Grants
Research Fellowship
Grant amount:
Salary + up to £20,000 a year
Grant deadline:
4 October 2023
Research Fellowships are designed for promising PhD qualified non-clinical researchers who have delivered previous research projects with evidence of impactful outputs and have clear plans to establish their own research ‘niche’.
Provided for salary and contribution towards research, animal and travel costs.
Duration: Up to three years
If you are clinically-qualified, please apply through our Clinical Research Training Fellowship or Clinical Research Fellowship schemes.
Please note the adjustments to the application and funding timeline for this grant.
Due to recent changes and increased demands within our Research Team, we are extending the deadline for Fellowship funding applications to October 4th 2023 to maintain the integrity of our review process.
Applications for this grant will now be reviewed at the June 2024 Grant Review Board meeting with funding outcomes expected July 2024.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by these changes and appreciate it may impact your funding. We encourage researchers impacted by these changes to apply for the which provides short term funding during gaps in funding. Applications for the ECR Bridge Fund will open in August with funding outcomes expected in February 2024.
Please contact research@alzheimersresearchuk.org if you have any queries about your application.
Deadlines
Applications open
May 2023
Deadline
Funding outcome
The purpose of Research Fellowships is to support excellent non-clinical researchers in the early stages of their career to begin an independent project in a well-supported environment, thereby supporting their eventual trajectory to independence. For a detailed description of the skills and training you will be expected to demonstrate, please read our Early Career Researcher Framework.
The scheme is intended for PhD-qualified non-clinical researchers who have delivered previous research project(s) with impactful outputs, such as publications and conference presentations, and demonstrate an upward trajectory. Prospective Fellows should be starting to accumulate a tool-box of new skills that will serve as a strong basis for future independent research activity, whilst being increasingly recognised for their specialist expertise. Researchers who already hold tenure are not eligible to apply.
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.
Fellows are required to have secured a Supervisor, a senior established investigator in the institution where the Fellowship is to be held. The Supervisor will provide the facilities required for the research programme, will have oversight of the Fellow and their research programme, and will contribute actively to the further training of the Fellow. Supervisors are expected to hold tenure appointments.
Fellowships must be applied for by the prospective Fellow, not the Supervisors.
If the project requires ethical approval and/or Home Office licences, the award is dependent upon the requisite approvals being granted.
Research Fellowship award holders are eligible to apply for a fast-tracked visa via the Global Talent Visa fast-track Fellowship Route. The grant holder may apply for the fast-tracked endorsement up to 5 years after the end of their fellowship.
For more information, and to apply, please visit GOV.UK or the UKRI website.
See our Eligibility Guidelines for further information.
Applications are made via our grant application website.
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.
External review
Applications requesting funding of over £50,000 per year are subjected to external peer review. Applications are sent to researchers in the UK and worldwide who specialise in the area of the application, but who do not have a conflict of interest and are not a member of the GRB. The comments made by the external reviewers are made available to the GRB members.
Review response
The applicants are provided with anonymised copies of the external reviews and given the opportunity to provide a written response.
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 and decide whether or not to call the prospective Fellow to interview.
Interview
Interviews normally take place in the fortnight following the GRB meeting. The interview panel comprises a subset of the GRB and the Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK. The prospective Fellow will be asked to give a 15-20 minute PowerPoint presentation on their work.
Trustee meeting
Those applications recommended for funding by the GRB are presented to the trustees for final approval.
Success rates
In the last three years Alzheimer’s Research UK has received 51 applications for Research Fellowships. 8 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 Research Fellowship grant.
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.
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.