Do you need a grant to fund your next Spinal Cord Injury research project?  

We issue a grant call in September of each year. Please check back for further updates, or contact Derek Cutler, Research Grants Manager at [email protected] 

Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research is an independent charity dedicated to funding research that will help to improve quality of life for people living with a spinal cord injury (SCI).

There are around 50,000 people living in the UK with SCI, many of whom will experience complications from their injury. Our Research Grants Programme is focussed on the following areas, each of which affects the quality of life of people living with SCI. We hope that this research leads to new treatments and therapies, deepening of understanding, and dissemination of best practice in these areas:

• Urinary Tract Infection
• Pressure Ulcers
• Neuropathic Pain
• Assistive Technology for Upper Limb function

We provide grants of up to £150,000 for projects of up to 3 years, but also welcome applications for smaller projects. You should be realistic and request a level and duration of funding that is appropriate to your proposed activities.

Eligibility and application process

We welcome submissions from researchers for proposals that fall within one of our four priorities. Furthermore, our emphasis is on the treatment of people with non-progressive spinal cord injuries, which have potential for rehabilitation, and we expect proposals to have this as their primary focus.  Research projects should have clinical impact and a stated intention of disseminating the results of the study.

Ideally, at least one applicant would be affiliated with an academic institution.  We encourage joint applications with the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, but this is not a condition of gaining a successful outcome.

We accept international applications but require that the lead institution be based in the UK.

All applications will be assessed on research method, feasibility and clinical impact by our independent Scientific Advisory Board.

SMSR is a proud member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and follows its best practice standards for peer review, ensuring that decisions on research funding are made in a fair and transparent way.

Background documents

Guidance for applicants

Standard terms and conditions of grant award

Appeals policy and process

Success rates

In our first grant call in 2019, we awarded a total of £317,111 across 4 projects. We received 21 applications, giving a success rate of 19%

In our September 2021 call we received 12 applications. No grants were awarded. Our Scientific Advisory Board were impressed by many of the applications that were put forward by centres throughout the UK.  However, following the peer-review process, the board concluded that none of the projects were sufficiently strong across all criteria to recommend funding.  We are hopeful that some of the projects, which came close to the high standards set by the charity, will reapply at our next grant call and be successful following improvements to the proposals. 

We issue a grant call in September each year.
If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Derek Cutler, Research Grants Manager [email protected]