Grants
PhD Scholarship
Grant amount:
A stipend of £19,000 (£21,000 in London), tuition fees and research/travel costs
Grant deadline:
4 October 2023
This scheme is for a full PhD programme; it does not cover funding gaps for students who have already started their studies.
Provides a stipend of £19,000 (£21,000 in London), tuition fees (home rate) and research/travel costs (up to £15,000) per year, for up to four years. National or international secondments are supported and encouraged within the scheme.
We are expecting to fund three PhD scholarships in our next round of funding.
Deadlines
Applications open
July 2023
Deadline
Wednesday 4 October 2023, 5pm
Funding outcome
Mid-Feb 2024
The lead applicant and point of contact must be based in a UK academic/research institution. However, the application can include researchers or institutions outside the UK.
PhD Scholarships can only be applied for by individual or joint supervisors, not students. However, the Lead Applicant can include a named student as part of the application form. We are open to considering applications for part-time PhD students. If you have any questions related to part-time working please contact the research team at research@alzheimersresearchuk.org.
The Lead Applicant is expected to have a contract (fixed term or tenure) which covers the proposed duration of the grant. Alzheimer's Research UK can contribute to salaries of co-applicants that do not have tenure or fixed term contracts but not to Lead Applicant salaries.
If the Lead Applicant does not hold a tenure appointment, the application must include a co-applicant that does.
If the project requires ethical approval and/or Home Office licences, the award is dependent upon the requisite approvals being granted.
Alzheimer’s Research UK recognises it may not be possible to identify the student until after a funding decision has been made. However, the confirmation of an award is dependent on Alzheimer’s Research UK approval of the student who will undertake the project. This confirmation will require evidence that the student is of high calibre and strongly motivated.
Although it is anticipated that the PhD Scholarship will begin at the start of the next academic year, there is some flexibility with respect to start date.
See our Eligibility Guidelines for further information.
Applications are made via our grant application website.
View an example PhD Scholarship application form.
Grant schemes only appear on this website when the round is open and we are accepting new applications.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities and follows their guidelines for best practice in peer review. Grants are awarded entirely on scientific merit in relation to Alzheimer’s Research UK’s remit and on the basis of open competition. The quality of the application and applicants is the key determinant of outcome, although the strength of the dementia research environment within the institution is also considered.
Triage
Grant Review Board (GRB) members are asked to read a subset of applications related to their area of expertise and provide a score based on whether an application should proceed to the next stage of review.
Lay review
Applications for research studies that involve human subjects require lay review. Applicants are requested to complete a lay summary of their application which is sent to lay review volunteers for comments. The comments made by lay reviewers are fed back to the applicant for rebuttal and are also made available to the GRB members.
Discussion in meeting
Each application is allocated to two GRB members, based roughly on their areas of expertise. The two members will present the application to the rest of the board, including any relevant information from external reviews or applicant responses. A short discussion will follow before the GRB score the application. Applications for each grant scheme are ranked by their average score and recommendations for funding are made.
Trustee meeting
Those applications recommended for funding by the GRB are presented to the trustees for final approval.
Success rate
In the last three years Alzheimer’s Research UK has received 104 applications for PhD Scholarships. 17 of these projects were awarded funding.
The terms and conditions of grant differ for each grant scheme and contracts are drawn up individually once the grants have been awarded.
View an example award letter and contract for a PhD Scholarship.
All grant holders are expected to report on the progress of their project on a regular basis. Read more about our reporting requirements on the measuring impact page. In addition, the PhD supervisor is required to send a very brief report on the student’s progress.
For more information about any of the grant schemes or the application process please contact the Research Team research@alzheimersresearchuk.org or 0300 111 5555.
All applications submitted to Alzheimer’s Research UK are subject to the policies found in Research guidelines and policies. Please ensure you familiarise yourself with these policies and contact research@alzheimersresearchuk.org with any queries.