TDR’s Implementation Science Leadership Fellowship Programme for Public Health Impact in South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions 2025-26

The programme focuses on strengthening IS skills to improve health outcomes while addressing four global health challenges affecting diseases of poverty as identified in the TDR Strategy 2024-2026: control and elimination of infectious diseases of poverty, resistance to treatment and control agents, epidemics and outbreaks, and climate change’s impact on health.

Objectives

• The objectives of the fellowship programme are to:
  • develop professional and innovative leadership in IS;
  • enhance the capacity of public health institutions to generate new knowledge through dedicated IS and contribute to improved health outcomes; and
  • establish a collaborative network of LMIC-based leaders in IS that will contribute to health policy and practice at local, regional and global levels.

Target Groups

• The fellowship will be offered to two target groups:
  • individuals pursuing careers in academia and in implementation research and
  • public health practitioners.

Eligibility Criteria

• Residency and nationality: Applicants must be residents and nationals of a low- or middle-income country in the WHO South-East Asian or Western Pacific Regions.
• Age: Applicants must be under 40 years old at the time of application.
• Career Interest: Be interested in developing an academic or public health leadership career in IS focusing on areas such as the impact of climate change on health, antimicrobial resistance, control and elimination of infectious diseases of poverty, and epidemics and outbreaks, using a One Health approach.
• Employment: Applicants must be employed at a university, research institution, Ministry of Health (MoH), public health institution, or non-governmental organization (NGO) with a registered legal entity in a LMIC. The institution should be conducting research or implementing projects in areas such as the impact of climate change on health, antimicrobial resistance, the control or elimination of infectious diseases of poverty, and epidemics and outbreaks.
• IS proposal:
  • For the academics and researchers stream: Applicants must submit a proposal for planning and conducting an IS project at their home institution. A home mentor must be identified to collaborate with the fellow and the host supervisor/mentor during the fellowship.
  • For Public Health Practitioners stream: Applicants must submit a proposal on how to integrate IS into the related health programme.
• English proficiency:
  • Academics/Researchers Stream: Be proficient in English, as demonstrated by achieving a minimum score of 500 on the official TOEFL paper-based test or an equivalent score on the IELTS Academic.
  • Public Health Practitioners Stream: Be proficient in English, as demonstrated by achieving a minimum score of 450 on the official TOEFL paper-based test or an equivalent score on the IELTS Academic
• Study leave: Applicants must provide evidence of the ability to obtain study leave from their current employment.
• Health requirements: Applicants must consent to meet the health requirements set by the host country’s regulations.

Application Requirements

• Experience in IS and or scoping/systematic literature review: Familiarity with systematic approaches to searching and evaluating scientific literature, along with experience in IS.
• Publications: First or corresponding author of at least one peer-reviewed article published in an open-access journal.
• Interdisciplinary skills: Experience in interdisciplinary research projects and strong time management skills.
• Managerial position: Currently hold a managerial position at your home institution.
• Independence: Ability to work independently.

For more information, visit TDR.