Medical Research
Medical Research grants are available to specialist organisations with expertise in specific areas of practise and research.
The priority areas for support are:
- Child Health
- Bowels/gastroenterology (excluding liver disease)
- 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 Child Health can only be considered if submitted through, and recommended by Action Medical Research. Action Medical Research does not 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 them. Please see their website for more information www.action.org.uk
Research not falling within the above priorities is unlikely 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:
- We not not fund cancer research;
- We do not fund research into Alzheimer's or dementia;
- We do not accept applications from individuals or NHS Trusts;
- It is unlikely that we would fund more than one post and 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;
- Applications for which ethical approval has not already been granted are discouraged.
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 and application cover sheet. These, and other documents you may need, can be downloaded at the bottom of this page, or can be emailed to you on request. Please ensure you answer all the questions, and that you include a completed application cover sheet..
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 is attached. The application must be signed where indicated; 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 information received from applicants seeking funding and from those in receipt of a grant with other funders, 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
Links to documents open in a new window
Medical Research Guidelines - Word
Medical Research Guidelines - PDF
Application Cover Sheet - Word
Progress Report Form - Medical Research
We recommend that you save the documents onto your computer before starting to complete them (select the “save” option when downloading).