IPSF AfRO ESSAY COMPETITION FOR THE 11TH AFRICAN PHARMACEUTICAL SYMPOSIUM (AfPS) GRANT
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS:
IPSF AfRO ESSAY COMPETITION FOR THE 11TH AFRICAN PHARMACEUTICAL SYMPOSIUM GRANT
The International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation, African Regional Working Group (IPSF AfRO RWG) is pleased to release the call for participants in an essay competition to win either a partial or full sponsorship to attend the 11th African Pharmaceutical Symposium in Accra, Ghana.
The call is primarily aimed at pharmacy students and recent pharmacy graduates who are members of IPSF AfRO and are interested in the subject matter of the symposium.
The topic for the essay is “The State of Pharmacy Practice in Africa: Challenges And The Way Forward”.
Background
Pharmacy practice around the world is evolving. The African pharmacist cannot provide the best services possible to their clientele unless they keep up with the current innovations and developments in the pharmaceutical field. These innovations are not the prerogative of clinical pharmacy practice; changes in industrial pharmacy, community pharmacy, and research all need to be adopted in the best ways to suit the African environment. To adapt to what is new, pharmacists must first understand where they are coming from, where they currently are, and what obstacles may be present in moving forward.
In line with the theme of the 11th IPSF African Pharmaceutical Symposium, “The Evolution of Pharmacy Practice: Innovation and Capacity Building”, we, therefore, invite IPSF AfRO members to participate in this essay competition to share their insights and recommendations on pharmacy practice through the largest gathering of pharmacy students in Africa.
All submissions must be done not later than Sunday, 5th March 2023, 2359 PM GMT+0.
GUIDELINES
Criteria for Applicants:
● Participants must be members of IPSF AfRO.
● Participants must submit an accompanying Membership Confirmatory Letter.
Essay Guidelines:
● The essay MUST follow the IPSF Editorial Code (See appendix). Lack of this leads to automatic disqualification.
● The essay may be submitted in English or French (Each participant can only submit in one language).
● Only one submission per person is allowed. If multiple submissions are made, only the first submission will be reviewed.
● The essay must be within the range of 800 to 1000 words. Submissions outside this range will not be considered.
● Submissions should be highly relevant to the given topic, and incorporate elements of the main theme and subthemes of the 11th AfPS.
● Claims and statistics should be backed by reputable, publicly accessible references.
● THE ESSAY MUST NOT BE PLAGIARIZED IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM
Plagiarism from news sources, websites, journals or other participants will result in instant disqualification.
● The final submitted essay should be typed in: Calibri; Font Size 12, single-spaced, with justified text, and submitted as a PDF (.pdf).
Submission Guidelines:
● The submitted PDF MUST be named as follows : IPSF-AfRO Essay Competition –Insert participant name [Insert participant association acronym] e.g IPSF-AfRO Essay Competition - Mayuba M. Rachel [PHARMSA-UL,Liberia]
● Participants must submit an accompanying Membership Confirmatory Letter obtained from their Association IPSF Contact Person.
● Participants are also required to submit a motivation letter not exceeding one page (font size 12, single-spaced, justified text and submitted as a PDF) explaining how they will benefit from attending the symposium, and how they will in turn contribute to the symposium.
The submission deadline is Sunday 5th March, 2023 2359 PM GMT + 0 .
Submissions should be made through this form or visit the resources page on www.11thafps.org . Email submissions and submissions sent past the deadline will not be accepted.
Evaluation Process
The essay will be reviewed by the IPSF AfRO Regional Working Group (RWG) in collaboration with the AfPS Reception Committee.
Winner Announcement
● The winner and first runner-up will be announced in the coming weeks after the submission deadline in the 11th AfPS website and social media handles, and the IPSF AfRO social media accounts.
● The top two essays will be published in the AfPS and AfRO newsletters, with the details of the authors.
Prizes
I. The winner of the essay competition wins full sponsorship for Phase 1 registration for the main symposium, during the 11th IPSF African Pharmaceutical Symposium, 2023Accra, Ghana, amounting to US$260.
II. The first runner-up wins half-sponsorship for Phase 1 registration for the main symposium, during the 11th IPSF African Pharmaceutical Symposium 2023 - Accra, Ghana, amounting to US$130.
III. The winner and the first runner-up will be recognized and awarded certificates during the 11th IPSF African Pharmaceutical Symposium (AfPS) 2023 - Accra, Ghana.
NB: The full and the partial scholarships will be awarded as pre-financing for the main symposium and not as reimbursements to the winners. Therefore participants will have to confirm their participation with a receipt of their flight or bus tickets by the end of Phase 3 registration. Failure to do so will cause the withdrawal of the award.
Contact Details
In case of any inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact any of the following people through their undersigned email address:
● Ms. Michele Mayuba (IPSF AfRO Secretary) - secretary@afro.ipsf.org
● Mr. Alain Shingiro (IPSF AfRO Regional Projects Officer) – rpo@afro.ipsf.org
● Mr. Yaw Mfoafo (Chairperson, 11th AfPS) – afps@afro.ipsf.org
● Mr. Selorm Agbenorhevi (Coordinator, Education and Scientific Subcommittee) –education.scientificafps@gmail.com
All the best to all participants. Let us meet in Ghana!
Michele Mayuba Rachel IPSF-AfRO Regional Secretary secretary@afro.ipsf.orgCell: +254704329444
APPENDIX
IPSF Editorial Code
The Editorial Committee reserves the right to edit content for grammar, spelling and refining the style.
All contributors to IPSF Publications are expected to adhere to the following Editorial Code:
Contributors:
● Will respect IPSF’s principles and values, including those of respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.
● Will not make accusations against any named individuals or organizations, or otherwise make defamatory allegations.
● Will take a balanced approach in all reporting and strive to put across alternative views and counter arguments.
● Will not plagiarize, or copy, the work of others.
● Will take good care and never put themselves or anyone else in danger.
● By submitting any content (i.e. articles, pictures, and videos), you give IPSF copyright to distribute or republish said content on its websites or other platforms.
● Give permission for content (i.e. articles, pictures, and videos) to be offered by IPSF to other media outlets and platforms free-of-payment. (Re-publication will not entail commercial benefit, but will give added exposure to contributors’ work)
● Will not claim to represent IPSF unless employed as such.
● Will, above all, commit to professional standards and only submit articles regarding pharmacy, biomedicine, public health and scientific advances.