Bursaries and Funding

This Bursary scheme is for ICHT Doctors and NMAHPPs (Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professionals, Healthcare Scientists, Pharmacy Staff and Psychologists) on Imperial Health Charity/NIHR Imperial BRC funded research fellowships. Available to Imperial College Healthcare Trust staff undertaking IHC/BRC funded research fellowships, this bursary can provide funding for the purchase of software programmes/licences required to undertake research projects (i.e, SPSS, NVIVO and EndNote). 

This bursary scheme is administered by the CATO Team. Bursaries will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants are advised to apply early to avoid disappointment since funds are limited.

For queries please contact CATO@imperial.ac.uk or 020 331 31373.

Bursary Details:

• The bursary provides funding to support the purchase of research software programme(s)
• The bursary operates on a reimbursement basis.  Applicants must purchase the software personally ‘up front’ once approved you will be reimbursed directly into your bank account via the Imperial College expense department through the submission of receipts
• The bursary will refund the full cost of purchasing software programmes to an upper limit per person of £1,500
• An annual license for the purchase of software programmes is the recommended arrangement
• Applicants are advised to apply for the bursary at the start or in the early stages of their award to achieve maximum use from the software during their fellowship time.

Eligibility:

• Eligibility for the bursary is limited to only ICHT funded IHC/BRC funded Pre- and Post-Doctoral research fellows (Doctors and NMAHPPs). 
• Staff who have completed IHC/BRC funded research fellowships within the last 2 years may also be considered for this bursary, these applications will be assessed on a case by case basis
• ICHT staff who have Honorary ICL contracts should fully explore what packages/programmes are available to them free of charge or at discounted rates through the College before applying for a CATO bursary
• Before looking to purchase software programmes all eligible applicants should consider alternative/more economical options, e.g. using “R” for statistical programming/analysis which is free and increasingly used, or Graphpad or STATA instead
• CATO reserves the right to refuse any applications deemed to be ineligible or to fall outside the remit of the bursary scheme.

• Applicants should complete an online bursary application form and upload scans of receipts showing proof that they have purchased a place on the course.
• Those not on the Imperial College London Payroll will need to upload a completed Expenses Claim Form. A copy of the claim form can be accessed and downloaded within the bursary application form.
• The submitted application will then be reviewed by the CATO Team

Notes

1. Before purchasing any software applicants have the option to contact CATO giving details of their planned purchase to ask for a ‘decision in principle’ if they prefer to have confirmation of support before incurring any expenses (cato@imperial.ac.uk).
2. This funding is available on the basis that applicants purchase the software personally (ie, purchases should not be made through the Trust).

This bursary is open to clinical staff of all professions from Imperial College AHSC full member organisations* who are looking to develop research skills and careers.

_{*Full members of the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research)}

This scheme has been designed to support clinical staff to develop a specific academic/ personal skill which will help them to develop in their clinical academic career.

Examples of types of research training this bursary will cover include:

• Methodological frameworks inc systematic reviews, questionnaires, online surveys
• Robust research methods
• Health economic evaluation
• Statistics
• Machine learning
• Bioinformatics
• Qualitative analysis
• Data analytics
• Ethics
• Public Involvement & Engagement / Patient Experience (but first see available training in the Imperial PERC)
• Core aspects of management and leadership relevant to research career

Other areas will also be considered - providing they fit with the aims of the bursary.

Applicants can claim up to £500 towards course fee costs. Bursaries are available on a first come- first served basis and applicants are advised to apply early to avoid disappointment.

Before starting your application, we strongly advise that you read and understand the eligibility criteria listed below, to ensure you are eligible for the bursary.

Please note this is is a pilot bursary and only available for a limited time. 

Bursary Details:

• The bursary provides funding towards the cost of course fees which help to develop specific academic/personal skills required for clinical academic careers. This bursary is not for the development of clinical skills/training.
• The bursary operates on a reimbursement basis. Applicants book and purchase the course place themselves ‘up front’ and then once approved applicants are reimbursed directly into their bank account via the Imperial College expense department. This method is different to usual Trust purchasing mechanisms.
• The bursary will support course fee costs up to a maximum of £500 per applicant. If the course costs more than £500, the applicant is required to fund any remaining costs themselves.

Decision in Principle:

• Before booking and paying for a place on a course, applicants have the option to ask for a ‘decision in principle’ if they prefer to have confirmation of support before incurring any expenses.
• To obtain a decision in principle the applicant should email the CATO team with the details of what bursary they are applying for, what the course they want to attend is, how it will help them to develop a specific academic/personal skill needed to develop their clinical academic career path and how much the course costs.

Eligibility for the bursary is limited to:

• NMAHPPs (Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professions, Healthcare Scientists, Pharmacy Staff and Psychologists) in ICHT, RMH and C&W linked Trusts at all levels below Consultant looking to develop research skills and careers.
• Clinical academics/researchers of all clinical professions below Consultant level undertaking research Fellowships across the AHSC if funding for such training is not available from their research funder.
• Imperial College Specialised/Academic Foundation Trainees in the North West London Foundation School (during the course of their 2 year trainee post).
• NIHR/HEE funded Imperial Clinical Lecturers.
• Doctors in Training at ICHT, RMH and C&W linked Trusts.

This bursary is not open to:

• NIHR and locally funded ACFs.
• Clinical academics employed by or undertaking a PhD at an Imperial College AHSC organisation.
• Clinical Consultants employed by Imperial College AHSC organisations.
• Clinical Research Practitioners.

Pre- and Post-Doctoral awardees who are in receipt of IHC/BRC Research Fellowships should use the top-up funding bursary as their first port of call. Only in very exceptional cases would they be eligible to apply for this bursary in addition. Any applicants who fall into this category (i.e. anyone who has used all of their £3000 top-up and requires extra funding for a course) should contact cato@imperial.ac.uk before applying.

Once you are comfortable that you and the course you plan to attend meet the eligibility criteria you are able to apply for the bursary.

• Applicants should complete an online bursary application form and upload scans of receipts showing proof that they have purchased a place on the course.
• Those not on the Imperial College London Payroll will need to upload a completed Expenses Claim Form. A copy of the claim form can be accessed and downloaded within the bursary application form.
• The submitted application will then be reviewed, along with your letter of support (details below) by the CATO Team. Your application will not be considered without a letter of support.
• Within the application form, you will be asked to state which of the Imperial College AHSC Clinical Research Training Framework competencies you will fulfill by attending this course. We, therefore, recommend downloading and reading this in advance of applying.

In addition to your application, you will need to provide a letter of support from a recognised clinical academic supervisor/mentor. All supporting letters should be emailed directly from your research supervisor/mentor to the CATO team- cato@imperial.ac.uk:

• If you are an applicant who is not currently undertaking a research fellowship, you will need to submit a letter of support written by a recognised clinical academic supervisor/mentor, evidencing your research commitment and outlining why these skills are needed. 

• If you are an applicant who is currently undertaking a research fellowship, you will need to submit a letter of support written by a recognised clinical academic supervisor/mentor, outlining the need for this training and that funding for this course is not available via the research funder. 

CATO Connect Grant

for AHSC clinical academic trainees/clinical researchers and Academic Training Leads/others supporting academic careers (Doctors and NMAHPPs)

We know that different groups (academic trainees, clinical researchers, clinical PhD students, programme leads etc) within the clinical academic/research community often have bright ideas about how we can do things better, or how to improve support for colleagues. The CATO Connect grant offers up to £1,000 to help implement new ideas which support clinical academic trainees, programmes, and research active healthcare professionals.  Connect grants are available to enhance academic training programmes and activities for trainees/researchers, support cohort building, promote engagement amongst potential clinical academics, and to support with wider recruitment activities into academic programmes and activities. Connect grants are also available to those with oversight for supporting and developing clinical academics within the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre**, where no other funding is available.

What this fund could be used for:
Suggestions will be considered, providing the activity proposed positively supports the experience/career development for clinical academic trainees/researchers, or takes forward aims to enhance or develop clinical academic careers and programmes across the Imperial College AHSC. 

Through the Connect grant we are keen to enable the clinical academic research community to build an inclusive culture, enhance experiences, stimulate stronger connections, provide mutual support and boost clinical academic programmes across the AHSC.   Examples of Connect grant proposals might include:

• Networking/connection events for specific groups, e.g. venue/catering costs for an event bringing together Black, Asian & ethnic minority *NMAHPP clinical researchers, or a series of meetings bringing together all female Clinical Lecturers as a support network.
• Promotion events/activities to raise awareness of clinical academic opportunities at the Imperial College AHSC, e.g. publicity costs/venue charges for open day to showcase academic training and research opportunities in a clinical profession.
• Welcome/induction/cohort activities, e.g. venue charges for bringing together all ACFs/CLs in a particular specialty eg, all General Practice academic trainees.
• Development sessions/activities for a specific group or cohort, e.g. facilitation & venue charges for group networking sessions for Nurses or Occupational Therapists, or venue/catering charges for trainees in a clinical profession to do some peer group work around drafting fellowship applications.

 What this fund cannot be used for:

• This fund is not for research costs (including equipment, infrastructure, estates) for a specific individual or research area – it is to support clinical academic trainees, clinical researchers and programmes more widely, across any clinical healthcare profession.
• The funding is to support and benefit a group or cohort – not for lone individuals
• This fund is not for the development of clinical skills/training.
• This fund is also not for purely social activities – e.g; Christmas parties! Although cohort building and social activities can form part of the activity being supported.

This Connect grant scheme is available for a 2-year trial period in the first instance, from March 2023.  Funding will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, applicants are advised to apply early to avoid disappointment since funds are limited.   Further details about the application process are provided below.

_{*NMAHPPs (Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professions, Healthcare Scientists, Pharmacy staff & Psychologists)}

_{** Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre, AHSC:   Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, The Institute of Cancer Research, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.}

Bursary Details:

• This one-off funding supports costs usually up to a maximum of £1000 per applicant/proposal/initiative during the trial period.
• The funding is to support a group or cohort – not to support lone individuals.
• Applicants, on behalf of their group, will propose the activity to be supported and organise activities themselves.
• Where applicable applicants will be expected to open the proposed activity up as wide as possible across the Imperial College AHSC partner organisations. In some circumstances it may be possible to use Connect grant funding to support wider pan-London activities, in these instances applicants should email cato@imperial.ac.uk for a decision in principle before filling out the Connect application form.
• The funding will usually operate through a recharge basis ie, once Connect funding has been approved applicants will be advised the Imperial College account code to charge the approved costs to. All charges/expenses will need to comply with Imperial College expenses policy and purchasing guidelines.  (Alternatives will be available for non-College based staff where it is not possible to use College finance processes.)
• Successful applicants will need to retain records of activities delivered and funding used, and write a brief end of award report describing the aim and impact of the funding received.

Eligibility:
Eligibility for the Connect grant is restricted to the Imperial College AHSC groups below, where no other funding is available:

• Medical clinical academic trainees: SFT, ACF, CL
• Clinicians in other research fellowships – e.g, pre-doc awards, post-doc awards, intermediate fellowships - Medical and NMAHPP
• Established research active clinicians not in formal fellowships – Medical and NMAHPP
• Clinical PhD fellows – Medical and NMAHPP

CATO reserves the right to refuse any applications deemed to be ineligible, unsuitable, or to fall outside the scope and spirit of the Connect grant. Those with oversight for supporting and developing clinical academics/researchers: eg Academic Training/Research Leads

Before looking to apply to the Connect grant all applicants/groups should consider and fully explore alternative options and must confirm that all available avenues have been fully exhausted.

• Applicants should complete an online bursary application form to apply for funding.
• The submitted application will then be reviewed by the CATO Team.
• If the CATO team approves the funding, details will then be shared with you about how to access the requested funds.
• Please await confirmation of funding before committing to any spend. 

If you have any questions please contact the CATO team: CATO@imperial.ac.uk or +44 (0)20 3313 7397.

From July 2019 a limited amount of funds are available to help cover the costs of printing posters to present at research conferences.  This bursary is only available to ICHT NMAHPPs (Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professionals, Healthcare Scientists, Pharmacists and Psychologists) and will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.  To apply please contact Maggie Baldock in the Therapies Department maggiebaldock@nhs.net

To support additional costs relating to research fellowships not explicitly covered by the charity/BRC grant, a new top up fund has been made available for fellows. Funding is available for both Pre- and Post-Doctoral awardees, Doctors and NMAHPPs (Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professionals, Healthcare Scientists, Pharmacy Staff and Psychologists) in receipt of IHC/BRC Research Fellowships only.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have fully utilised/exhausted options with their Charity/BRC award before looking to apply for funds through the Top Up fund. The bursary is available for up to £3,000 per person, for the duration of the award. The Imperial Health Charity will be managing the requests for this fund, please contact the Charity for further information and to discuss (grants@imperialcharity.org.uk).

 Potential research-related expenses covered by the bursary include:

• Research consumables
• Research Training costs
• Open access publication costs
• Publication costs, journals etc..
• Library Fees