Fight for Sight/Versus Arthritis Small Grant

Deadline: 24 July 2024
Maximum duration: 12 months
Contact: grants@fightforsight.org.uk

This scheme is a partnership between Fight for Sight and Versus Arthritis.

What do Small Grants provide?

Small Grants provide support to collect preliminary/pilot data to make research ideas more competitive when developing larger, follow-on funding applications. The proposed research should address arthritis and visual impairment. This includes, but is not limited to Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Bechet’s syndrome, giant cell arteritis, and Sjögren's syndrome. Any research relevant to eye inflammation and uveitis is also welcomed.

Small Grant Awards are intended to support early career research, which should be used to collect preliminary/pilot data to make research ideas more competitive when developing larger follow-on funding applications. These awards offer competitive funding of up to £15,000 to clinical or research scientists to conduct stand-alone research projects for up to 12 months.

Who can apply?

  • To support capacity building in the field, lead applicants are particularly encouraged from the following career stages:
    • Early career researchers (either within eight years of their PhD award or equivalent professional training or within six years of their first academic appointment, excluding any career break)
    • New investigators (where this would be the first substantial award)
    • Those new to the field of vision research
    • Those returning to research following a career break
    • Researchers (at any career stage) working in a rare disease space
  • Lead applicants can be allied health professionals, clinical scientists or research scientists and projects can be clinical or non-clinical. 
  • Small Grants are not intended to top up existing grants or be part funding for a larger project.
  • Lead applicants and co-applicants must be affiliated with UK academic or medical institutions.
  • The research must take place within the UK.

What can you apply for?

The maximum grant available is £15,000. Grants can be used to pay for salaries, and consumables.

How to apply

Please visit the Fight for Sight website for more details, including in depth guidance.

For any queries during the process, please email grants@fightforsight.org.uk