O'Brien Clinical Fellowship

About this program

The Neurological Foundation’s O'Brien Clinical Fellowship provides one year equivalent of salary support (plus ACC and superannuation) to enable New Zealand‑registered non‑medical health professionals to pursue clinical or biomedical research in neurological sciences, with the research FTE distributable over 1–5 years provided a minimum of 20% FTE is maintained each year and total FTE does not exceed 100%. Research may be undertaken in New Zealand or overseas, must address central or peripheral nervous system disorders (proposals solely on management of mental health disorders are excluded), and recipients may apply for travel grants up to NZD 4,500. Eligible applicants are New Zealand citizens or permanent residents who are NZ‑registered health professionals without an MBChB/MD (PhD holders may apply but priority may be given to less experienced researchers); medical doctors, postdoctoral fellows, and those whose proposed salary is already institutionally funded are ineligible. Applications must be submitted by the Host Institution via the Neurological Foundation’s Grants Management System and include NZ Standard CVs, a primary mentor support letter, evidence of citizenship/residency, a detailed research description with Gantt chart, and any relevant co‑funding or ethics approvals.