Transcript How to Win Funding in Medical Research

How to Win Funding in Medical
Research
Cecilia Lindgren
Wellcome Trust Research Career
Development Fellow
The three P’s
• Person=you
– CV
• Publications
• Awards
• Grants
– National/international collaborations/net-works (reputation)
• Place
– Is the centre known for the type of work you propose
– Will the applicant have the necessary support (practical and intellectual)
• Project
–
–
–
–
–
Novelty
Will the project generate results
Is it a suitable framework for a career
Value for money for the funders
Appropriate for the funding body (i.e. fits with their goals)
Where was I when I decided to apply?
• Throne-Holst Visiting Fellowship from Sweden
2006
• DUK project grant 2006
• NDM Scientific Leadership Fellow
– 3 year Career Development Award 2007-2010
– “a bridge between being a post-doctoral fellow
and being eligible for a Career Development
Award from one of the larger funding bodies”
Work towards the goal
• Identify a topic that you feel strongly about and
believe in, it will shine through
• Be active in publishing
• Network and find independent collaborators
• Be active in applying for prices and awards
• Find an area of research and become an expert
(generalists?)
• Develop independence from your supervisor
• Collect preliminary data to build your application
What is a competitive research project?
• Good preliminary data to show that you are
on track already
• Focus on a research area where you have a
track-record
• Facilities and collaborations to ensure success
• Originality
• Will this ensure publications and frameworks
for achieving your goals and the next round of
funding
Things to consider & Funding options
• The first thing that I did was that I decided to stay in the UK
• Grant/Award that covers the salary
– Often shorter time-spans
– Less money
• Leave Oxford and take a tenured position at another University
– Research environment
– Teaching
– Scientific freedom
• Career Development Fellowship (WT/MRC)
– 3-6 years post PhD experience (exceptions can be considered)
• Senior (WT) or Intermediate (MRC) fellowships
•
level of CV required for this?
• contact the funding body to check that you are eligible
Why Oxford?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tradition
Excellence
Reputation
Possibilities
Resources
Location
www.myenglandtravel.com
Why WTCHG & OCDEM
• ‘Hot-houses’ for science
– Multi-disciplinary research teams in human genetics,
functional genomics, bioinformatics, statistical
genetics and structural biology
• Excellence
– Ranked high in the RAE
– A number of the leading authorities in the world on
relevant topics to my area of interest
• Opportunity
– Several relevant collaborators, clinically and
statistically but no direct overlap with existing efforts
Why Wellcome Trust?
• A Career development fellowship constitutes a
framework for developing my own independent
research program and team to build up my ‘portfolio’
to be eligible for a senior fellowship
• 5 years of funding, fits in my 5 year plan personally
• First step on WT funding track, which is an attractive
option:
– Generous fellowships
– Wonderful support team at the WT, their aim is to make
everything for you to succeed and reach your goal
Having decided to apply for WT-RCDF-what
next?
• Select which funding stream to chose
• Make a time planning scheme to ensure that you have
planned out all deadlines
• Inform your admin team
• Check deadlines and requirements from research services
• Select and invite collaborators, collect letters of support
and inform them about what they need to do
• Letter of support from head of department
• Choose sponsors and collect letters of support and inform
them about what they need to do
• Check guidelines and instructions for how to submit and
what to submit
My timeline for application
December 2007
Decided to
apply for a WTRCDF
March 2008
Submitted a presubmission
inquiry
June 2008
Submitted the
full
application
November 2008
Got invited
for an
interview
December 2008
interview
Please notice that from start to end it is 1 year
December 2008
Got the news that I
got the fellowship
and reviewers
comments
Prepare for the interview
• Read up on every aspect of your application
• Have mock interviews, many (!!)
• Discuss your project with your peers and ask for
comments, questions that they would ask
• Think through what will happen if you do not
know the answer of a question, prepare for that
• Dress nicely
• Once there, enjoy
What does the Wellcome Trust reviewers
look for…
•
•
•
•
The caliber of the candidate
The scientific merit of the proposed project
The significance of the research
The suitability of the sponsor and host
environment for the candidate's development
as an independent researcher
• the three P’s
Final thoughts
• Discuss through carefully with peers and mentors
about the appropriate funding options
• Work towards/start putting together a competitive
CV
• Follow the instructions carefully and check, check
again and re-check everything carefully
• Do not leave things till last minute
• Keep the effort going till you get funded
Acknowledgements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mark McCarthy -for sponsoring me and supporting my application
Chris Holmes -for sponsoring me and supporting my application
Peter Donnelly -for mock interview and being a great mentor
Fredrik Karpe -for mock interview and valuable clinical input
Krina Zondervan & Andrew Morris -for support & mock interviews
Anna Gloyn -for mock interview and support
Peter Ratcliffe -for mock interview and support
Liesel Osman – (The NDM Research Facilitation Team)- for mock
interview and support
• And of course to the Wellcome Trust for funding me
I wish YOU the best of luck!!
Wellcome Trust
(http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/)
• The Wellcome Trust is an independent charity
funding research to improve human and
animal health.
• Established in 1936 by Henry Wellcome
• An endowment of around £13 billion
• It is the UK's largest non-governmental source
of funds for biomedical research
Mentors, Sponsors and advisors
• WTCHG & OCDEM & NDM mentors with
experience of different funding streams and
application processes
• External mentors for advice about application,
funding agencies and research panels