Pump Primer Scientific Grants

The Petplan Charitable Trust will support studies on natural disease conditions in companion animals, to prevent their occurrence, provide a cure or eliminate suffering.

Its support is limited exclusively to subjects of accepted clinical importance and of concern to the general public and studies must be of a non-invasive nature.

The Trust will under no circumstances make grants for studies that use experimental animals.

Funding Information

• The application should be for a project costing no more than £12,500.
• The total agreed amount of the grant will be paid in two instalments – 50% upon commencement, 50% upon receipt of a satisfactory report.
• Pump priming projects are expected to start by or before 1st January of the year following the award and should not take more than 12 months. Any delay in commencement of the project must be agreed in advance by the Trust’s Scientific Advisory Committee. Failure to do this may result in cancellation of the grant.

Terms and Conditions

Petplan Charitable Trust will support research projects under the following terms and conditions:

• Breed specific studies are unlikely to be funded unless it can be shown that there is a potential for the study to be beneficial to the majority of other breeds.
• Petplan Charitable Trust has a strict non-invasive study policy. No experimental animals may be used, and the source of control animals MUST be specified.
• The method of study must follow closely that which is laid out in the application form and the recipient must work diligently to complete the study in good time.
• The title of the project shall not be changed without approval from the Trust.
• Any changes to the scientific staff during the project must be notified to the Trust in advance.
• A project report, using the approved form, must be submitted by the principal investigator no later than 3 months after completion of the funded study.  Delay in submission of the report may be notified to the applicant’s head of department or research supervisor and may lead to cancellation of the award.
• Application for a full grant following a successful pump primer is encouraged, but will be subject to the normal competitive application process and assessment procedure.
• The Trust is not the employer of staff engaged on projects which it supports and accepts no liability for such staff (including compliance with, and claims for compensation under, any statute or common law and health and safety requirements) beyond retrospective reimbursement of all or part of the individual’s salary, superannuation and national insurance at levels agreed by the Trust. Such staff will be engaged under conditions set by the grant holding institution, and in accordance with relevant legislation.
  • Where any individual employed in the project is registered for a PhD or other qualification for work to be completed within and supported by the project, the Trust will not be liable for tuition fees or other fees, and will not provide funds for time needed by the individual to write up the thesis or other form of dissertation. The Principal Investigator must ensure that the objectives of the project are met, and that papers arising from the work are submitted to refereed journals within a reasonable period.
• A condition of the award is that publication of results is required internally and/or externally and the Trust asks for prior sight of any proposed publication and retains the right of comment.  Appropriate recognition of the Trust is preferred in all publications and presentations but please note: approval must be obtained from the Trust before using the Trust’s name or logo.
• Intellectual property: Application for a patent and/or commercial exploitation of the results is encouraged but should not be made without the Trust’s prior written approval which may be withheld, or granted subject to such conditions, including the right to share in any financial benefits arising from any exploitation, that the Trust may decide.
• All equipment purchased with a grant remains the property of the Trust.  The right is reserved to recall it when the project is completed.
• Representatives of the Trust may visit the grant recipient at any time during the study but will give reasonable notice of their intent.
• Should the principal grant holder (awardee) move institutions, the Charitable Trust should be informed of this prior to the move having taken place. Failure to do so may lead to immediate termination of the award with the remaining funds having to be repaid to the Trust.  If the research funded by the grant is to continue, one of two options should be agreed by the Trust:
  • Written application to the Trust for permission to move the grant to the awardee’s new institution should be made in advance of the move, with an explanation of how the work will be completed from the awardee’s new position. This application should be accompanied by a financial statement from the awardee’s current Finance Officer providing a full account of the funds spent to date and the balance available to be transferred.  Permission to transfer the grant to the new institution and recommencement of the study will be dependent upon written confirmation of the Head of Research or Head of Department at the new institution, that the facilities and equipment required to do the study will be made available to the awardee and that (s)he will be provided with sufficient time, technical support and, if necessary, appropriate supervision to continue the study. Confirmation must also be given in writing that the new institution complies with the Trust’s ethical policy.
  • Alternatively, if the awardee wishes the grant to remain at their original institution managed by a different member of staff, the awardee should write requesting permission to transfer responsibility for the grant to that alternative member of staff. Under these circumstances, a letter from the Head of Department of the new awardee supporting the request is required. In addition, the proposed new awardee needs to write to the Trust stating they are willing to take on responsibility for the award and abide by the Trust’s terms and conditions.
  • The Trust may decide to refuse either of these requests and to terminate the grant should it not be convinced that the new arrangements are likely to lead to the research work being completed in an appropriate and timely manner.
• For Studies Involving Tissues or Biological Samples of Animal Origin, or Client Data Collection, funding of grants is contingent on acceptance in writing of your application by your institution’s ethical review process. Applicants should ensure that this acceptance is available at the time of submitting the application.
• Work involving purpose bred experimental animals conducted under the Animals Scientific Procedures Act (ASPA), including use of residual samples and tissue collected in the course of other studies, WILL NOT be supported by the Trust. Work involving client owned veterinary patients which is conducted under ASPA will be considered on a case by case basis.

Eligibility Criteria

• Pump primer grants should be for graduates embarking on a research career. If the appointment for the study is yet to be made, this must be made clear on the application form.

For more information, visit Petplan Charitable Trust.