Research Support Grants

Criteria for BMSS research support grants:

Purpose

The BMSS Research Support Grant aims to support small research endeavours including, but not exclusively:

  • Generating pump priming data for grant applications or research areas
  • Incoming or outgoing visits to initiate new MS-relevant collaborations/training (standard class travel, budget accommodation)
  • MS taster visits for new MS users (who must join the society)
  • Instrumentation (updates, repairs, add-ons, new developments of existing kit, etc)
  • Promotion of industry-academic collaborations

As specific, separate funding is available to cover summer studentships and conference travel, we will not support applications for those purposes.  We will not accept applications to support PhD research/write-up periods or extensions.

Eligibility

The principal applicant must have been BMSS member of at least twelve months’ standing, their contract must outlast the period of the grant, and the grant cannot be used to make any personal payments to the PI, including their own salary.  If the PI’s conditions of employment allow them to submit grants in their own right, they must sign the form to indicate that they have complied with their normal institutional grant sign-off procedures.  If the PI’s contract is such that they are not normally permitted to submit grants in their own right e.g., students, and some postdocs, then their supervisor or line manager must send a separate letter confirming that they are aware of the contents of the grant, and give permission for the work to be carried out in their laboratory.

Amount

Up to a maximum of £6,000 per grant, with matched funding looked upon very favourably. The annual budget for the BMSS Research Support Grants will not exceed £12k

Applications

  • The 2024 call for BMSS Research Support Grant applications is now open. The application deadline is the 12th of April 2024.
  • Application must be submitted by PI. It is the PI’s responsibility to have full consent of all Co-Applicants prior to submitting this proposal.
  • Applications should not exceed 3 A4 pages and should be structured according to the format below:
    1. Project title (20 words or less)
    2. Name and email addresses of the Principal Applicant
    3. Name and email addresses of all Co-Applicants
    4. Purpose of support requested (100 words or less)
    5. Background Information (200 words or less)
    6. Experimental Plan (200 words or less)
    7. Level of Funding required, details of matched funding and outline of what funds will be used for (1000 words or less)
    8. Anticipated start and end dates
    9. Institutional signoff complied with (yes/no – if no, supervisor letter of support to be provided)
    10. PI signature (accepting the terms and conditions of the BMSS and the award)
  • Applications should be emailed to the BMSS Administrator:admin@bmss.org.uk.

Terms and Conditions

  • Applications will be reviewed and recommendations on awards made by the BMSS Advisory Board, with the outcomes normally decided within 6 weeks of the deadline for applications.
  • BMSS must be acknowledged in any resulting papers, presentations and grants.
  • As a condition of the award of the grant, the PI must provide a 2,000-2,500 word article on the research for inclusion in the BMSS Newsletter (MassMatters), on the BMSS website, across BMSS social media platforms, or in other material relevant to the BMSS.
  • If the results are not appropriate at the end of the grant for public dissemination e.g., will be the basis for a grant proposal or a publication, then an alternative article e.g., a general review, must be provided that can be published in this way, following advance agreement with the BMSS General Secretary.
  • The report or agreed alternative should be received by the BMSS Administrator (admin@bmss.org.uk) within 6 weeks of the project end date. Late reports may negatively affect the chances of future applications for any future BMSS funding.
  • We would not normally expect to award more than one grant to the same PI in any twelve-month period. 

Unsuccessful but exceptionally high-quality proposals may be held over to the following year with the permission of the PI; resubmission of proposals rejected on quality grounds will not be allowed.

History

The BMSS Research Support Grant scheme was initiated in April 2012 with a 3-year mission to support small research endeavours.

This successful scheme attracted 12 applications and funded 7 projects to an overall sum of £13.5k with money ring-fenced for Education. As the Education Fund follows the expected drawdown rate, the RSG funding scheme, reviewed by the BMSS committee in 2015, was drawn to a close. In 2019 the scheme was reintroduced, supported by the main BMSS funds.