IFCC Professional Exchange Programmes (PEP)

IFCC offers a limited number of scholarships each year to facilitate professional exchange programmes award to support training of young scientists and continuing education of other laboratory professionals at clinical laboratory centres and IVD facilities around the world.

The purpose of professional exchange programmes is to:

• Promote international co-operation between laboratories
• Facilitate the exchange of young laboratory scientists between IFCC Member societies
• Share high level scientific or management skills
• Introduce new or improved scientific or management skills to the applicant's laboratory

IFCC has developed two categories of professional exchange programme:

• Professional Scientific Exchange Programme (PSEP)

• Professional Management Exchange Programme (PMEP)

IFCC has developed a list of clinical laboratories willing to host visiting scientists for a period of 1-3 months.    However, applicants are free to select other hosting laboratories pending prior acceptance and approval by the host. IFCC has no role in making agreements between the Applicant and the hosting laboratory.

Click here to see the list of the IFCC PEP hosting Laboratories.

Download PEP Application form

Download PEP Preliminary Information

IFCC PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMME (PMEP)

The purpose of a PMEP is to develop appropriate quality management skills in order to improve the performance and quality of service offered to patients by the base laboratory.

Applications for a Professional Management Exchange Programme (PMEP) may only come from IFCC Full Member or Affiliate Member national societies that are in countries where quality management and/or laboratory accreditation are at an early stage of development.

Examples of PMEP include:

• Acquiring skills to introduce effective internal quality control;
• Acquiring skills to introduce an external quality assurance scheme to a country;
• Acquiring skills to introduce quality management to the base laboratory;
• Preparation to enable the base laboratory to apply for laboratory accreditation in line with ISO Standard 15189;

The host laboratory for a PMEP will normally be in the same IFCC Region as the applicant.

IFCC PROFESSIONAL SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGE PROGRAMME (PSEP)

The purpose of a PSEP is to exchange or develop high level scientific information or skills.

Applications for a PSEP may come from any IFCC Full Member or Affiliate Member national society.

Examples of suitable PSEP projects include (but are not restricted to):

• Conduct of a collaborative research project between base and host laboratories;
• Use of a method or technique not available in the base laboratory in order to complete a research project;
• Learning a new method/technique or interpretation of complex lab results in the host laboratory which will be introduced into the base laboratory after the PSEP is complete;
• Completion of a collaborative evidence-based scientific project such as the preparation of a systematic review;

 Scientific publications resulting from this exchange programme have to acknowledge IFCC's support.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Applicants:

 Applicants for an IFCC professional exchange programme will:

• Be a member of an IFCC Full Member or Affiliate Member national society
• Haven't received funding from IFCC for other PEPs
• Have a specific project to complete in a designated host laboratory
• Have the written support of:
  • The head of department in which he/she is based
  • The head of the host laboratory to be visited
  • The national society of which he/she is a member

Duration of Exchanges:

• 3 months maximum

IFCC Support:

Successful applicants will be entitled to receive:

• Economy return travel expenses from his/her home base to the host laboratory.

• Subsistence at the rate of 1500 Swiss Francs per month for a maximum of three months.

Report/Acknowledgement 

At the completion of a professional exchange programme the successful applicant is required to:

• Where appropriate, submit a scientific paper for publication in the electronic journal of IFCC.

List of Documents needed:

Curriculum vitae

Copy of passport or identity document

Letter of support of national ifcc society

Letter of support of the head of applicant's department

Letter of support of the head of the host laboratory

Detailed project description indicating the perceived benefit and impact