Clinical Unit Visits

Clinical Unit Visits are short-term fellowships that enable young oncologists to spend time at a leading cancer centre

This eight-week fellowship, supported by the International Cancer Foundation (ICF), offers young oncologists the opportunity to gain insight into clinical research at a leading European centre of excellence.

Focus Clinical Oncology

• Gain insight into oncology care and research at a top cancer centre
• Support efforts to expand professional networks with a European institution of excellence
• Apply the host institute’s high-quality procedures and techniques in the home institution

Applicants can focus on a specific patient group or tumour type for the fellowship – if the focus is on geriatric oncology a list of potential institutes can be found under the filter ‘Clinical Unit Visit – Geriatric Oncology’ (under ‘Type of Fellowship’) on this page.

Mentorship

The fellow will be matched with a mentor at the host institute for 12 months after the end of the fellowship. The aim of this part of the programme is to maintain the relationship between the fellow and host institute following their return home and to support the fellow’s efforts in applying the skills they have learnt in their home institute.

Amount and duration

The fellow will receive 6,000€ for 8 weeks - host institute will receive 1,000€ for administration costs. The cost of travel to and from the host institute country will also be covered (economy flight and in accordance with ICF travel policy).

Application requirements

Please read the full Guidelines and Application Instructions for Clinical Unit Visit Fellowships before starting your application.

Candidates must:

• Be an oncologist or oncologist in training with at least two years of clinical experience in internal medicine or medical, radiation or surgical oncology, and currently engaged in cancer research or clinical oncology practice
• Be proficient in English and/or in the community language of the host institute
• Contact a host institute to organise the clinical visit and obtain the approval and confirmation of both the host and home institute. Alternatively, candidates can propose an institute and host that they would like to visit.

At the end of the fellowship, fellows must provide a report giving an overview of their visit and what they have learnt. This will be posted on the ICF website and may be used for future promotion of the fellowship programme.

Application must include:

• Completed application form
• Motivation letter
• If a host institute and mentor identified:
  • Acceptance letter from the person responsible for the clinical visit at the host facility, including a description of the programme for the visit.
• If no host institute contacted or identified:
  • Applicant should provide a letter indicating the host institute they would like to visit, along with details of what they would like to focus on during the visit.
• Recommendation letter from the candidate’s department head at home institute

Application review process:

Applications will be reviewed by the ICF Board and Scientific Committee. All aspects of the application will be evaluated, with particular focus on:

• Quality of CV
• Motivation letter
• Quality of the application
• How the acquired information and knowledge will be used in the home institute

The candidate’s supervisors in both the host and home institute should preferably be Full or Associate ESMO members.