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

Our 2023 grant call is now live. For further information, please see below or contact Derek Cutler, Research Grants Manager [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).

Up to half a million people worldwide will sustain a spinal cord injury every year. Many will experience debilitating 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

To apply, please read our guidance for applicants and complete the preliminary application form, which should be returned to [email protected] by the closing date indicated. 

We welcome submissions from researchers for proposals that fall within one of our four priorities. Furthermore, our emphasis is on the treatment and management of people with non-progressive spinal cord injuries 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.

We welcome applications from institutions around the world but require that at least one UK-based clinical or academic centre be involved in the work.

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.

Timeline

Applications open: Mon 25^th September 2023

Deadline for receipt of preliminary proposals: Friday 10^th November, 5pm UK time

Successful applicants notified and invited to submit full proposal: Week of 4^th December

Deadline for submission of full proposals: Mon 29^th January 2024, 5pm UK time

We expect to let applicants know the outcome of their proposal in early April 2023

Background documents

Preliminary application form

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.  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 in a future call and be successful following improvements to the proposals.

In a call in September 2022 we received 14 applications of which 2 were awarded grants, giving a success rate of 14%