Transcript Success with CORE applications

Dr Oliver Brain
Research Fellow
WIMM Oxford
Presentation at BSG 13/03/08
Amended for BSG trainees website
Firstly
 Bad news:
There is no magic bullet
 Good news:
If I can do it, so can you
Securing Funding
 2 main components
 You
 The research – the ‘Golden Rules’



Right project
Right supervisor
Right place
Process
 1) Create opportunity
 2) Assess the worth of the project on offer
 3) Apply for funding
 4) Prepare for the interview
 5) Reassess +/- reapply if unsuccessful
1. Create opportunities
 Perhaps the most difficult part of the process to define
 Achieved in many different ways depending on your
background
What I did:
 Combination of:
 Being the best you can be at work
 Turning up to teaching
 Completing smaller projects
 Talking to your Professor/ Consultants in research
 Talking to the SpR’s who have done research
 Visiting the local institutions
2. Assess the worth of the
project on offer
 Visit the lab in question – who will be in the lab with
you? What are the facilities like?
 Find out about your potential supervisor – are they
supportive?
 Discuss the project with others – eg colleagues/
consultants you trust and who have experience of
research. They may be able to give a valued second
opinion on the projects worth/ direction.
3. Application Form
 This can take weeks (?months) to prepare
 Meetings with supervisor – to firm up the nature of your
experiments.
 Writing the application form – you are likely to need a
lot of guidance from your supervisor
 Costings – both of your salary and of your laboratory
costs
4. Preparation: ‘You’
The interview is a cross between a standard viva and the
‘Dragon’s Den’. You need to approach this like an exam
but remember that there is an element of a sales pitch
to this. You want them to fund your project.
 a) Reading – about and around your subject. The
volume required should not be underestimated. If you
can take study leave it would be helpful.
Preparation (cont)
 b) Go to the laboratory – start learning the techniques
and getting to grips with the environment. (Apart from
being helpful you will sound more convincing at the
interview)
 c) Interview practice – A must. You need practice
answering questions in a less familiar field.
 d) Research the interviewers – helps to know their
interests.
5. Reassess/ Reapply
 Don’t be downhearted if unsuccessful
 Reassess the project – what didn’t they like about it?
Is it unfeasible/ bad science/ wrong place/ wrong
supervisor? etc
Reapply
 Reapply – there are plenty of places that offer funding.
 Some (eg MRC, Wellcome, NIHR, CORE) may have
enough to fund the whole of your research.
 Some smaller charities (eg AMR, ECCO, Broad
foundation, IA, CCC) will likely offer you part funding.
They are often a good way to get started and will make
you more competitive for the larger awards.
Conclusion
 Remember the golden rules
 Achievable – just takes planning and application
 Funding is available from many bodies
Thanks
 CORE
 Professor Jewel
 Alison Simmons
 Sponsored walks
 Cycle from the Andes to the Amazon
 Trek the Atlas Mountains
 Climb Mt Kilimanjaro