WELLBEING OF WOMEN, ROYAL COLLEGE OF MIDWIVES and British
Maternal Fetal Medicine Society
ENTRY-LEVEL RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP 2013
GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS
Applicants are strongly advised to read these guidelines before they commence
writing their application and to note the conditions of acceptance. Failure to
follow the format suggested by the guidelines may reduce an applicant's chance
of success and may result in applications being rejected. Please note that
applications are invited from medical students and midwives. One ELS is reserved
for a midwifery candidate.
The upper limit for this award is £20,000.
ABOUT WELLBEING OF WOMEN (WoW)
WoW funds basic science and clinical research on all aspects of obstetrics,
gynaecology, midwifery and neonatology. Studies in the area of Gynaecological
endocrinology, urology and oncology are all appropriate to WoW’s funding.
ABOUT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MIDWIVES (RCM)
The RCM represents the interests of midwives in the UK We promote excellence,
innovation and leadership in the care of childbearing women, the newborn and their
families, nationally and internationally. Our mission is to enhance the confidence,
professional practice and influence of midwives for the benefit of child-bearing women
and their families.
ABOUT THE BRITISH MATERNAL FETAL MEDICINE SOCIETY (BMFMS)
The BMFMS is a UK society for health professionals working in the field of maternal and
fetal medicine.
THE SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME
Applicability
Applications are invited for Entry-Level Research Scholarships to enable candidates to
develop research interests in Midwifery, maternity services, pregnancy, childbirth and
women’s health, obstetrics, and gynaecology. This work must be undertaken in the UK
or Ireland. The aim of these awards is to provide ‘pump-priming’ funds to enable
candidates to be exposed to a research environment, or to obtain pilot data for bids for
definitive funding. Applicants would normally be new to the research discipline, and will
not previously have been heavily involved in substantial or funded research projects.
Wellbeing of Women in association with the RCOG, the Royal College of Midwives and
the British Maternal Fetal Medicine Society is inviting applications for training in basic
science, clinical or translational research including explanatory and feasibility studies in
one of the following three areas:
1.
2.
3.
Pregnancy, birth and the post partum period;
Miscarriage and infertility;
Quality of Life surrounding women’s health issues.
Scholarships consist of a single payment up to a maximum of £20,000 to contribute to
salary and/or research costs.
The ELS is not intended as a ‘top-up’ for existing grants. It is also not intended
primarily for ‘soft funding’ (e.g. for consumables only). Its primary purpose is to
support a single individual and their research.
Successful completion of an Entry-Level Research Scholarship will be viewed positively
should an applicant subsequently choose to apply for a Wellbeing of Women Research
Training Fellowship (please note: currently midwives cannot apply for a Fellowship).
One ELS will be reserved for a midwife applicant.
Level of Award
Applications may be made for the financial support of work that is already in progress or
for a new project.
The award of a Scholarship is subject to the acceptance of Wellbeing of Women’s Terms
and Conditions for Research Grants.
Restrictions
The following restrictions apply to Entry-Level Research Scholarships:
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Funds will not be released without evidence of ethics committee support.
We do not pay indirect costs.
Charges for administration by University or NHS Authorities will not be met.
We do not cover University Fees.
Successful Applicants
Please be aware that successful applicants will be expected to reasonably aid Wellbeing
of Women with publicity and fundraising. This may involve activities such as providing
quotes and/or ‘lay’ write-ups, speaking at our events or hosting visits at your lab. While
we would ensure that any requests were not excessive or disruptive, by applying you are
agreeing to reasonable assistance in principle.
COMPLETING THE APPLICATION FORM
Please complete the application form for Wellbeing of Women/RCM/BMFMS Entry-Level
Research Scholarship 2013 using font size 10-12 pt throughout.
Please save two copies of the application – one as a Word 97-2003 document and one
as a PDF. Email both versions to pmatusavage.wellbeingofwomen@rcog.org.uk,
and send 1 original signed version of the completed form to Philip Matusavage Research
Grants Manager, Wellbeing of Women, at 27 Sussex Place, Regent's Park, London
NW1 4SP, by the closing date. The closing date applies to all copies so please obtain
all signatures as early as possible.
The closing date for applications is Friday 14th September 2012 at 3pm.
LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
The points below relate to specific numbered sections of the application form:
1.
Application Details
Proposed Department and Proposed Institution: This will be the point of contact
for all correspondence.
Proposed Start Date: At this stage this may be an estimate. However it should be
as accurate as possible.
Duration: Expected length of project in months
Total Funds Requested: This should be the total from point 4, Financial
Information.
Title of Project: This should be as brief as possible and should be relevant to the
work undertaken.
2.
The Applicant
2.5 Postgraduate Career: Please do not include a separate CV. Details of previous
posts must be contained within this section of the form.
3.
About the Project
3.2 Research Summary: Applicants must give a simple description up to 250 words, of
the proposed research. This summary may be used by any of the awarding bodies
for publicity purposes. As a guideline, you may wish to describe the issues or
condition to be studied, the nature of the proposed research, what the research is
trying to achieve and its possible benefits in terms of improving women’s health.
3.3 Research to be undertaken: You should include the aims and objectives of the
research together with the techniques to be used and training to be undertaken.
4.
Financial Information: The award is a single payment and the upper limit of
funding is £20,000.
PLEASE NOTE: For research undertaken in the NHS you must be aware of and
consider the AcoRD guidance on attributing research costs. Please discuss with
relevant NHS Trusts and/or Clinical Research Networks in order to ensure correctly
attributed costs. The guidance can be found here:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/05/attributing-the-costs-of-health-social-care-researchdevelopment-acord/
4.1 Salary: The percentage of salary will in no case exceed the top of the Registrar
scale (or equivalent); or Band 7 (HfC). The Research Grants or Finance Officer of
the proposed institution must complete this section. The amount should be as
accurate as possible and should include estimated pay awards.
4.2 Expenses: The amount requested in addition to the Salary (4.1) must not exceed
£20,000 overall.
5. Approval for Research
5.1 No funding will be released until a copy of the Ethics Approval has been received by
WoW.
5.2 HFEA License Number: Projects involving the use of human embryos must show
the HFEA license number, and in addition, documentary evidence of HFEA approval
for the project must be enclosed.
5.6 Wherever possible, WoW/RCM/BMFMS would prefer the use of procedures and
techniques that avoid the use of animals, but where this is not possible, the
minimum number of animals that will give valid results in any experiment should be
used. It is required that all general and local regulations relating to the use of
experimental animals will be observed.
6.
Certificates
No application can be accepted without completion of this section by the Applicant
his or her Head of Department and the Finance Officer responsible for administering
the grant.
6.4 For research involving NHS patients, a signature is needed from the R&D Director
or Deputy confirming that the project will be carried within the NHS research
governance framework.
7.
Lay Description
Applicants must give a simple description of the research to be undertaken which
will be understandable by an educated lay audience. You should include the aims
and objectives of the research together with the techniques to be used. This may
be used for publicity purposes by any of the awarding bodies.
For monitoring purposes, please could you enter how you became aware of this
award.
Please note that these guidelines must be strictly adhered to. Failure to do
so (such as: wrong font size; excessive word count; disallowed additional
materials) will be taken into account. Applications may be and have
previously been rejected for deviation from guidelines.