Academic careers

The scheme is now open for a third round of applications!

Deadline: 5pm 17 March 2010

Introduction

The Academy is working in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust to deliver this four year grants programme for research active Clinical Lecturers.

It is a £5million grant scheme which aims to provide modest ‘starter’ funds to enable research active Clinical Lecturers to pursue their research work, gather preliminary data and so further strengthen their applications for longer-term fellowships and funding.

The scheme will fund research work of only the very highest quality and that where it is clearly demonstrated that the findings will inform the applicant’s future career aspirations and bids for larger scale fellowships.

What the scheme provides

The maximum grant available is £30,000 and this can be spread over two years to contribute towards new and directly incurred research costs such as consumables and equipment.

Grants cannot be applied to personal salary costs or for research assistants, PhD students or postdoctoral staff.  Please see the 'please note' section below.

Up to a maximum grant amount of £30,000 an allowance for inflation of 3pc can be included between year one and two. The total amount awarded cannot be increased and, naturally, applicants should apply only for the costs they require.

Who can apply

The scheme is open to clinicians who have already obtained an MD or PhD and who currently hold a research active Clinical Lectureship post.

The grants are intended as start-up funding and as such are not intended for applicants who have already obtained substantial funding through, for example, Clinician Scientist Fellowships, New Investigator Awards or large project grants.

Considerations to note

• Preference is given to candidates in the earlier years of their Clinical Lecturer appointment.
  
  
• To be considered as ‘research active’ for the purpose of this scheme, we expect that at least half an applicant’s working time will be allocated to research.
  
  
• Where an applicant has qualified abroad with an MD they should have undertaken a substantial period of research equivalent to a PhD or research MD and we would normally expect this to have been awarded.
  
  
• The progress of Senior Clinical Lecturers is considered too advanced for the remit of the scheme and as such are not eligible to apply.
  
  
• These grants are not intended to support staff costs as they are primarily aimed at the purchase of research consumables.  We do not normally anticipate that successful applicants would employ staff, such as research assistants, PhD students or post-docs through these grants and monies cannot be used for personal salary costs. 
  
  However, the scheme will consider requests towards the provision of dedicated technical support that is available within the applicant’s host institution. 
  
  In exceptional circumstances a request might include a high proportion of technical support.  This might, for example, be where a research programme required the administration of detailed questionnaires or interviews of study participants.  In this instance the applicant would need to provide a clear justification within their application.
  

Application timescales

There have already been deadlines in January and September 2009.

The scheme is now open for a third round of applications and the deadline is set as 5pm on 17 March 2010.  We envisage being able to confirm the outcome of applications in July.

What to submit

There is no interview involved and so you need only submit a copy of the application form. 

Please submit a copy of the form by email in MSWord format and a copy with ink signatures. 

Before we'll be able to pass your application for review we will need to have received a copy with ink signatures.  However, it is acceptable for this to follow shortly after the deadline assuming your emailed copy has arrived in good time.

Future rounds

The scheme is confirmed to be open in 2010, 2011 and 2012.  We envisage having two application deadlines a year as follows:

1) March for a June Panel
2) September for a December Panel

Previous awards

A list of the awards already made can be downloaded below.  (Round Two awards to be posted shortly).

NIHR Partner Organisation Status

The Academy of Medical Sciences is an NIHR Partner Organisation in respect of this funding stream.

This means that studies funded are eligible for inclusion in the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio and therefore able to access NHS support via the NIHR Clinical Research Network infrastructure. 

You can find further information on the NIHR website: http://www.crncc.nihr.ac.uk/index/clinical/portfolio_new.html.

Please contact us:

Email: clinicallecturers@acmedsci.ac.uk

Telephone: 020 7969 5254

Post:

Dan Nicholls
Grants Officer
Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers
Academy of Medical Sciences
10 Carlton House Terrace
London, SW1Y 5AH