Now Open: Quarterly Research Grant Funding Programme

Funding Information

• For preclinical research, they fund grants up to £250,000 (GBP) and prioritise projects that are likely to lead to clinical trials in people with Parkinson’s within 5 years. For clinical research, they fund clinical trials and sub-studies of trials in people with Parkinson’s. The grant amount is flexible but please contact them ahead of submission if you are thinking of applying for a clinical trial.
• They fund internationally and accept applications from academics and commercial entities.

Budget

• In stage 1 applications, budgets are approximate and do not have to be signed off by a finance department, but should be within 10% of the final grant budget in stage 2 . At this initial stage, providing a breakdown of costs within the budget is optional and can be added to the application form in the applicants preferred format. In stage 2, applicants will be required to give a full breakdown of costs and justification for each budget line.
• The grant budget should only include direct costs relating to the project. They do not fund overheads of host organisations or generally any other indirect costs such as, investigator travel and publications costs (this may be reviewed on a case-by-case basis). Some examples of costs that may be included in the budget are salaries of project team staff, study set-up and admin costs, training costs, nursing time, animal costs (supplies, housing), drug costs (relabelling, storage), medical and laboratory procedures, and participant costs.

Eligible Projects

• They fund laboratory or clinical research projects with the potential to cure Parkinson’s. By “cure”, they mean disease-modifying therapy or therapies. Their priority is to find a cure for those living with Parkinson’s now. This means they only fund research with the potential to prevent, slow, stop, or reverse the underlying disease progression.
• They fund clinical trials involving people with Parkinson’s, projects that support clinical trials such as sub-studies and infrastructure projects or preclinical research investigating therapies that show potential to translate to clinical trials. A key part of their remit is that they prioritise research which has the potential to translate into the clinic within five years.

Inelgible Projects

• They do not fund research which is directed only to symptomatic relief, basic science or early drug development.

Application and Evaluation Process

• Applications now follow a 2-stage process. By offering a shorter stage 1 application, they aim to make the application process less burdensome for new applicants and ensure proposals are within their funding remit.
  • Stage 1: Outline Application
    • The principal investigator (lead applicant) will be required to submit an initial outline of the proposed research project, which is designed to be short and easy to complete, through their online Grants Management System. At this stage, applications do not require official institutional or financial sign off.
    • This application will be reviewed internally by the CP research team for eligibility and compliance with CP’s funding remit (in a ‘triage’ process) according to their Research Strategy.
    • All stage 1 applications will be presented to CP’s independent Research Committee (RC) for assessment. This includes those that fail the triage process as an opportunity for reconsideration by the RC (unless manifestly ineligible, incomplete or non-compliant).
    • Successful stage 1 applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal at stage 2, immediately following the RC review.
• Stage 2: Full Application (including written external expert review)
  • Successful stage 1 applicants will be given any feedback from the RC and invited to complete a stage 2 application. This will include more information regarding study design, the project budget and required institutional support. At this stage, the final budget is required to be approved by the contracting organisation, including a detailed breakdown with justification for each budget line. A signed and dated letter of support from the host institution is also required at this stage and can be submitted via the ‘additional information’ tab of the application.
  • Stage 2 does not request information already covered in stage 1. Information submitted as part of stage 1 will be automatically transferred to the stage 2 application on Grant Tracker and will be available to edit and amend.
  • Stage 2 application submissions will be due for the next quarterly funding round deadline, which can be found on their website. Applicants can delay full submission by one quarterly round if further time is required to respond to RC feedback. If this is the case, please contact the CP Research Team for support.
  • Full applications will be sent for written external expert review to at least two independent researchers in or close to the relevant scientific or clinical field selected by or on behalf of the Chair of the RC after open recommendation and discussion by RC members and/or the CP Research Team. For larger applications (typically those more complex and/or over £500,000), three written peer reviews are preferably sought. In the case of a clinical project, the RC will seek review by a person or persons with Parkinson’s.
  • The external expert reviews and full applications will then be considered by the RC, who will decide whether to:
    • Reject the application.
    • Revise the application with feedback, responding to the applicant with further questions or suggestions. Applications that are revised may be invited for resubmission at the RC’s digression.
    • Recommend the application to the CP Trustees for funding.

Commercial Review

• Applications from or in-collaboration with commercial entities are required to submit a commercial entity form as part of their online application. This provides more information on the company applying and financial background. They recommend potential commercial applicants contact them before applying to ensure that commercial sensitivities are addressed.
• Where appropriate, the RC may seek a commercial review from selected member(s) of the RC, CP staff, CP Trustees and/or their advisers under conditions of confidentiality:
  • To better understand the situation of the applicant, the reasons for applying to CP, the funding required to undertake the work (including any relevant applications to, or funding granted, by others), and the work in a wider commercial context;
  • To advise on justifiable levels of costs claimed in any application; and/or
  • To enable assessment of whether the outcome of the research, if successful, may be made available for the benefit of people with Parkinson’s.

For more information, visit CP.