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AES Sergievsky Award

American Epilepsy Society

The Sergievsky Award (“Sergievsky Award”) provides support for physicians and scientists who are conducting clinical research that addresses issues affecting medically underserved individuals with epilepsy or seizures or other epilepsy related aspects of health equity. The intention of this award is to facilitate the launch of individuals into a career of leadership in academic clinical research. Proposals are welcomed across the spectrum of epilepsy research. The applicant should specify how the project addresses the main goals of the award.

The Sergievsky Award provides two years of support, $75,000 per year (total award $150,000), as well as two years of complimentary registration to the AES Annual Meeting and complimentary AES membership. The second year of funding and benefits are contingent on progress in the first year. The number of awards granted each year is contingent upon available funds.

The awardee will also be invited and strongly encouraged to engage with the AES community, with the objective of completing at least one of the identified activities during their award period. These may include: an opportunity to present scholarship at the annual meeting, consideration of a publication of commentary or results of research in Epilepsy Currents, and service within AES during the award term and beyond. AES service will be tailored to the candidate’s goals and may include participation on the Early Career Grant Committee, Epilepsy Currents contributing editor, AES DEI Committee, or another AES committee aligned with career goals. The awardee will also be invited to participate in the annual AES leadership training program. Normal review and acceptance processes will be followed where applicable

APPLICATION DEADLINES AND AWARD DATES

 September 2025: Application submission opens through ProposalCentral

 January 22, 2026: Full proposals due

 By May 31, 2026: Award notifications sent out

 July 1, 2026: Earliest award start date. May be delayed up to 3 months

 June 30, 2027: Year 1 progress report due

 July 1, 2027: Year 2 start date

 June 30, 2028: Award end

AI Based Application Success Predictor

⭐ 1. Clear Focus on Epilepsy

AES only funds work that directly advances epilepsy research, including:

Mechanisms of seizure generation/spread

Epileptogenesis

Models of childhood epilepsies

Precision therapeutics

SUDEP and comorbidities

Diagnostics, imaging, computational neuroscience

Translational pathways toward clinical application

Predictor: Your project must be explicitly and centrally about epilepsy, not broadly neuroscience.

⭐ 2. Strong Fit to the Specific AES Award Mechanism

AES awards are sharply matched to career stage and purpose:

• Predoctoral Research Fellowships

Must show strong mentorship, a focused epilepsy project, and training plan.

• Postdoctoral Fellowships

Require a robust mentor, evidence of productivity (first-author papers), and feasibility of independence.

• Early Career Research Grants

Applicants must be faculty within ~5 years of first appointment.

Reviewers look for clear independence, preliminary data, and a trajectory toward R01/NIH-style funding.

• Seed Grants

Designed to generate preliminary data for larger NIH/CDC/NSF grants.

High-risk/high-yield pilot aims are valued.

• Research & Training Fellowships / Infrastructure awards

Focus on developing expertise and building epilepsy research capacity.

Predictor: Choose the mechanism that exactly matches your career stage, independence level, and project maturity.

⭐ 3. Strong Preliminary Data (Even for Fellowships)

AES reviewers consistently reward:

Pilot data that supports feasibility

Clear rationale for hypotheses

Evidence that methods are working

A logical next step built on your lab’s strengths

Predictor: Preliminary data—even modest—is often a make-or-break factor.

⭐ 4. Exceptional Mentorship & Research Environment

Especially for pre/postdoctoral and early career awards, reviewers expect:

A senior, active epilepsy investigator as mentor

Dual mentorship (clinical + basic, computational + electrophysiology) when appropriate

Institutional commitment (workspace, equipment, protected time)

Predictor: A powerful mentor + strong institutional environment dramatically boosts success.

⭐ 5. Clear, Feasible, Milestone-Driven Research Plan

Winning AES grants consistently include:

Two or three sharply defined aims

Clear hypotheses

Timelines with realistic milestones

Defined paths to publication

Risk mitigation strategies

Predictor: Reviewers must see that your 1–2 year plans are achievable with the requested funds.

⭐ 6. Innovation That Is Truly New to the Epilepsy Field

AES places a high value on:

New models and technologies

AI/ML methods for seizure detection or prediction

Novel circuit or synaptic mechanisms

Platform technologies (e.g., optogenetics, viral vectors, neuromodulation)

Translational bridges (from animal → human → clinical feasibility)

Predictor: Innovation must be clearly articulated and tied to improving epilepsy outcomes.

⭐ 7. Career Trajectory & Long-Term Commitment to Epilepsy

AES places strong emphasis on cultivating future leaders.

Reviewers reward applicants who show:

A sustained interest in epilepsy

A publication record in epilepsy or seizure research

Clear plans to remain in the epilepsy research community

Participation in AES annual meetings and networks

Predictor: Demonstrating a long-term epilepsy research identity increases competitiveness.

⭐ 8. Strong Written Communication

High-scoring AES applications:

Are extremely clear and concise

Have a strong “Significance” section explaining how the project addresses an important unmet need

Use compelling, confident but scientifically accurate writing

Are visually clean with logical flow through sections

Predictor: Writing quality directly affects reviewer enthusiasm.

⭐ 9. Diversity, inclusion, and relevance to underserved epilepsy populations (emerging priority)

AES increasingly values proposals that:

Study underrepresented or rare epilepsy syndromes

Address health equity

Involve diverse communities in clinical studies

Increase diversity in the research workforce

Predictor: Explicitly addressing D&I strengthens many AES applications.

⭐ 10. AES Engagement and Community Presence

Not required—but historically correlated with success:

Presenting abstracts at AES

Participating in AES SIGs (Special Interest Groups)

Networking with AES investigators

Involvement in AES mentorship or trainee programs

Predictor: Active AES participation signals commitment and builds reviewer familiarity.

🏆 Summary Table

Success Predictor	Why It Matters
Epilepsy-focused research	AES mission alignment
Correct award match	Ensures expectations and project fit
Preliminary data	Proves feasibility
Strong mentorship	Critical for early-career applicants
Clear aims & milestones	Helps reviewers trust the plan
Innovation + impact	Core review criteria
Career commitment to epilepsy	AES invests in future leaders
Excellent writing	Increases reviewer enthusiasm
Equity and inclusion	Growing priority
AES community engagement	Signals seriousness & credibility

Specialties

Clinical Trials

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must:

1. Hold a MD, DO, PhD, PharmD, Doctor of Nursing, or, other professional degree within the appropriate track.

2. Have a job title of clinical fellow, research fellow, clinical instructor, or clinician investigator or assistant professor for clinicians, or equivalent levels of career for nonphysicians in neuropsychology, psychology, pharmacology, nursing, or research. Applicants who are in training at the time of submission (e.g., clinical fellows or similar) must have a position offered as an incoming faculty member. Applicants with appointments at the level of Adjunct Professor or Associate Professor are not eligible, nor are research assistants, graduate or medical students, postdoctoral research fellows, medical residents, permanent government employees, or employees of private industry.

3. Research should focus on clinical research that addresses issues affecting medically underserved people with epilepsy or seizures or related aspects of health equity.

4. Have a defined research plan and access to institutional resources to conduct the proposed project.

5. Be able to devote at least 50% of their professional effort to research. If reduced protected time is deemed necessary by an early career clinical faculty applicant, such requests will be considered on a case-by-case manner and on a competitive basis, provided that such requests do not compromise the training experience and research goals of the applicant’s project. Early career clinical faculty applicants who request reduced effort for this award must include in their application a justification and elaborate on their plans to ensure that the research and training goals of the award will be met.

6. Have a qualified mentor or mentoring team with expertise relevant to the scientific goals of the application and who has a focus on career development.

7. Other support: To qualify as an early career grant applicant, you must meet all of the other eligibility requirements AND be either a new investigator or an at-risk investigator (or both), defined as: a. New investigator (you have received no more than $100k total in extramural grant direct costs as PI in the last 2 years), and/or,

b. At-risk investigator (defined as follows: you have had prior research support as an investigator AND, unless successful in securing a new grant in the current fiscal year, you will have no funding in the following fiscal year).

c. If you have any questions on your eligibility, please email grants@aesnet.org to confirm.

8. Should not have previously received the Susan Spencer Fellowship, an AES Research and Training Fellowship for Clinicians, or a Sergievsky Award.

In addition:

9. Applicants whose research will involve patient care or direct involvement with patients must have completed all relevant clinical training and be licensed to practice at their institution.

10. U.S. citizenship is not required; clinical work or catchment area may lie outside U.S. borders, but primary academic employment of the applicant must be within a U.S. institution.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: American Epilepsy Society

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 141 W. Jackson Blvd. Suite 1065 Chicago, IL 60604 Phone: 312-883-3800 Fax: 312-896-5784

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