Funding for the program will be provided by Boehringer Ingelheim. Funding for approved proposals will be for one calendar year and must be used within the calendar year provided. Any remaining funds must be documented in the program review.   

• Grants are awarded on a competitive basis and proposals are closely reviewed against required criteria. Applications requesting funding up to a maximum of $26,000 will be considered.  

   

• Boehringer Ingelheim funding can be used only for stipends for students who are enrolled in the VSP. The funding request should be based on the number of scholar stipends requested.   

   

• Funds towards travel expenses for VSP students to and from the Veterinary Scholars Symposium will be provided (for up to 4 funded scholars, in the value of $1,200 per sponsored student) in addition to original grant. These funds will be disbursed directly to each school, based on the number of Boehringer-sponsored students. 

   

• Boehringer Ingelheim funding must not be used for 1) indirect costs (fixed or administrative), 2) capital expenses, 3) research materials, or 4) graduate, post-doctoral or residency stipends.  

   

• The Boehringer Ingelheim grant is a matching grant. Each school must match the funding provided by Boehringer Ingelheim for the program. College matched stipends equal to the Boehringer Ingelheim stipends may be obtained from college budgets or other grants; the source of the matching funds must be clearly stated in the application. 

   

• It is expected that each school will provide the necessary funding to cover the proposed extracurricular activities outlined in the submission as these are considered an integral part of the Boehringer Ingelheim experience and by extension, the selection process.

• As the program mission is to provide students with an initial exposure to research, preference will be given to programs that provide opportunities for students who do not have past research experience.  

• Promotion of a school’s program to non-host scholars outside its own campus should be enhanced by a user-friendly website and by notification of the Boehringer Ingelheim program directors and/or Associate Deans at other funded and non-funded veterinary schools. As part of the application process, each school should indicate both the total number of scholars and the number of non-host school scholars the program proposes to host, as well as providing details of how such students will be oriented and accommodated.  

• Research can occur at any point in the calendar year, but preference will be given to summer projects. 

Individual projects should be manageable within the timeframe of the program and should enable the student to formulate a testable hypothesis, identify specific objectives, conduct research, interpret data and present their findings in the form of an abstract and/or poster. Demonstration of the use of biomedical research skills in specialty fields (e.g., Pathology, Toxicology, Laboratory Animal Medicine, Pharmacology, Clinical, and Imaging) is desirable as are projects that meet areas of unmet need in the animal health space.

• Subsequent presentations/publication of the results of research conducted should clearly acknowledge that the research was supported in whole or in part by a grant from the “Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars Program.”   

• The proposed program should have a clearly defined set of activities to enable students to learn about the broad aspects of careers in research. Examples include interactive workshops on ethics in research, grant writing, journal clubs, decision making/leadership, preparation of Curriculum Vitae, and letters of application for work; off campus visits to research centers with discussion and presentations by outside faculty from academia, government and industry are also appreciated by participants. Identification and goals for each of the proposed trips and workshops should be provided in the proposal, along with procedures in place to ensure scholars’ attendance is possible at the workshops and trips. 

• Activities should only be listed in the proposal where it has been confirmed in advance that the school will provide the required funding. 

• Attendance at the annual Veterinary Scholars Symposium by the Program Director and a representative number of the funded scholars is mandatory. 

• Boehringer Ingelheim will fund travel and registration to the Symposium for a maximum of 4 VSP scholars per school. Schools may continue to send more students by securing funding from an alternate source for travel and registration.  

Please complete the electronic submission on or before the deadline. Submissions will not be accepted by hard copy. Once the submission has been received, Boehringer Ingelheim will email the program our AH Grants Donation Procedure Application. 

Applications must be made using this template and should include all of the following items: 

• Completed application signed by the Dean or Associate Dean of Research of the college. 

• A concise description of the objective, program description, process and budget. Information requested in the table of Section I does not need to be duplicated in the 3-page narrative in Section II. Additional lines within each box on the table may be added, if needed, to provide complete information. 

• All colleges that received funding in the preceding year must submit a program review at the time of funding application.

• Please note that we have changed our alumni tracking template to enhance data analysis. Use the new template provided on our website. The tracking information should be filled out in the attached excel spreadsheet and submitted with the application package.   

Program submissions must be complete and received by the deadline to be considered for funding. 

 31 October 2024                Deadline for Boehringer Ingelheim VSP applications 

 06 January 2025                 Schools notified of funding status via email 

 06 January 2025                 Program posted on the Boehringer Ingelheim VSP website

 17 April 2025                        2025 program funding disbursed 

All schools, once notified of approved funding in January, must post their program not later than January 6 on an appropriate page or section of their school website that can be easily found from the main veterinary college homepage of the funded institution. Information should include a complete description of the program, a list of potential mentors and summary of their research interests (with contact information) and proposed extracurricular activities for the program. The page should include text acknowledging that the summer program is funded in part by Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars Program (or similar text) as well as a link to the official VSP webpage. Application information and submissions also must be available online. Stipend information and availability of the program to students from non-host veterinary schools should be included on the web page. 

Links to these individual institution pages are included on the official website of Boehringer Ingelheim VSP. If the URL of the school’s page containing this program information has changed since the previous year, please provide the new link so that we can update our website.