Research grants

In this category, we give project, programme and equipment grants.

Deadlines

Project and Equipment Grants: Wednesday, 19 May 2010 (new deadline due to ash cloud) and Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Programme Grant Outline Proposals: Wednesday, 15 December 2010

Project grants

Project grants are awarded to provide support for a project designed to seek an answer to a single question or small group of related questions.

Arthritis Research UK will consider support of clinical projects relating to pathogenesis, diagnosis or treatment, as well as projects of a more fundamental scientific nature, provided that they offer promise of advancement in the understanding of arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases.

All applications for clinical trials (single centre or multi centre) will now only be considered as part of Arthritis Research UK’s overall strategy by one of the newly established Clinical Studies Groups.

Arthritis Research UK will consider applications for qualitative research. Read our scoring paper on how we assess the importance, quality and feasibility of qualitative research proposals.

Project grants may provide funding of up to £300,000 and applicants wishing to request sums in excess of this limit are strongly advised to contact the Research Department (Phone: 01246 541115) before submitting an application.

Only in exceptional cases will a project above this limit be funded and, following a recommendation for funding by the Research Sub-Committee, the application will need to be approved by the Scientific Strategy Committee who will make the final decision on funding based on strategic relevance.

Project grants are of limited duration, usually up to a maximum of 3 years, and may provide for the salary of postdoctoral researchers and/or technical assistance.

Salaries will be according to age and experience on the appropriate scientific or clinical salary scale . Please note that a maximum of spine point 43 on the National Scale is allowed for postdoctoral research staff employed on project grants, and that special justification will be required for funding senior postdoctoral research staff between points 37 and 42 (RA2 equivalent).

Running costs and small items of essential equipment may also be requested, although applications for major items of equipment costing in excess of £30,000 will be considered only from established units and must be applied for separately.

Project grant applications are considered three times a year by the Research Sub-Committee with a decision approximately 4 months after the deadline date.

Programme grants

Programme grants are awarded to established groups undertaking research of relevance to the strategic goals of Arthritis Research UK and which have a substantial research track record already supported by project grants from Arthritis Research UK, research councils or other funding bodies operating peer review.

Programme grants are reserved for supporting a substantial body of work which is internationally outstanding. Applications for studies on a single question, whatever the size, should be directed towards the project grant funding stream. Clinical trials and related studies are only considered by the Clinical Study Groups.

Programme Grants provide longer-term support where the aim is to answer an interrelated set of questions on a broader front than would be feasible with projects and, at the same time, should provide an opportunity for innovation and creativity. While being hypothesis-based, applications may take the form of a single field of research in which more than one approach is being taken, or a group of related activities harnessing an appropriate mix of techniques and skills to provide added value. Programme grant applications should be for a concerted operation with clearly defined scientific objectives and aim to attract and maintain good quality staff in effective research teams, and enable established research workers with a good track record to concentrate their efforts on a given theme.

Successful applicants for programme grants will be expected to roll any directly related current Atrhritis Research UK project grants into the programme and will not be allowed to submit applications for project grants for which the judgement is that such applications fall within the scope of the programme.

Programmes provide funding of up to £1,200,000 over 5 years for the salaries of academic and technical staff plus running costs and small items of essential equipment. Salaries will be according to age and experience on the appropriate scientific or clinical salary scale.

Application Process

Programme grants are awarded competitively after a two-stage assessment process. Initially, applicants are asked to submit Outline Proposals on the appropriate form.

The outline proposal will be evaluated to consider the relevance and importance of the topic for Arthritis Research UK and the appropriateness of the programme route for funding. The outline proposal should comprise no more than 2 pages of 1.5 spaced text outlining the case for a programme and identifying the key background data including the applicant’s own contribution, the goals of the programme and approach to be taken.

Successful applicants from the first stage will be invited to submit a full application.

Full applications will receive extensive peer review and the process of assessment will allow applicants 2 weeks to respond to the comments of the external referees. The main applicant will also be interviewed by the stakeholder committee, USER, whose comments will be considered by the Programme Grant Sub-Committee when making their final recommendations.

Site visits will not be essential before the award of a programme grant although they may take place if there are areas of uncertainty, and may also be used to audit ongoing programmes. Applicants should note that due to the 2 stage process a minimum of 9 months should be allowed for the award of a programme grant.

Equipment grants

Requests for small items of essential equipment (costing less than £30,000) which are needed for specific projects should be included in a project, fellowship or programme grant application.

Major items of equipment (costing in excess of £30,000), which will facilitate multiple projects, must be applied for separately even if only part funding is requested.

Applications will be considered only from established units with a track record of research in arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases, and the equipment must be able to make a lasting impact on this research over a period of many years.

Grants toward the partial cost of a piece of equipment may also be considered.

Applications are considered three times a year by the Research Sub-Committee, with a decision approximately 4 months after the deadline date.

Applicants must outline all the research projects to be facilitated by the equipment, stating the objectives, plan of investigation and staff involved in each project, as well as competitive, accurate and detailed quotes for the equipment requested.

Exceptionally, a site visit to assess the application may be made.