Travel Scholars
ISS Foundation Travel Scholarships help selected early-career surgeons participate in International Surgical Week and connect with the international surgical community.
Travel Scholarships →Opportunities
Grow, connect and be recognised.
ISS/SIC connects members and the wider surgical community with travel scholarships, training, mentoring, Fellowship, prizes and international professional recognition.
Professional pathways
Travel.
Learn.
Connect.
Learn.
Connect.
01Travel Scholarships
02Courses and Training
03Mentoring and Clinical Attachments
04FISS, Prizes and Recognition
Ways to develop
Different opportunities across a surgical career.
Some opportunities are open through application, others depend on eligibility, selection or nomination. The relevant criteria and deadlines are published when each programme opens.
Courses & Training
Explore trauma training, specialty education, webinars and other learning formats available through ISS/SIC and its Integrated Societies.
Courses & Training →Mentoring & Attachments
Membership pathways may include international mentoring, training fellowships, short-term training opportunities and clinical attachments where available.
Membership benefits →FISS Fellowship
Fellowship of the International Society of Surgery recognises eligible members who meet the Society's defined professional and ethical standards.
Explore FISS →Prizes & Awards
ISS/SIC recognises notable contributions to surgical science, trauma care and distinguished service to the Society and international surgery.
Explore prizes & awards →Named Lectures
International Surgical Week includes named lectures that recognise major contributions to surgery and the history of the Society.
Named lectures →ISS Foundation
Travel Scholarships for International Surgical Week.
The ISS Foundation supports education and international exchange by helping selected surgeons and surgical trainees take part in International Surgical Week.
About the ISS Foundation →ISW 2028 - planning stage
Cape Town - 26-30 March 2028
A new round of Travel Scholarships is planned for ISW 2028. Eligibility criteria, application requirements, deadlines and funding information will be published when the application process opens.
26Travel Scholars at ISW 2026
14Countries represented
7Supported by the ISS Foundation
Prizes & Awards
Recognising contributions to surgery and the Society.
ISS/SIC prizes and awards are based on nomination and Council consideration. They are distinct from opportunities such as Travel Scholarships or FISS, which have their own application processes.
Prize
ISS/SIC Prize
A medal awarded to a surgeon whose published work is judged to have made a notable and valuable contribution to surgical science. The recipient does not need to be an ISS/SIC member.
Candidates are nominated for Council consideration - this is not a personal application.
Prize
Robert Danis Prize
Recognises important personal work connected with the surgical care of the trauma patient or the pathophysiology of trauma. The nominee is not required to be an ISS/SIC member.
Nomination and selection are handled through the Society's formal award process.
Award
Honorary Fellowship
The Council may award Honorary Fellowship to individuals of international reputation who have rendered distinguished service to ISS/SIC or to international surgery.
Honorary Fellowship is awarded by the Council and is separate from the FISS application pathway.
How nominations work
Nomination, not self-application.
Society source material states that nominations for prizes and awards may be submitted through eligible ISS/SIC channels. Personal applications for an award are not considered.
Specific forms, deadlines and nomination requirements are published for the relevant Congress cycle.
Named Lectures
Tradition carried into International Surgical Week.
Named lectures connect the history of ISS/SIC with current surgical leadership and scientific contribution. Selection follows the Society's nomination and Council process.
2001Martin Allgoewer LectureIntroduced at the Centennial Congress in Brussels in recognition of Professor Martin Allgoewer of Basel. Society source material describes it as the most prestigious lecture of the Congress.
1961Grey Turner Memorial LectureIntroduced in recognition of Professor George Grey Turner. Since 2022 the lecture has been run under the flag of the International Society for Digestive Surgery.
Your next step
Find the pathway that fits your stage.
Explore membership, training, Fellowship, the ISS Foundation and International Surgical Week. Current calls and deadlines can then be added here as they open.