Scholarship

The scholarship is available to students and researchers at MSc, PhD or post-doctoral level. The minimum requirement for applicants is a BSc degree in earth sciences, chemistry, physics, material sciences or another hard science. The successful recipient of the grant, i.e. the applicant, must be a person rather than an institution or company. However, applicants are encouraged to submit project proposals that involve collaboration with a university or other research institute. Applicants may be no more than 40 years of age. Applications are welcome from individuals of any nationality.

No employment relationship will exist between the scholarship recipient and the Dr. Eduard Gübelin Association for Research & Identification of Precious Stones, the Gübelin Gem Lab or any other entity of the Gübelin Group. As such, the Association is not liable for social insurance costs.

For the final selection of the proposed project, a Scientific Committee has been convened consisting of the following representatives from the academic community (in alphabetical order):

• Dr. Thomas Armbruster – Professor of Mineralogical Crystallography, University of Berne, Switzerland
• Dr. Emmanuel Fritsch – Professor of Physics, CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) and University of Nantes, France
• Dr. Lee A. Groat – Professor, Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• Dr. George E. Harlow – Curator, American Museum of Natural History, Division of Physical Sciences (Earth and Planetary Sciences), USA
• Dr. Shang I Edward Liu – Research Geologist, Mineralogical Society of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
• Dr. Taijin Lu – Chief Researcher, Beijing Institute, National Gems and Jewelry Technology Administrative Center (NGTC), China
• Dr. George R. Rossman – Professor of Mineralogy, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, USA
• Dr. Andy H. Shen – Professor, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, PR China

Goal

The Dr. Eduard Gübelin Research Scholarship is intended to provide funding and support – financial, organisational and infrastructural – for a student or scientist to pursue a research project in the field of earth sciences or a related scientific field.

Scholarship provider

The Dr. Eduard Gübelin Association for Research & Identification of Precious Stones in Lucerne, Switzerland, grants the scholarship. This Association is a not-for-profit organisation based in Lucerne, Switzerland. For the scholarship, the Association collaborates closely with the Gübelin Gem Lab, which provides administrative support and supervision of the development of the successful project/applicant.

Target

This scholarship is intended for students/researchers in the fields of earth sciences (mineralogy, geology, geochemistry), crystallography, chemistry, solid-state physics, material sciences, archaeology, biology and related fields. The successful project proposal must be truly innovative, with demonstrable novel thinking; it must venture into new areas and test new concepts and methods, thus making a contribution to the advancement of gemmological knowledge. See also conditions and timelines below.

Eligibility

The scholarship is available to students and researchers at MSc, PhD or post-doctoral level. The minimum requirement for applicants is a BSc degree in earth sciences, chemistry, physics, material sciences or another exact science. The successful recipient of the grant, i.e. the applicant, must be a person rather than an institution or company. However, applicants are encouraged to submit project proposals that involve collaboration with a university or other research institute. Applicants may be no more than 40 years of age. Applications are welcome from individuals of any nationality.

No employment relationship will exist between the scholarship recipient and the Dr. Eduard Gübelin Association for Research & Identification of Precious Stones, the Gübelin Gem Lab or any other entity of the Gübelin Group. As such, the Association is not liable for social insurance costs.

Frequency of scholarship

Provided that suitable projects are submitted, the scholarship is granted on the basis of one project per calendar year. The scholarship is issued to an individual for a proposed project. The successful applicant will receive formal confirmation of having been awarded the Dr. Eduard Gübelin Research Scholarship 2024.

Application and selection process

Applicants who meet the requirements set out in this document are invited to submit their research project proposal. Proposals must be submitted using the relevant form on the Gübelin Gem Lab website. In addition, applicants are also required to provide their curriculum vitae and details of their previous scientific achievements.

The project proposal can include (if considered advantageous to the project) a period of time in the Gübelin Gem Lab in Lucerne, Switzerland. The applicant has the opportunity to use the infrastructure and resources of the Gübelin Gem Lab, including the Gübelin Reference Collection and the analytical equipment, and will receive support from the scientists in the Gübelin Gem Lab.

The Association verifies that the incoming project applications comply with the administrative requirements and their suitability in terms of scientific relevance and potential. The Association will contact applicants whose projects pass these checks to acknowledge receipt and confirm that the project has been added to the list of applications for the current term. The Association may contact applicants to clarify any issues regarding their application.

Following these initial checks, the Association will establish a shortlist of the best and most suitable applications, according to the criteria below. The maximum number of shortlisted applications is five; these are presented to the members of the Scientific Committee, who will evaluate the applications and rank it, using a mark ranging from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). For the sake of transparency and to avoid any potential conflict of interests with members of the Scientific Committee, the best and worst mark assigned to each application will not be considered. The remaining marks will be averaged and the proposal with the highest average mark will win the scholarship. In the event of a tie, the youngest participant will earn the Scholarship. The decision of the Scientific Committee is final and there is no right of appeal. After evaluation and consolidation of the decision of the Committee members, the Association will contact the successful applicant and inform him/her on the result.

Guidelines

Proposals must be in English, must not exceed 10,000 characters and should not include more than 10 illustrations, images, tables or photos.

Timelines

The opening date for submission of applications for the next scholarship term is 1 January 2024. The deadline for submission of applications is 31 July 2024. The evaluation process and selection of the winning proposal will be completed by end of August 2024 and announcement of the winning proposal will take place during September. The granted project must start within 12 months of the announcement; the end of the project (including delivery of the final report) must be within 24 months of the announcement and 18 months of the start of the project.

Financials

The total value of the scholarship is up to USD 30,000. This amount is invested each year to support the awarded project. The recipient is the applicant who submits the project; this applicant must also be the main contributor to the project and the author of the final report. Part of the scholarship is paid to the successful recipient at the beginning of the project. After deduction of costs and expenses as described below, the balance is paid following submission of the final report.

The available funds are split into three areas: i) costs and expenses related to the use of analytical infrastructure, such as services and support provided by the Gübelin Gem Lab (e.g. project related analyses, support by analysts, gemmologists and other specialists, use of the Gübelin Gem Lab reference collection). These costs account for a minimum of one third of the scholarship amount. ii) Travel and accommodation costs, costs related to the use of the analytical infrastructure, equipment and personnel, as well as costs for publication and presentation of project results, and iii) cash contributions paid directly to the successful recipient. The Association is not liable for social insurance costs.

The Association reserves the right to revoke a scholarship and to make a claim for reimbursement if:

• the terms are not adhered to or the Association has other good reason for revocation
• the scholarship was obtained on the basis of incorrect or incomplete information
• the conditions imposed by the Association are not met at all or are not met within the deadlines set by the Association
• the scholarship has not been claimed one year after its award and no credible reason has been supplied
• the funds have not been used for the direct purpose stated

Deliverables

A compulsory deliverable of the project is a final report, written by the successful recipient for the benefit of the Association. A summary of the final report and additional key results will be made available on the Gübelin Gem Lab website.

In addition to this final report, the Association encourages and supports the publication of research papers based on insights gained during the supported project. Part of the available funds may be used to support scientific publications, such as the payment of fees for published results of this study in open source journals. The support of the scholarship and the Association must be acknowledged in all research publications that use data and information arising from the supported project.

The Association asks that it is informed in advance of any publications arising from a funded project. The Association should receive one electronic and three paper copies of each publication containing data or insights arising from the supported project.

Intellectual property

The successful recipient will be required to enter into a written agreement assigning any inventions produced by the recipient, alone or in collaboration with staff from the Gübelin Gem Lab, during work on the project to the Association, regardless of whether the inventions are protected. The successful recipient is, however, granted a lifelong licence to use their inventions free of royalties; such licence is issued in favour of the successful recipient only and can not be transferred to any third party, including companies controlled by the successful recipient or which employ them.