Date: 13 July, 2026
The European Respiratory Society (ERS) has officially inaugurated a transformative initiative aimed at redefining professional development for the next generation of respiratory leaders. The newly launched Visiting Mid-Career Investigator Travel (VISIT) Grants programme is designed to bridge the gap between emerging talent and established leadership, offering mid-career clinicians, researchers, and allied healthcare professionals the opportunity to undertake intensive, short-term placements at prestigious institutions outside their home countries.
As respiratory health challenges continue to evolve on a global scale—driven by climate change, aging populations, and the persistent threat of chronic respiratory diseases—the ERS has recognized that individual excellence is no longer sufficient. Collaborative, cross-border intellectual exchange is now the essential catalyst for medical breakthrough.
The Core Mandate: Empowering the Mid-Career Professional
The VISIT Grants programme represents a strategic shift in the ERS’s approach to workforce development. While early-career fellowships often focus on foundational training and established professorships on long-term research cycles, the mid-career stage is frequently characterized by a "professional plateau." Professionals in this phase—having completed their initial training but not yet fully established as principal investigators or heads of clinical departments—often find themselves constrained by the limitations of their local institutions.
The VISIT Grants program directly addresses this by providing funding for visits of up to one month. These visits are not restricted to research laboratories; they extend to hospitals, university departments, clinical centers, and not-for-profit organizations. By facilitating this mobility, the ERS intends to foster a global ecosystem of expertise, ensuring that best practices in respiratory care are not siloed within national borders.
Strategic Objectives of the Programme
The primary objectives of the initiative are threefold:
- Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Transfer: Enabling professionals to master specific clinical techniques or research methodologies that are unavailable in their home settings.
- Transnational Networking: Building long-term, cross-institutional research and clinical partnerships that survive beyond the one-month grant period.
- Leadership Maturation: Providing a platform for mid-career professionals to step out of their comfort zones, gain international exposure, and refine their leadership skills within diverse institutional cultures.
A Chronology of ERS Professional Development
The launch of the VISIT Grants programme follows decades of gradual evolution in the ERS’s support infrastructure. To understand the significance of this new move, one must look at the organization’s history of fellowship and grant administration:
- 1990s–2000s: The ERS focused primarily on standardized European-wide accreditation and basic research support, establishing the framework for standardized respiratory education.
- 2010s: The society shifted toward more integrated fellowship programs, including the introduction of Long-Term Research Fellowships (LTRF) and the ERS/EMBO joint fellowships, which emphasized deep-dive research projects lasting 12 to 24 months.
- 2024: Recognizing the increasing pressure on healthcare systems following the global pandemic, the ERS identified a "leadership gap" in the mid-career cohort, prompting the development of the VISIT initiative.
- 13 July 2026: The official launch of the VISIT Grants programme. This marks the first time the ERS has explicitly targeted the "mid-career" demographic for short-term, highly mobile international exchange.
- 31 October 2026: The deadline for the inaugural cycle of applications, setting the stage for the first wave of grantees to begin their placements in early 2027.
Supporting Data and the "Brain Circulation" Concept
The impetus for the VISIT programme is rooted in data regarding the "brain drain" and "brain circulation" phenomena. Academic and medical literature has consistently shown that international mobility during the mid-career stage is the single most significant predictor of high-impact research output and clinical innovation.
According to internal ERS impact assessments, professionals who engage in international exchanges are 40% more likely to secure independent research funding in the five years following their mobility. Furthermore, institutions that host international visitors report a 25% increase in the diversity of their research methodologies, as visiting scholars bring with them the unique protocols and perspectives of their home systems.
The ERS has specifically designed the VISIT programme to be globally accessible. By removing the restriction to European institutions, the ERS is actively promoting "South-to-North" and "North-to-South" knowledge transfer. This is critical for addressing global respiratory health disparities, where diseases such as COPD and asthma impact low-to-middle-income countries with increasing severity.
Official Perspective: A Vision for Global Health Equity
In an official statement accompanying the launch, Dr. Agnes Boots, the ERS Fellowships and Awards Director, emphasized the strategic importance of the programme in the broader context of global health advocacy.
"We are incredibly excited to launch the all-new VISIT Grants," Dr. Boots remarked. "This programme is designed specifically for those who are currently transitioning between career stages. We recognize that the most critical period for innovation is when a professional has enough experience to know what is missing in their field, but enough energy to go out and find the solution."
Dr. Boots elaborated on the core philosophy of the initiative:
"ERS grants and fellowships are not just about funding projects; they are about promoting science, education, equity, and inclusion. By facilitating mobility, we are not just supporting the individual; we are weaving a tighter global network. Whether it is a clinician learning a new bronchoscopy technique in a world-leading hospital or a researcher setting up a data-sharing pipeline between two universities on different continents, this programme is about improving healthcare delivery globally. The programme is open globally, and we strongly encourage our members to look beyond their own borders to find their next challenge."
Implications: The Future of Respiratory Healthcare
The introduction of the VISIT Grants program is expected to have several ripple effects across the global medical community.
1. The Decentralization of Expertise
By encouraging mid-career professionals to rotate through different centers of excellence, the ERS is effectively decentralizing expertise. Knowledge that was previously confined to elite "hubs" will, through these grantees, be disseminated into broader clinical practice. This will likely lead to a more uniform standard of care for respiratory patients worldwide.
2. A Shift in Research Culture
Short-term, high-impact visits allow for a different type of collaboration than the long-term fellowships. While a 24-month fellowship is ideal for deep, basic science research, the one-month VISIT grant is perfectly calibrated for translational "sprints"—collaborative projects that solve immediate clinical problems or establish new international data-sharing agreements.
3. Fostering Inclusivity and Equity
By opening the grants to applicants from outside Europe, the ERS is making a clear statement regarding its role as a global, rather than regional, entity. This move is essential for ensuring that the benefits of modern respiratory science are shared equitably. It allows professionals from regions with limited funding to access top-tier facilities, and conversely, allows experts in developed nations to gain valuable insight into the challenges of managing respiratory disease in resource-constrained environments.
How to Apply: A Path to Professional Transformation
The ERS has streamlined the application process to ensure that the focus remains on the quality of the proposed collaboration rather than bureaucratic hurdles. Prospective applicants must demonstrate:
- A clear, project-based rationale for the visit.
- Evidence of support from both the home institution and the host institution.
- A defined set of goals to be achieved within the one-month timeframe.
The deadline for the first round of applications is 31 October 2026. Interested candidates are encouraged to visit the official ERS VISIT Grant portal to review the full eligibility criteria and to download the application handbook.
Synergies with Existing Programs
The launch of the VISIT Grants coincides with the final month of the 2026 Long-Term Research Fellowships (LTRF) call. The ERS is keen to clarify that these programs are complementary. While the LTRF provides the foundation for early-career researchers to embark on multi-year projects, the VISIT Grants act as a "booster" for mid-career professionals to pivot or accelerate their existing paths. Together, these programs form a comprehensive ladder of support that accompanies a respiratory professional from their first days in the lab to the height of their career.
As the global respiratory community faces an era defined by increased complexity—ranging from the long-term impacts of air pollution to the challenges of post-pandemic recovery—the ERS VISIT Grants stand as a beacon of proactive, collaborative, and globalized science. By investing in the people who will lead the next generation of respiratory care, the ERS is ensuring that the future of the field remains both bright and profoundly connected.
For more information on the ERS portfolio of fellowship and funding opportunities, please visit the ERS Professional Development portal.
