How Funds Are To Be Used
Australia
The Scientific Advisory Committee operates in line with the NH&MRC grant system. Broadly when general or specific research monies are available these are advertised throughout Australia particularly in the scientific and research institutions as well as amongst the ANZAN membership. Project applications are then sent to external referees and graded and reports and approvals are sought from the responsible institutional ethics committees. The Scientific Advisory Committee then selects the projects to be funded and informs the applicants of their decision. Grants are administered in the same way as those awarded by the NH&MRC including the level of remuneration for the research workers. Financial reports are required from the administering research institution which oversees the expenditure of the grants. Publications in scientific journals and presentations at scientific meetings are required to acknowledge the Research Foundation as the source of the funding and at the termination of the grant final reports are required to be submitted.
New Zealand
Neurology Post Graduate Scholarship
These scholarships are intended to provide personal support for outstanding neurology trainees or neurologists early in their career so they can be trained to conduct research that is internationally competitive and develop a capacity for original independent research. The scholarships are funded collaboratively by the Neurological Foundation, the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists (ANZAN), and the Neurological Association of New Zealand (NANZ).
Methods of Fundraising
Funds are raised from the following sources:
1. ANZAN members
2. ANZAN sponsors
3. Specific fundraising activities
4. Bequests
5. General
6. Specific, eg. for diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, peripheral nerve disease, myaesthenia gravis, etc
Generally endowments and bequests for specific research projects will need to fund a research person for a minimum of one year which with on-costs and materials will be at least $50,000 per annum. Generally the opportunity for smaller amounts to be specifically targeted or tied are limited to small projects which can be completed within a short time frame or seeding grants, and are probably better placed as a general bequest.