Our call for preliminary summary applications for project grants is in full swing with the Online Summary Application Form currently live on our website. The deadline for receipt of summaries is 1 November 2013. We thought this would be a good opportunity to explain what this means.
What is a summary application?
Preliminary summary applications are designed to give an outline of the proposed work, its relevance to ‘classical’ MND and that the aims of the proposal fit with our Research Strategy.
What kind of information?
As this is a preliminary summary application, we do not require masses of information regarding the proposal. The concept of a summary application is to give an overview of the proposal:
• in depth detail is not asked for until the next stage of the application process – a full application
• we understand that most applications have more than one applicant, at this stage we only require the main applicant details
• budget wise, we only want the total overall amount and the total amount for each year, at full application stage we ask for a more detailed budget including salaries, lab consumables and conference allowance
• Applicants based outside of the UK and Ireland DO need to give collaboration details.
All the information we ask for is explained in various documents available on our website including our Terms and Conditions, Summary Guidelines and our Research Governance Overview.
What do we do with the summaries?
Once we have received all summaries, they are initially checked for relevance to ‘classical’ MND and that they fit within the aims of our Research Strategy. They are then sent to our Biomedical Research Advisory Panel (BRAP) for review. Each summary is reviewed by three panel members. The panel base their reviews on set criteria which include:
• Novelty and timeliness
• Feasibility
• Potential clinical and/or translational relevance
Each summary is then scored. A score under 50 is deemed unsuitable for funding and a score over 49 is suitable to invite a full application. Decisions are based on a two thirds majority.
More information:
For further information on our application processes please visit our website or see our Research Governance Overview, Terms and Conditions, Summary Guidelines, Guide to the Online Summary Application Form and our Research Strategy.
