Getting Started in Research

Kathryn Adcock

Wellcome Trust

University of Birmingham

27 September 2011

Outline

• Wellcome Trust

• who we are

• what we fund• Applying for funding

• the written application

• the interview

Wellcome Trust

•We were established in 1936•We are funded from a private endowment•We spend approximately £600 million on grants per year•Our interests range from science to the history of medicine to public engagement

Our vision and mission

Our vision is to achieve extraordinary improvements in human and animal health

Our mission is to support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities

Five major challenges

1) Maximising the health benefits of genetics and genomics

2) Understanding the brain

3) Combating infectious diseases

4) Investigating development, ageing and chronic disease

5) Connecting environment, nutrition and health

Medical research: Extraordinary opportunities• Phenotyping people

• Physiology

• Pathology

• Medical imaging

• Informatics

• Genetics

• Measuring the environment

• unpicking complex disease• understanding complex processes• new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines

Wellcome Trust funding schemes

EARLY INTERMEDIATE SENIOR

Clinical PhD Programmes

Research Training Fellowships

CL

INIC

AL

PhD

Four-year PhD Studentship Programmes

Senior Research Fellowships

Senior Investigator Awards

New Investigator Awards

Sir Henry Dale Fellowships

Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships

Senior Research Fellowships

Intermediate Clinical Fellowships

Early Postdoctoral Training Fellowships

Postdoctoral Training MB/PHD Fellowships

BA

SIC WT-MIT Postdoctoral Fellowships

NIH-WT PhD Programmes

Principal Research Fellowships

Principal Research Fellowships

Senior Fellowships in Public Health & Tropical Medicine

Training Fellowships in Public Health & Tropical Medicine

Intermediate Fellowships in Public Health & Tropical Medicine

Masters Fellowships

PU

BL

IC H

EA

LT

H &

T

RO

PIC

AL

ME

DIC

INE

Support for individual researchers

Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowships

Intermediate Clinical Fellowship

Clinical PhD Programmes

ResearchTraining Fellowship

Postdoc Training Fellowship for MB/PhD graduates

Early Postdoctoral Training Fellowship for Clinician Scientists Senior Investigator Award

New Investigator Award

Principal Research Fellowship

Senior Research Fellowshipin Clinical Science

Training Programmes for Cliniciansin Translational Medicine & Therapeutics

Schemes administered by the Trust

Trust schemes administered by host institutions

Trust-administered schemes

Research Training Fellowships

• Who?

• for medical, dental, veterinary and clinical psychology graduates

• little or no research training to date

• Why?

• to develop a career in academic medicine

• MD or PhD

Research Training Fellowships

• What?

• high-quality, hypothesis-driven research project

• up to 3-years

• clinical salary

• research expenses

Research Training Fellowships

• Considered three times a year • Interviews in:

• November/December

• April

• June/July• No preliminary application required• Trust staff happy to discuss plans

Next deadline for full applications: 17 September &

8 February 2013

Imperial-administered schemes

PhD Programmes for Clinicians

• Programme is tailored to the unique needs of clinician-scientists• Programmes provide:

• a structured, well-mentored environments

• access to high-quality research environments

Apply to institution directly.

Look out for adverts in BMJ, Imperial & Trust websites – coming soon!

Interdisciplinary Training Programmes for Clinicians in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics

• to provide clinicians with the expertise to design and conduct studies that aim to develop and evaluate novel therapies in humans

• Partnerships

• academic institution (Imperial)

• industrial partner (GSK)

Interdisciplinary Training Programmes for Clinicians in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics

• Programmes at:

• Imperial College London

• University of Edinburgh/Scotland

• University of Cambridge

• Newcastle University

Trust-administered schemes

Postdoctoral opportunities and beyond…

• Postdoctoral Training Fellowship for MB/PhD Graduates

•Early Postdoctoral Training Fellowship for Clinician Scientists

• Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers (run by AMS)

• Intermediate Clinical Fellowship

• Senior Clinical Fellowship

Applying for funding

Good idea

Choose a funding agency & schemePreliminary application stage?

Write application

Submit application

Interview Committee

Reject Fund

Short-listing Committee

External review

University admin office

The Process

Fellowships

• How do we assess applications?

•Person

•Project

•Place

Tips on writing a good application

Before starting your application….• Read the application form and guidance notes carefully• Check deadlines to avoid rushed applications • Think about who you may need to contact for information/signatures

• Is your boss going on holiday, to a conference etc?

•Allow time for the application to be processed by the admin office

•Warn people that your application is coming• Queries? Contact the funder’s office staff

A ‘good’ application

• A strong and original central hypothesis/research vision • Easy to understand and read•Consider all readers

•avoid jargon•avoid abbreviations•check grammar and spelling

• Requests for resources should be justified• Animal use and studies using human subjects should be carefully justified and power calculations provided, where appropriate

A ‘good’ application

• Not over- or under-ambitious• Takes into account the current literature (including conflicting opinions)• Clear research plan.• approach is feasible• realistic timescale • potential pitfalls and fall-back

plans• Appropriate expertise • sponsors, collaborators and

research team

A ‘good’ application

• Get someone with a critical eye to read your application before you submit it

• Very senior people may not have the time

• Try someone outside your area

The Interview

Beforehand

Practice, practice, practice!!!

There is no substitute for mock interviews

Own the project

Be familiar with recent advances in the field

Find out who is on the panel & know what they do

Afterwards

• Don’t call us, we’ll call you• Yes – celebrate and get to work!• No – ask for feedback, many

funders will give detailed advice• Will a re-submission be

considered if so what must change?

Questions?

www.wellcome.ac.uk