 per cycle, will be awarded biennially to young scientists of MD, PhD or equivalent level throughout the world who have made "innovative contributions to ophthalmology research". The awards are granted in the categories of glaucoma and back-of-eye diseases, and first and second place prizes will be awarded in each category. In addition to grant funding, award recipients will receive travel expenses and registration fees for the annual ARVO meeting.

The award, formerly run by Merck as the Chibret Award, has been granted to more than 50 scientists since its initiation in 1982. Submissions for the first ARVO-AFER/Merck IORA have now closed, and the winners will be announced at the ARVO 2009 annual meeting, to be held on May 3–7 in Fort Lauderdale, US. The application process for the 2011 award will begin in 2010.