Getting Started in Research

1. Getting Started in Research Kathryn Adcock Wellcome Trust University of Birmingham 27 September 2011

2. Outline • Wellcome Trust • who we are • what we fund • Applying for funding • the written application • the interview

3. Wellcome Trust We were established in 1936 We are funded from a private endowment We spend approximately £600 million on grants per year Our interests range from science to the history of medicine to public engagement

4. Our vision and mission Our vision is to achieve extraordinary improvements in human and animal health Our mission is to support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities

5. Five major challenges Maximising the health benefits of genetics and genomics 2) Understanding the brain 3) Combating infectious diseases 4) Investigating development, ageing and chronic disease 5) Connecting environment, nutrition and health

6. Medical research: Extraordinary opportunities • Phenotyping people • Physiology • Pathology • Medical imaging • Informatics • Genetics • Measuring the environment • unpicking complex disease • understanding complex processes • new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines

7. Wellcome Trust funding schemes

8. Principal Research Fellowships Support for individual researchers Senior Research Fellowships Sir Henry Dale Fellowships NIH-WT PhD Programmes WT-MIT Postdoctoral Fellowships BASIC Four-year PhD Studentship Programmes Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships Senior Investigator Awards New Investigator Awards Early Postdoctoral Training Fellowships Clinical PhD Programmes PhD CLINICAL Postdoctoral Training MB/PHD Fellowships Research Training Fellowships Intermediate Clinical Fellowships Senior Research Fellowships Training Fellowships in Public Health & Tropical Medicine PUBLIC HEALTH & TROPICAL MEDICINE Principal Research Fellowships Masters Fellowships Intermediate Fellowships in Public Health & Tropical Medicine Senior Fellowships in Public Health & Tropical Medicine EARLY INTERMEDIATE SENIOR

9. Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowships Research Training Fellowship Intermediate Clinical Fellowship Senior Research Fellowship in Clinical Science Postdoc Training Fellowship for MB/PhD graduates Principal Research Fellowship Schemes administered by the Trust Early Postdoctoral Training Fellowship for Clinician Scientists New Investigator Award Senior Investigator Award Trust schemes administered by host institutions Clinical PhD Programmes Training Programmes for Clinicians in Translational Medicine & Therapeutics

10. Trust-administered schemes

11. Research Training Fellowships • Who? • for medical, dental, veterinary and clinical psychology graduates • little or no research training to date • Why? • to develop a career in academic medicine • MD or PhD

12. Research Training Fellowships • What? • high-quality, hypothesis-driven research project • up to 3-years • clinical salary • research expenses

13. Research Training Fellowships • Considered three times a year • Interviews in: • November/December • April • June/July • No preliminary application required • Trust staff happy to discuss plans • Next deadline for full applications: 17 September & • 8 February 2013

14. Imperial-administered schemes

15. PhD Programmes for Clinicians • Programme is tailored to the unique needs of clinician-scientists • Programmes provide: • a structured, well-mentored environments • access to high-quality research environments • Apply to institution directly. • Look out for adverts in BMJ, Imperial & Trust websites – coming soon!

16. to provide clinicians with the expertise to design and conduct studies that aim to develop and evaluate novel therapies in humans Partnerships academic institution (Imperial) industrial partner (GSK) Interdisciplinary Training Programmes for Clinicians in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics

17. Programmes at: Imperial College London University of Edinburgh/Scotland University of Cambridge Newcastle University Interdisciplinary Training Programmes for Clinicians in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics

18. Trust-administered schemes

19. Postdoctoral opportunities and beyond… • Postdoctoral Training Fellowship for MB/PhD Graduates • Early Postdoctoral Training Fellowship for Clinician Scientists • Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers (run by AMS) • Intermediate Clinical Fellowship • Senior Clinical Fellowship

20. Applying for funding

21. Good idea Choose a funding agency & scheme Preliminary application stage? University admin office Write application Submit application External review Short-listing Committee Interview Committee Reject Fund The Process

22. How do we assess applications? Person Project Place Fellowships

23. Tips on writing a good application

24. Before starting your application…. • Read the application form and guidance notes carefully • Check deadlines to avoid rushed applications • Think about who you may need to contact for information/signatures • Is your boss going on holiday, to a conference etc? • Allow time for the application to be processed by the admin office • Warn people that your application is coming • Queries? Contact the funder’s office staff

25. A ‘good’ application • A strong and original central hypothesis/research vision • Easy to understand and read • Consider all readers • avoid jargon • avoid abbreviations • check grammar and spelling • Requests for resources should be justified • Animal use and studies using human subjects should be carefully justified and power calculations provided, where appropriate

26. A ‘good’ application • Not over- or under-ambitious • Takes into account the current literature (including conflicting opinions) • Clear research plan. • approach is feasible • realistic timescale • potential pitfalls and fall-back plans • Appropriate expertise • sponsors, collaborators and research team

27. A ‘good’ application • Get someone with a critical eye to read your application before you submit it • Very senior people may not have the time • Try someone outside your area

28. The Interview

29. Beforehand • Practice, practice, practice!!! • There is no substitute for mock interviews • Own the project • Be familiar with recent advances in the field • Find out who is on the panel & know what they do

30. Afterwards • Don’t call us, we’ll call you • Yes – celebrate and get to work! • No – ask for feedback, many funders will give detailed advice • Will a re-submission be considered if so what must change?

31. Questions? www.wellcome.ac.uk