Global Prebiotic Association Young Researcher Award

The Global Prebiotic Association (GPA) Prebiotic Young Researcher Award honors a young scientific researcher (under 40 years old) as the first author of a research paper that has driven a remarkable advancement in the understanding of the science or impact of prebiotics. Topics can cover any aspect of prebiotic research including gut and other microbiomes.

GPA defines a prebiotic as a product or ingredient that is utilized in the microbiota producing a health or performance benefit. 

And a prebiotic effect is “a health or performance benefit that arises from alteration of the composition and/or activity of the microbiota, as a direct or indirect result of the utilization of a specific and well defined product or ingredient by microorganisms”.

Prizes: Two $2,000 USD grants and one year GPA Professional Memberships.  One grant will be awarded for fundamental research and one for applied research (first author only; no shared first authorships permitted) 

The winners will also have the opportunity to showcase their research at upcoming conferences and events GPA is organizing or affiliated with.

• Open to postdoctoral fellows or Ph.D. students (proof required)
• First author must be younger than 40 years at the application deadline 
• Paper must be original research; literature reviews or meta-analyses are not eligible
• Paper must be published in a peer-reviewed journal
• Paper must be written in English (abstract and entire publication)
• Paper must be published in 2022, either online or in print. Early access online is eligible.
• First author must be affiliated with a recognized university or public sector organization at the time of publication
• No shared first authorships permitted

Judging:
Applications will be judged by a panel of expert scientists from the prebiotic field, including GPA members and non-members.

GPA Young Researcher Award for Fundamental Research (100 points possible)

1. Scope: What is the context of the research. How well does the research address a real-world problem or health issue? (20)
2. Study design & methodology: How well has the study been designed and executed. Are best practices being used? (20)
3. Results & implications: How remarkable are the findings, and what is the impact of the study? Does the work advance the field, open new directions of applications or provide significant evidence for a specific health benefit of a prebiotic? (35)
4. Originality: Does the study have a particularly novel different approach, drive the use prebiotics in a new way, or otherwise result in paradigm-shifts in the area of prebiotics? (25)

GPA Young Researcher Award for Applied Research (115 points possible)

1. Scope: What is the context of the research. How well does the research address a real-world problem or health issue? (20)
2. Study design & methodology: How well has the study been designed and executed. Are best practices being used? (20)
3. Results & implications: How remarkable are the findings, and what is the impact of the study? Does the work advance the field or provide significant evidence for a specific health benefit of a prebiotic? (25)
4. Originality: Does the study have a particularly novel different approach, drive the use prebiotics in a new way, or otherwise result in paradigm-shifts in the area of prebiotics? (25)
5. Commercial potential & applicability: Can the research be applied into commercial environments? Is the work done on commercial ingredients? Does it help solve a specific industry problem? (25)

Submission Deadline: Extended to February 3, 2023

Application: Please click here to apply. If you have difficulty submitting your application, please email all of the information to info@prebioticassociation.org.