Application Deadline: March 31st, 2025

All applications must meet the regulations and requirements and be submitted by the due date to be considered.

VERY IMPORTANT – If you are applying for this scholarship, you need either to have a submitted abstract or to be an invited speaker:

• Invited Speaker and not submitting an abstract, click the following button to apply:

• Abstract submitter, application takes place during abstract submission, click the following button to apply:

IFSO Scholarship Guidelines 2025

One of the main activities of IFSO is the organization of the annual IFSO World Congress, which provides a forum to exchange knowledge on surgical treatment of patients with severe obesity, to present new techniques, research and concepts, and to meet the experts in the field. The Congress also promotes the specialty of Bariatric Surgery around the world and provides the opportunity for fellowship and collegiality amongst members from each chapter.

In support of this aim, IFSO offers 10 Integrated Health Scholarships to members from countries whose Bariatric Surgery Societies are members of IFSO and who show strong interests, accomplishments and career development in bariatric surgery and/or other obesity related specialties. The panel will aim to award an applicant from each of the IFSO chapters, however this is not mandatory. The IFSO IH Committee may, at its discretion, award scholarship grants to more than one member per region or chapter. The IH Committee will review all submissions based on the outlined criteria and shall have final approval authority over the award recipients.

The principal purpose of the Scholarship is to support the attendance, and the quality, of the IH program at the IFSO World Congress. The selection criteria will be objective and non-discriminatory.

Each Scholarship offers a stipend of: $US 2,500 + registration at the IFSO World Congress with public recognition of their achievement and presence + 1 ticket to the Gala Dinner.

Regulations

▪ Applicants must be current IFSO IH members in good standing, graduates of schools of medicine and/or other associated disciplines. This regulation fully represents IH members in their own specialty. Any non-IH member will be excluded from eligibility irrespective of their topic of presentation or their area of research study

▪ Applicants must be in a bariatric surgery related specialties practice or training

▪ Applicants may only be awarded this prize once

▪ Applications must be either invited speakers or abstract presenters

Successful applicants must provide a written report to IFSO within 2 months of the completion of the World Congress.

The Presidents of the member societies are kindly requested to inform their members about the availability of Scholarships and about the regulations and requirements for applications. Applications received by the deadline will be graded according to an objective system by the “Scholarship Committee”, which will award the Scholarships after first informing the Executive Board. The Committee will ordinarily be composed of: President, President Elect, chair of the Scholarship Committee ad hoc, Chair and Vice-Chair of the I.H. Committee.

The Secretariat will inform all applicants of the result in a timely way by email and will request their bank details for the bank transfer.

Requirements for Application

All applications must be supported by the following 4 documents: