The Global Forum for Health Research and The Lancet are inviting young professionals under 30 years old, working in or interested in the broad spectrum of health research for development, to enter their essay competition. Entries of 1,500 words or less, written in English, on the theme 'Climate change and health: research challenges for vulnerable populations' are invited.


The winning essays will be published in The Lancet and their authors invited to attend, expenses paid, the Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health, which will take place in Bamako, Mali, from November 17 to 19 2008.


The deadline for application has been extended to May 15 2008.

Rules and guidelines:

• Authors must have been born on or after 1 January 1978.
• Each author may submit one essay only.
• Essays may be submitted in English or French and should be 1,500 words maximum.
• Essays must be based on the author’s own ideas and not be derived from another source. Essays must not have been previously published.
• Entries are individual (i.e., the work of a single author). They should include original, even provocative ideas and not be technical or academic texts: tables, charts and figures are probably not necessary; references should be limited. Authors are free to be idealistic, passionate, to take established practices to task, albeit in a constructive fashion. Within the context of research for health, the theme allows authors to include any aspect that interests them particularly - for example, extreme weather, natural disasters, fuels and energy, transport, water management, vectors, food production, demographics, urban planning, security.

Click here to view rules and recommendations and link to essay competition information in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

Click here to download information in French about this award in PDF format.

Click here to read about winners of last year's competition.