Education Bursaries for individuals

We are delighted to be able to offer Education Bursaries to regulatory affairs professionals based in low-to-middle income countries for use in 2025. Our next grant round closes on Friday 23 August 2024.

What is the TOPRA Education Bursary?

TOPRA is providing a bursary to support professionals in low and middle income countries, as defined by the World Bank, who are looking to develop their skills and expertise in regulatory affairs.

There are two types of bursary available to individuals, Pathfinder and Foundation (see below for more details), and they are available to enable attendance at TOPRA training courses in 2024.

Pathfinder Bursary

The aim of this bursary is to support individuals who are either new to regulatory affairs or at the start of their career with the full cost of the course and up to £1,000 of travel and accommodation expenses where applicable (subject to TOPRA’s existing expense policy).

Recommended courses for applicants for this bursary include:

• Essentials of European Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs
• Essentials of Medical Device Regulatory Affairs
• Essentials of IVD Regulatory Affairs
• Essentials of European Veterinary Regulatory Affairs

 

Foundation Bursary

The aim of this bursary is to support individuals who are developing their knowledge after at least six months of working in regulatory affairs with the full cost of the course and up to £1,500 of travel and accommodation expenses (subject to TOPRA’s existing expense policy).

Recommended courses for applicants for this bursary include:

• Foundation – Spring or Autumn Introductory Course 
• Medical Device Introductory course
• European IVD Regulatory Affairs or Regulation of In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices
  

How can I apply for the Bursary Fund?

Please write a supporting letter describing why you wish to apply, which course you wish to attend and how this will help you.

This letter needs to be sent in an email to meetings@topra.org for the attention of our Director of Professional Development, Elizabeth Brookfield, at the earliest opportunity, along with the following detail and documents:

• Copy of a valid passport
• Proof of address – you must be currently living and working in a low to middle income country 
• Supporting evidence that you are in employment in a regulatory affairs role

If you are unsure about the application process or the documents needed to support an application, please contact the Professional Development team at meetings@topra.org

Application considerations

Bursaries will only be given to individuals living and working in low to middle income countries. The fund is limited so we recommend ensuring you submit your application in good time, noting that you may only apply once in the same year.

Bursaries will not be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis, but instead consideration will be given to the following:

• The need for the course, how the learning will be used and whether it will be used within six months of the course
• The benefit the course and the learning will provide both to the company and to the individual
• Additional consideration will be given to candidates from small or micro enterprises as they may not have other opportunities to access training

Please note that all successful applicants are required to allow their name and organisation to be published, and to support this we would be appreciate a photo and brief story to be provided after attendance. 

Timings

The closing date for 2025 Education Bursary applications is Friday 23 August 2024.

Successful applicants will be informed by Friday 22 September to allow time to plan for their attendance in 2024.