Our Research Project Grants support innovative, health-related research that could improve the lives of people in East London. The outputs of this research should be internationally significant and could form the basis of substantial ongoing support from other funders.
Level of funding
£75,000 - £600,000
Duration of funding
Up to 36 months (48 months when the application includes a PhD studentship)
Research Project Grants Information
Lead applicant
As lead applicant, you’ll need to hold a post at one of the following organisations:
- Barts Health NHS Trust.
- Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London.
- School of Health Sciences at City, University of London.
Applications will only be considered for projects that are centred at one of the organisations listed above.
For the duration of the award, you must have either:
- An independent academic, clinical or research post and receive your salary from one of the organisations listed above (rather than from another research grant). If you have a clinical post, you must have protected time for research.
- A fellowship or personal award that provides your salary.
Applicants who currently hold a Research Project Grant, or are funded through a Targeted Transformational Funding recruitment package, are not eligible and must wait until their grant has ended before applying.
You are not eligible to be an applicant if you are employed as a postdoctoral researcher or clinical fellow.
If you currently hold, or have recently held, a Research Seed Grant, please contact the Funding & Impact team before applying to this scheme.
Co-applicants
You can apply with up to three co-applicants. They may be external to your organisation, but you’ll need to explain why their specific expertise is needed.
Your application will be reviewed by our Scientific Review Panel, using the following criteria:
Benefit – expected research outcomes aim to enhance our understanding of health and illness and/or have the potential to lead to improved lives in East London.
Originality – a novel and important research proposal within its field.
Feasibility – preliminary or published data that supports the research question or hypothesis and expected research outcomes. The proposed approaches are realistic, well developed and likely to achieve the aims.
Involvement - appropriate plans for engagement with, and involvement of, patients, the public, local services, research and/or clinical networks.
Credentials – the applicants and wider team have the necessary experience, skills and knowledge to undertake the proposed research, relative to career stage and career path.
Sustainability - the proposal includes appropriate plans and commitment to use the expected research outcomes in the future, including dissemination plans, and how they will lead to further funding.
You can request between £75,000 and £600,000 for staff and research costs specific to your application, for up to 36 months (or 48 months when the application includes a PhD studentship).
Please see our Grants Cost Policy for more detail on costs that can be requested.
We expect a typical PhD studentship application to be in the region of £160,000-190,000, and a typical research project application to be in the region of £200,000-350,000.
If you expect your application to be over £400,000, please contact our Funding and Impact team before applying.
We do not offer:
- Projects that have clear potential to be funded by other funders or revenue sources.
- Co-funding of projects that are part funded by other funders.
- Clinical trials (an exception is made for feasibility trials, and add-on or embedded studies to trials funded by other funders).
- Projects for the sole purpose of supporting research resources (e.g. facilities, multi-user equipment, biobanks, cohorts, and databases). We invite a limited number of applications in this area that have been identified as a strategic priority in close consultation with organisational leadership.
For more information please contact our Funding and Impact team.
Application and assessment process
We recommend that you discuss your application with your institute director, head of department or senior leadership before applying.
The application must be costed and agreed by the Queen Mary University of London Joint Research Management Office (JRMO) or the City, University of London Research Support Services.
Please contact the relevant team well in advance of the submission deadline to allow enough time for your costing to be provided.
When completing your online application form, remember to save your application often and attach all the necessary documents before submission.
When you complete your application form it will be sent to your research management office. They must review and approve your application in order to complete the submission to the Charity.
Applications must be submitted by 5pm on the day of the deadline.
Our Funding and Impact team will check that your application is eligible for this scheme. We’ll be in touch if we have any questions.
Your application will be sent for external written peer review by experts in your field. On the application form you are asked to suggest potential reviewers and exclude those who may have a conflict of interest.
You will have the opportunity to provide a rebuttal to peer review comments.
Our independent Scientific Review Panel will review your application, peer view reports and your rebuttal. They will then provide an assessment and funding recommendation to our Grants Committee.
Our Grants Committee will use the Scientific Review Panel’s assessment to make the final funding decision.
We’ll aim to let you know the outcome of your application within five months of the deadline.
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Apply nowQuestions?
Our Funding and Impact team are here to work with you, offering advice and support on your application. We encourage you to contact us if you have any queries. Please get in touch if we can support you in the application process by applying reasonable adjustments. All requests will be treated in confidence.