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Scottish Seedcorn Fund for Neurological Research open for applications

Scottish Seedcorn Fund for Neurological Research open for applications

2nd June 2021

The Chief Scientist Office and the RS Macdonald Charitable Trust have provided funds for ‘seedcorn grants’, administered by the University of St Andrews, to enable researchers to test innovative ideas related to neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental conditions

The collaboration is keen to award funding across three general themes:

  • fundamental science
  • diagnosis
  • practice-based research and caring sciences

It is hoped to enable researchers to develop ideas that may otherwise be difficult to fund, and grants are expected to be up to £15,000. The fund welcomes opportunities to be part of a co-funded arrangement.

Aims

  • Facilitate the development of new collaborative partnerships
  • Develop existing partnerships
  • Support new and early career researchers
  • Generate initial findings that could form the basis of grant applications to other funders

For more information, see the funding information and guidelines.

Funds cannot be used as a travel grant to attend conferences, nor to purchase laptops. Most other aspects can be covered.

Decision process

Proposals will be considered – and awarding decisions made – by a panel of senior academics active in the relevant research areas, drawn from Scotland.

The panel will assess the strength of the proposal, its potential for future research, and any ethical considerations.

Funding decisions will be announced no later than August 2021.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for an award:

  • applications must be from at least two academic centres (Scottish HEI or NHS)
  • principal investigators must be PhD/PDRA/ECR
  • applications must be for research into the causation, prevention, treatment, and/or management of neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental disorders

The following would be desirable, but not essential:

  • the proposal relates to the underlying aetiology, diagnostic approach, and/or care pathway common to more than one condition
  • proposals that leverage additional funding are particularly welcomed

Download the application form

Completed applications should be returned to Carleen Smith, Alzheimer's Scotland, no later than 12pm, Wednesday 30 June 2021. Please do not submit directly to the Chief Scientist Office.

Any inquiries can be made to Dr. Alan McNair.

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