Eastern Star Award

During discussions with EFIS member society representatives, it was brought to the Board‘s attention that laboratories in many national society countries, particularly those from Eastern Europe, while able to fund PhD positions, struggle to find the resources for consumables needed to conduct high-impact experimental research. To address this challenge, the EFIS Board established the EFIS Eastern Star Award in 2020. Up to three awards of €10,000 each to be spent on project-related consumables are granted per year.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply for the EFIS Eastern Star Award, candidates should:

• Be a member of an EFIS-affiliated Society
• Be a Principle Investigator with a track record in immunology
• Work in one of the following Eastern European countries: Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Türkiye, Ukraine

How to apply

Application documents should consist of:

• The CV of the candidate
• Proof of membership in an EFIS-affiliated Society
• The 5 most significant publications of the lab (references only; no reprints), ideally related to the project for which the prize money is to be used (candidate as first or last author)
• A brief outline (maximum one page) of the project for which the prize money is intended, specifying how the money will be used, and the envisaged impact the prize would have on the project.

The 2026 call for applications is now closed. Applicants will be notified of evaluation results in May 2026.