Apply for Early Career Grant Programme

Scope

• Applications can be on any area of tropical medicine or global health including infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, neglected tropical diseases and external factors that affect global health.
• The programme funds projects across the research spectrum, including lab-based, clinical, translation, implementation, and policy-related research, either as stand-alone projects or distinct elements within a larger project. The Early Career Grants also fund research projects linked to PhDs, but do not fund tuition fees for PhD or MSc degrees.
• The Early Career Grants will not fund projects that use only secondary data.

Funding Information

• The RSTMH Early Career Grant Programme provides awards of up to £5,000.

Eligible Costs

• Consumables
• Fieldwork expenses
• International travel
• Equipment
• Computers, tablets and phones
• Training
• Local dissemination
• Stipends for research assistants or community health workers
• Data analysis and statistical expertise
• Stationery

Ineligible Costs

• The following items are ineligible to be covered by the grant funds:
  • Alcohol
  • Salary or stipend for awardee
  • Registration fees, travel and accommodation for conference or event attendance
  • Publishing costs/fees for academic journals. Awardees may be eligible for an automatic publication fee waiver or discount for the RSTMH journals. Some awardees may be eligible to apply for publishing costs
  • Miscellaneous costs
  • Business class travel or alcohol consumption
  • Tuition fees for PhD or MSc
  • Bank charges

Eligibility Criteria

• Early Career Grants are for those who have not received a research grant in their own name before. They can be based in any country and can be working in any organisation.
• RSTMH anticipate that most applicants will be at the start of their careers, though it recognises that some more experienced professionals may be new to research and will still be eligible to apply for a grant.
• Both members and non-members of RSTMH can apply for an RSTMH Early Career Grant funded by RSTMH partners. However, if awarded, membership will be provided to awardees to ensure they can benefit from the full benefits of membership of RSTMH.
• Applicants who are existing RSTMH members are also eligible for RSTMH funded grants as part of the Early Career Grants Programme.
• Applicants must meet the following criteria:
  • Not received any research funding in their own name before.
  • Have a clear research plan for which they are seeking support.
  • If applicants apply whilst affiliated with, or employed by, a particular organisation, and then they seek to transfer to another organisation during an award, written permission to move the grant activity is required from RSTMH and this will be granted only in exceptional circumstances.
  • Have access to adequate supervision from the same supervisor for the duration of the project.
  • Have the appropriate insurance to carry out the research.
  • Be able to submit all Programme related-documents and forms to RSTMH in English.
  • The project must comply with ethical standards relevant to the field of study (e.g. human subjects, animal welfare, environmental impact), and the applicant must have the necessary ethics approval to conduct research in the study area.
  • Hold a registered bank account which accepts GBP. Please note that a condition of an award is that grant funds are paid into the awardee’s personal bank account and not an institutional account.
  • Have not received an RSTMH Early Career Grant before.
  • Have submitted only one application for an RSTMH grant in any one year.
  • Not be an RSTMH global assessor in the same year.
  • Not be seeking funds for a project already started or completed.
  • Not be a named referee on an RSTMH grant application in the same year.

Assessment Criteria

• Criteria used to assess applications for Early Career Grants:
  • Early career status.
  • Validity of the research question.
  • Quality of the project design and methodology.
  • Feasibility of delivering the project outcomes.
  • Accuracy and reasonableness of the budget.
  • Impact of research project.
  • Value for money.

For more information, visit RSTMH.