NRF Vacation Scholarships

Details specific to the 2024/25 Scholarship

Total Commitment: 6 to 8 weeks $300 per week $1,800 - $2,400 a year.

3 scholarships in Brain Tumour Research

3 scholarships in Neurosurgical Research - Stroke / TBI/SCI (Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury) and Parkinson’s Research

Closing date: 5pm Friday 13th September 2024

General details

These Scholarships provide a stipend of $300 per week to support an undergraduate medical or biomedical science student to undertake a neurosurgical in Stroke / TBI/SCI (Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury), Parkinson’s and Brain Tumour Research in a research laboratory experienced in this area. The research project runs for 6 to 8 weeks over the Summer holiday period (during their break from undergraduate studies), with the student working full-time during this period. Students must contact and liaise with their agreed supervisor before submitting the application.

Purpose of the Scholarship

1. To build neurosurgical research capacity in South Australia by providing the incentive and opportunity for an undergraduate medical or biomedical science student to undertake neurosurgical research in a research laboratory experienced in this area. It is well known that such opportunities to be exposed to and partake in quality research plays a major role in the encouraging students to choose a career (undertake a 3 year PhD) in biomedical research, and most often in the research areas they are exposed to (i.e. in this case, neurosurgical research).
2. To advance a neurosurgical in Stroke / TBI/SCI (Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury), Parkinson’s and Brain Tumour Research by the student conducing a short quality research project that adds to the existing research program of the host laboratory.

Scholarship 1: Richard Buttery NRF Glioblastoma Research Vacation Scholarship

Host Laboratory: Molecular Therapeutics Laboratory of the Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia and SA Pathology. A Laboratory headed by Professor Stuart Pitson (NRF Chair of Brain Tumour Research), and located in the University of South Australia Bradley Building on North Tce, Adelaide.

Researcher: Professor Stuart Pitson (NRF Chair of Brain Tumour Research).

Research Project: Temozolomide is the current chemotherapy employed for almost all glioblastoma patients. Unfortunately, only some patient tumours respond to this drug, and even those that do usually quickly develop resistance. Thus, new therapies are desperately required, which are very likely to be used in patients in combination with temozolomide (i.e. in addition to current standard of care). This project will use advanced techniques to grow patient glioblastoma cells in the laboratory to assess the effect of various new anti-cancer drugs (that the Pitson Lab have discovered have anti-glioblastoma effects) on enhancing the effectiveness of temozolomide in killing glioblastoma cells. The information gained from these studies will be progressed to advanced to pre-clinical models, with successful outcomes hopefully leading to future clinical trials to improve outcomes for glioblastoma patients.

Vacation 2024 NRF Application Form .docx (67 KB)