IUPS is offering lecture awards for established researchers (presented as named lectures at the IUPS congresses) and travel awards primarily for physiologists in an early phase of their career.

Congress Travel Awards

The IUPS uses a percentage of revenues generated by prior Congresses to fund Travel Awards to future Congresses. Travel awards are intended for those whose funds for attending meetings is limited. Applications from early-career investigators (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty/researchers) and those from countries with relatively low GDPs (as listed by the World Bank) are strongly encouraged.

Julie Chan Prize

IUPS Julie Chan Prize is for physiologists who have contributed to international mentoring and/or career development.

Julie Chan

Professor Julie Chan was the first female President of IUPS where she made a significant contribution to physiology leadership. The executive of IUPS decided to honor her many contributions with a prestigious award in her name. The prize is to recognize those who have helped mentor other physiologists and/or worked to help the professional development of physiologists. Applicants can be from any country/region and any career stage, but the panel will consider the extent of engagement and commitment to support and mentoring of young physiologists. There will be one prize per year of $1,500.

More about the winner…

Kyu-Sang Park is a Professor in the Department of Physiology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, South Korea. He obtained his medical doctorate from Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine in 1993 and completed his Ph.D. at Yonsei University in 1998. He spent three years at the Korean National Institute of Health (NIH) for his military duty. In 2002, he commenced his tenure as an assistant professor at Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine. Between 2006 and 2009, he had worked as a visiting professor in the Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism at University of Geneva, Switzerland. Since 2017, he has served as the director of national grant-funded Medical Research Center at Yonsei University. Additionally, he presently holds the position of the President of Korean Society for Mitochondrial Research and Medicine from 2022 to 2024. His research interests encompass beta cell pathophysiology, mitochondria, autophagy, and integrated stress responses.

IUPS International Early-Stage Faculty Prize for recently appointed physiologists

Being a new faculty/staff member physiologist is an exciting but testing time. The IUPS wants to help physiologists, irrespective of where they are based, and the area of physiology they work in, by awarding a prize.

Physiologists within 7 years of faculty appointment, who have made an excellent contribution to their faculty – quality not quantity, are invited to apply.

There will be up to four prizes per year, of $2,500 each.

More about the winners…

Dr Rosie Brown is a Senior Lecturer and Rutherford Discovery Fellow in the Department of Physiology at the University of Otago, in Dunedin, New Zealand. Established in 2019, her research group focuses on how hormones modulate a mother’s behaviour to time the display of care-giving behaviour with the birth of offspring. Her group investigates the hormone-sensitive neural circuit that drives parental behaviour in mothers and fathers and how the changing hormones of pregnancy and lactation act on circuitry to modulate mood and behaviour in parents. Dr Brown teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students about the neural control of social behaviour in Physiology and Neuroscience courses. She is also passionate about supporting early career researchers and leads a University-wide group that aims to connect, support and promote all early and mid-career researchers at the University of Otago.

Dr. Taylor Dick is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia where she leads the Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory. Her research group uses novel imaging methods and modelling frameworks to answer fundamental questions about how movement underpins evolution, health, and disease. She leads teaching innovation in physiology, anatomy, and biomedical sciences at the undergraduate and postgraduate level through the development of interactive and innovative teaching resources that motivate and inspire her students. Taylor is a passionate advocate for engaging young girls in STEM and has co-led an Australian Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship program, the Biomechanics Research and Innovation Challenge (BRInC).

Dr. Thomas Jepps is an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen where he leads the Vascular Biology Group. Research in Thomas’ laboratory is focused on the physiology of blood vessels, and identification of novel targets and potential treatments for hypertension. Thomas’ group utilize a wide range of techniques, including proteomics, immunostaining, and ex vivo and in vivo measurements of arterial reactivity to reveal novel proteins and mechanisms within vascular physiology. Thomas’ research strives to be translational and has led to 2 clinical trials in patients with hypertension.

Dr. Antonios Chatzigeorgiou, is an Associate Professor of Experimental and Clinical Physiology at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. He has been devoted for many years to performing research related to the physiology/pathophysiology of metabolism-associated organs such as the adipose tissue and the liver and his studies have shed light on important molecular mechanisms related to the development of obesity/diabetes-related complications, such as insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis. He has published research papers in high impact journals (e.g. Nat. Immunol., PNAS, Hepatology, Metabolism, Endocrinology, FASEBJ etc.). Currently, his lab studies mechanisms perturbing the homeostasis of the liver within the whole spectrum of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (from benign steatosis up to hepatocellular carcinoma) with special focus in immune-parenchymal cell interactions and adaptations of the parenchymal cells of the liver under different conditions of nutrient/lipid overload and metabolic stress.

Read more about the criteria for IUPS awards
Criteria:

The awards panel will consider candidates working in any area of physiology; their departments need not be identified as physiology departments i.e. candidates can be in departments of biomedical sciences, neuroscience etc. Candidates must be within 7 years of their faculty appointment (this can be increased by up to 2 years for verified career breaks) and their head of department or institution or equivalent, must affirm this on the application form. Candidates will be judged on their contributions to research, teaching and service to disciplines during their faculty tenure.

Points to be described in the application
  • An abbreviated CV (up to five A4 pages) detailing their chronological academic career, highlighting major achievements across research, teaching and service to the disciplines. The achievements could include, but not limited to, peer reviewed publications, grants held, awards received, teaching contributions, seminars and invited contributions to meetings, webinars and similar outputs, public engagement and intramural and extramural professional activities.
  • A statement (up to one A4 page) emphasizing the achievements they are most proud of, and how this distinguishes them.
  • A cover letter formally stating their application, countersigned by their head of department or equivalent and the names and contact details of two potential referees, who have agreed to be named and act as such.
Selection:

Selection will be performed by the Awards Panel. The current members are Drs. Yoshihiro Kubo (chair), Federico Formenti, Andrea Fuller, Andrew Moorhouse, Karin Sipido, Louis Sobrevia, and Linda Chia-Hui Yu.

Deadline and the email address for submission:

Applications for 2023 should be sent to Ms. Charleen Bertolini (Secretary of IUPS) (Email: cbertolini@iups.org ) by the deadline of October 15 (Sun), 2023

IUPS Named Lectures

There are currently seven “named” lectures which are funded by IUPS and form an integral part of the IUPS congresses. The awardees are selected by the IUPS ExCo and some of  the IUPS commitees respectively in agreement with the programme committee. Self nominations are not applicable.

President’s Lecture The speaker of the president’s lecture is nominated by the president of IUPS to acknowledge the work of an outstanding physiologist by IUPS.

Wallace Fenn Lecture: it is nominated by IUPS Council AND endowed by the Wallace Fenn Fund.

Wallace Fenn

Wallace Fenn was instrumental in the founding of the IUPS in 1953. He served as Secretary General from 1959 to 1965, and President from 1968 to 1971. He is the editor of History of the International Congresses of Physiological Sciences, 1889-1968. His work on muscle physiology is recognized in the “Fenn Effect”, which is the relation between the energy liberated and the work done during contraction. (text: Denis Noble)

Reference: Rall, J.A. Sense and nonsense about the Fenn effect. Am J Physiol 1982 Jan;242(1):H1-6.  doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.1982.242.1.H1.

Ernst Knobil Lecture: The Knobil lecture is nominated by IUPS Commission III (Endocrinology).

Ernst Knobil

Ernst Knobil was 1st Vice President of the IUPS from 1997 to 2001. His work provided the basis for current understanding of the female reproductive system. His work enabled the development of the world’s first hormonal contraceptives. (text: Denis Noble)

Reference: Knobil and Neill’s Physiology of Reproduction (Third Edition) Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Inc.

Photo: Med.uth.edu. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://med.uth.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/profile-Ernst-Knobil.jpg> [Accessed 19 August 2020].

T. P. Feng Lecture, established by a donation from his daughter, Jane Feng. to supports a distinguished lectureship in the field of “nerve, muscle and synapse”

Te Pei Feng

T. P. Feng is considered one of the founders of modern Chinese neuroscience and physiology. He worked at University College London with the Nobel Prize winner, A V Hill, and also at the Universities of Cambridge (with E D Adrian) and Oxford (with J C Eccles). His research included the physiology of the neuromuscular junction and synaptic plasticity in central nervous system synapses. He became a President of the Chinese Physiological Society. (text: Denis Noble)

Reference: https://www.physiology.org/docs/default-source/archive_tphys/the-physiologist-newsletter-1984-february.pdf?sfvrsn=88aa3fcd_2

Schmidt-Nielsen Lecture is funded by a donation from the former International Conferences on Comparative Physiology and the Journal of Experimental Biology. The lecturer is nominated by IUPS Commission VII (Comparative Physiology).

Knut Schmidt-Nielsen

Knut Schmidt-Nielsen was President of the IUPS from 1980 to 1986. He is the founding editor of News in Physiological Sciences (now known as Physiology). He is regarded as the father of comparative physiology and integrative biology. (text: Denis Noble)

Reference: Vogel, S. (2008). “Knut Schmidt-Nielsen. 24 September 1915 — 25 January 2007”Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society54: 319–331. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2008.0010

Photo: Images.the-scientist.com. 2007. Knut Schmidt-Nielsen Dies. [online] Available at: <https://images.the-scientist.com/content/images/articles/52931/52931.jpg> [Accessed 19 August 2020].

Winners of the Knut Schmidt Nielsen award (since 2009)

:2009 – Brian Barnes 

2013 – Barbara Cannon

2017 – Duncan Mitchell

2022 – Roger Seymour

Robert Pitts Lecture The lecture is nominated and funded by the Renal Section of Commission V.

Robert Pitts

Robert Pitts helped provide a fundamental understanding of the way the kidneys excreted acidic wastes and thereby maintained the body’s delicate biochemical balance between acidic and alkaline states. He is also known for his work on the organization of the Respiratory Center (the title of his publication in Physiological Reviews) (text: Denis Noble)

Reference: http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/pitts-robert.pdf

August Krogh Lecture funded and nominated by the Scandinavian Physiological Society.

August Krogh

August Krogh is the 1920 Nobel Laureate for Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of the mechanism of regulation of the capillaries in skeletal muscle. He was a pioneer in comparative physiology with publications on The Respiratory Exchange of Animals and Man (1916), Osmotic Regulation in Aquatic animals (1939) and The Comparative Physiology of Respiratory Mechanisms (1941). (text: Denis Noble)

Reference: “August Krogh (1874-1949) the physiologist’s physiologist”. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association199 (7): 496–497. 1967. doi:10.1001/jama.199.7.496PMID 5335475

Photo: Upload.wikimedia.org. 2020. August Krogh. [online] Available at: <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/August_Krogh_Bain_32006.jpg> [Accessed 19 August 2020].

Winners of the August Krogh Award since 1986:

Kjell Johansen (1986)

Else Kay Hoffmann (1989)

Axel Michelsen (1993)

Bengt Saltin (2001)

Roy Edwin Weber (2005)

Tobias Wang (2009)

Patrik Rorsman (2013)

Christian Aalkjaer (2017)

Angela Fago (2023)