Grants and prizes

POSTPONED TO 2021 DUE TO TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AND COVID-19

The Cardiovascular SIG of the British Geriatrics Society invites applications for the 11th Bulpitt Undergraduate Scholarship.

Two awards of £400 will be made.

Candidates should write a 150 word statement as to why they should be given the scholarship and how the elective will help to further their interest in geriatric medicine.

Scholarship holders will be expected to write a report following the elective.

Entries to be submitted by email to: scientificofficer [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk (Scientific Officer) (please include '2020 Bulpitt Scholarship Entry' in the subject line).

This grant is currently suspended pending a review of the Society’s grants policy.

We offer a limited number of grants of up to £500 to medical students to enable them to make use of their elective period for a project concerned with health or health care in old age either in the UK or abroad. The primary purpose is to give undergraduates an opportunity to broaden their perception and experience of this growing field by undertaking, under supervision, a study of a relevant initiative in age research or the provision of health care which will be complementary to their taught curriculum.

There are no fixed categories of grant, but examples of the kind of provision considered include:

• Partial or full support for travel and subsistence expenses incurred in the process of information gathering or data collection;
• Materials, including small items of equipment; and
• Honoraria to host departments/organisation for supervision provided.

Eligibility

You must be a medical undergraduate at a UK registered university entering your penultimate or final year of study in the next academic year. The minimum duration of the project is six weeks, consisting of three to four weeks, preceded or followed by a similar period supervised within your home Academic Department.

Grants are administered by the Society's Education and Training Committee.

Responsibilities

You must establish in advance with your prospective host institution / organisation that your visit will be welcome and that appropriate facilities will be provided there. You are responsible for making your own travel and accommodation arrangements.

A condition of the award will be providing a report to the Society when the attachment is completed, consisting of a personal assessment of the experience obtained (about 250 words), and a description of the work in which you were involved, and your contribution to it (750-1000 words).

How to apply

Applications, accompanied by the relevant documentation, are considered at any time of year, provided there are funds available. Decisions are usually made within 5-6 weeks, therefore please allow sufficient time before the study experience/visit to submit applications. For further information email  committees [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk (Committees) or call 020 7608 8575.

Please note: if your grant application relates to a BGS scientific meeting please register for the meeting but do not pay the registration fee online.  If approved your grant will cover the cost of registration.

The British Geriatrics Society Movement Disorders Section is offering a limited number of grants of up to £500 to Specialist Registrars, other trainee doctors and allied health professionals to support:

• Attendance at meetings in Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, if the applicant’s study leave allowance is unavailable or insufficient to meet expenses to attend such meetings.
• Attendance to present work relating to Parkinson’s disease and Movement Disorders at scientific meetings, where the applicant’s study leave allowance is unavailable or insufficient to meet expenses to attend the meeting and Central BGS office have not already funded the applicant once within the last two years.
• In exceptional cases, to support international medical graduates from developing countries (as defined by the World Health Organisation), who have been accepted to present work at Parkinson’s disease and Movement Disorders Scientific Meetings, where the applicant is unable to raise sufficient finance to meet the expenses to attend the meeting.

Eligibility

If applying to attend a meeting abroad, you must be a member of the British Geriatrics Society, and depending on youe year of training, have attended at least one BGS Scientific Meeting in the last two years.

Priority will be given to applicants presenting papers (posters or platform communications).

How to Apply

Ensure that you comply with all the conditions of award. Complete the application form downloadable from this page. Decisions are usually made within five to six weeks. Please submit your application well in advance of the proposed date of travel. Email any enquiries or requests for the Applications Procedures to scientificofficer [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk (Scientific Officer) or call 020 7608 8574.

The British Geriatrics Society Northern Ireland Region is offering a limited number of grants of up to £450 to support:

• Attendance at meetings in geriatric medicine (or related subjects, e.g. stroke, Parkinson’s Disease) abroad (including Ireland), but not in the UK, if the applicant’s study leave allowance is unavailable or insufficient to meet expenses to attend such meetings. 
• Specialist Registrars (SpRs), young doctors who have been accepted to present work at BGS scientific meetings, where the applicant’s study leave allowance is unavailable or insufficient to meet expenses to attend the BGS meeting and we have already funded the applicant once within the last two years.
• In exceptional cases, to support international medical graduates from developing countries (as defined by the World Health Organisation), who have been accepted to present work at BGS scientific meetings, where the applicant is unable to raise sufficient finance to meet the expenses to attend the meeting. 

Eligibility

If you are applying to attend a non-BGS meeting abroad, you must be a member of the Society, and depending on your year of training, have attended at least one BGS Scientific Meeting in the last two years. 

Priority will be given to SpRs (and other young doctors) presenting papers (posters or platform communications). 

At our discretion, Young Doctors Educational Grants may also be used to help a few international medical graduates with insufficient funding to attend and present at BGS meetings.

How to Apply

Ensure that you can comply with all the conditions of award.  Complete the application form which can be downloaded from this section.  Decisions are usually made within five to six weeks. You should submit your application well in advance of your proposed date of travel. Please email enquiries and requests for the ‘Applications procedures’ and Conditions of Award to scientificofficer [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk (Scientific Officer) or call 020 7608 8574.

Specialist Registrar Research Start Up grant

Specialist Registrar (SpR) Research Start Up grant offers up to four grants a year of up to £10,000 each, to support research-related activities in geriatric medicine. The grant is intended to provide some financial assistance for young doctors which is not already available from other sources.

The scheme provides grants to enable SpR’s to follow through ideas at relatively short notice, to enable advantage to be taken of unique or rare opportunities, to provide short-term assistance to speculative and innovative research that may be at an early stage.

These grants support a complete project or, where appropriate, support a pilot study to enable an application for external project grant support to be made. If this is the case, the rationale and timescale for such an application should be made clear in the application.

The grants are eligible for National Institute for Health Research (NIHR ) non-commercial partner status. Being an NIHR non-commercial partner brings a number of benefits. For the studies we fund, decisions about eligibility for Network support can be reached more quickly and, once confirmed, those studies will be included in the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio. This means our grant recipients will have access to the research delivery infrastructure in the NHS, essential training and ISRCTN registration Studies included in the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) Portfolio have access to NHS infrastructure for research, training and ISRCTN (a simple numeric system for the unique identification of randomised controlled trials worldwide) registration as well as NHS Service Support and Research Management and Governance.

Support via the Clinical Research Network provides:

• Access to a local network of dedicated skilled research support staff including research nurses and other allied health professionals, who can help identify eligible patients, arrange consent to participate in the study and monitor patients as they progress through the study
• Support to ensure that your study can be successfully undertaken in the NHS including pharmacy, imaging and pathology services and the possibility of securing protected time for NHS staff to conduct research
• Access to experienced Research Management and Governance staff that can advise on governance aspects of undertaking clinical research in the NHS and facilitate the rapid approval of your study through the NIHR Coordinated System for gaining NHS Permission (NIHR CSP).

Travel Grant

These grants are specifically designed to enable an SpR to visit a centre to learn one or more research techniques when this is not available in their home base or city. The justification for the proposed visit must also justify the choice of centre. If appropriate, this may be an overseas centre. Travel grants will not be made available for any other purpose.

Eligibility

The grants are available only to members of the Society and are intended for doctors holding substantive posts at Specialist Registrar or equivalent grade in the United Kingdom.

The scheme is not intended to provide funding for undergraduate or postgraduate teaching, to provide rescue funding for the continuation of established projects, to supplement existing grants or to support any activity not directly related to research. Grants will not be made for the organisation of conferences, for attendance at conferences or courses, for postgraduate students, for computer equipment, for the costs of publications or printing, for field trips or for principal investigators' salaries.

How to apply

Applications are considered twice a year by the Research and Academic Development Committee. The deadlines are: 1 May (now extended to 30 June for 2020) and 30 November.

Please use the application form available on this page.

For the Research Grant please include:

• Background to the research
• Methodology and analysis
• Power calculations (as appropriate)
• Timeframe for research
• Potential problems which may be encountered and how these will be overcome
• Who will be supporting this research locally and who will be acting as mentor/supervisor
• Confirmation that the proposed research has approval from the Local Ethics Research Committee (if required).

For the Travel Grant please include:

• Specific reasons for the need to travel to that particular unit/department which cannot be achieved locally elsewhere
• The exact aims of the visit and how will these be achieved
• Whether study leave (if applicable) has been applied for and granted (attach evidence)

Email enquiries or applications and supporting documents to scientificofficer [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk (Scientific Officer) or call 020 7608 8574.

Successful applicants will be required to submit a six monthly interim report and on completion of their project will be asked to give a small presentation either to the Research and Academic Development Committee or at a BGS bi -annual conference.