Medical Research
The Trustees of The Henry Smith Charity have reviewed the medical research guidelines and have introduced new guidelines that shift the focus from support for general charities to applications that come from specialist organisations with expertise in areas of particular interest to the Trustees.
The current guidelines are as follows, and are due for review during 2012.
The priority areas for support are:
- Alzheimer’s/dementia
- Child Health
- Bowels/gastroenterology
- Diseases of the lung (excluding TB)
- Neurology
- Pancreatic disease (excluding diabetes)
- Spinal conditions
- Urinary and faecal incontinence
- Engineering and medicine
Please note that applications relating to the first two areas can only be considered if submitted through, and recommended by, the organisations listed below. Neither fund charities, so any application should be directly from the researcher and applicants will need to follow the guidelines, priorities and application processes set out by the Alzheimer’s Society and Action Medical Research.
- Alzheimer’s/dementia - only via the Alzheimer’s Society www.alzheimers.org.uk
- Child Health (including the above priority areas when specifically related to children) - only via Action Medical Research www.action.org.uk
If the research does not fall within the above priorities, it is less likely to be considered.
Applications towards refurbishment, capital projects or equipment can be considered.
Funding will normally be considered for up to three years.
PLEASE NOTE:
- The Trustees do not fund cancer research;
- The Trustees do not accept applications from individuals or NHS Trusts;
- It is unlikely that the Trustees will fund more than one post and they will not reimburse staff already being paid by a university;
- Any application must be a specific request for a specific project. Applications for a general contribution towards large clinical trials or research will not be considered unless there is a distinct element requested with the remainder of the funding being already in place;
- The Trustees discourage applications for which ethical approval has not already been granted.
Making an application
Applicants should read these guidelines carefully before making their application.
Applications made direct to The Henry Smith Charity must be submitted using the Medical Research Grant application form. This can be downloaded from our website, or it can be emailed to you on request.
Please ensure you answer all the questions.
Your application should clearly describe the research project or activities for which you are seeking funding, including a full scientific proposal and a clear summary of the project in layman’s terms.
You should send us one printed copy of the completed application form, ensuring that all the additional information requested on the application form is attached. The application must be signed where indicated and, if not, it will be returned.
There is a two stage assessment process. Not every application will reach the second stage. If your application proceeds to the second stage you will be contacted and asked to provide a word or pdf version that includes all the information and attachments as a single document. This will then be sent out for independent peer review.
Budgets
If you are requesting funding over more than one year your budget must reflect this. Please set out costings for each year of the project in the separate columns provided in the application form.
If your request is partly or wholly for salary costs, please ensure that the salary element of your budget is broken down as follows:
- Salary
- National Insurance
- Pension (if applicable)
This is particularly important when requesting a two or three year grant. Trustees will consider annual salary increments, but will not consider increases to salaries of more than 2% p.a. If the increases in your budget are larger than this, for instance because of a salary scale you have for your staff, the balance will need to be raised elsewhere.
If your request is for part funding of a salary or project, please explain from where the balance of funds will be/has been raised.
In making our assessment the following will be considered:
- Whether the proposed research will be carried out by a centre of excellence and whether those overseeing the research are experienced in their fields;
- The potential practical benefit of the research and its potential influence on patient treatment and the alleviation of suffering;
- If the prospects for the research are either to produce benefits within the timescale of the project or if the findings were to enable a larger project to be more likely to be supported by specialised funders, such as The Medical Research Council or The Wellcome Trust;
- Whether the research could be funded elsewhere (i.e. by one of the larger funders) or whether funding from Smith’s may potentially determine whether or not the research proceeds further (because, for example, the research is at too early a stage or too ‘risky’ for a larger funder).
We reserve the right to share with other grant makers information received from applicants requesting funding and from those in receipt of funding from us, unless an organisation expressly requests otherwise.
Completed applications should be posted to:
Applications - Medical Research
The Henry Smith Charity
6th Floor
65 Leadenhall Street
London EC3A 2AD
Downloadable Documents
Links to documents open in a new window
Medical Research Guidelines - Word
Medical Research Guidelines - PDF
We recommend that you save the Cover Sheet onto your computer before starting to complete it (select the “save” option when downloading).