We understand just how important researchers are in pushing the boundaries and producing ground-breaking results for the world of stroke. We would like you to become part of our stroke research community.

Apply

Applications must be submitted to our online award management system, unless otherwise stated.

On this page:
About our funding schemes
Regular funding rounds
Partnership grants
Frequently asked questions

About our funding schemes

Whether you’re a clinician or an academic, we’re keen to support you at every stage of your stroke research career: from beginning your research journey as a PhD student to leading a large multidisciplinary research team.

Our research awards offer a variety of opportunities for you to gain funding. Our current research portfolio totals over £10 million, and our priorities for funding include research into the pre-hospital, acute, secondary prevention care, and rehabilitation and long-term care of stroke survivors.


Our regular funding rounds

Open and ongoing funding schemes.

Postgraduate fellowships (PhD studentships): to get started in research

Currently closed for applicants
This round opens in autumn each year.

Are you a graduate looking to get a postgraduate research qualification (MPhil or PhD)? Do you plan to conduct stroke research into clinical and applied health, including social care research?

Our Postgraduate Fellowships give you the required skills to undertake an independent career in stroke research.

Find out more or apply now

Postdoctoral Fellowships: to establish yourself as an independent researcher

Currently closed for applicants.
This round opens in autumn each year.

Are you a Fellow planning to conduct stroke research into clinical and applied health, including social care research? Do you want to find answers to specific questions relating to day-to-day care practice that have the potential to impact on the health or well-being of people affected by stroke?

Our Postdoctoral Fellowships will give you the skills and training needed to develop an independent career in academic stroke research.

Find out more or apply now

Lectureships: when you're ready to lead your own research team

Currently closed for applicants
This round opens in autumn each year.

These positions play a critical role in establishing talented research leaders of the future across all disciplines relevant to stroke in the UK. For this programme, we have six different awards available covering lectureships and senior lectureships for clinicans, allied healthcare professionals and non-clinicians.

Find out more or apply now

Project grants: for multidisciplinary teams

Stroke Association project grant

Currently closed for applicants.
This round opens in summer each year.

Are you planning to conduct research with a clear pathway to impact and focus, that will benefit people affected by stroke?

We are looking to provide grants to projects that encompass the whole spectrum of stroke research: from prevention, through to treatment and rehabilitation, both in an acute setting and longer-term in the community.

Find out more or apply now


Currently on hold

Priority Programme Awards

Paused for applicants.

Our Priority Programme Awards aim to increase funding available for research in priority areas where there were, and still are, critical gaps in research evidence.

Find out more

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Our partnership grants

Currently open

Stroke Association/MRC Joint Clinical Training Fellowships

If you're looking to get started in research or establish yourself as an independant researcher.
Open for applicants.

Are you clinically trained and looking for training in stroke research?

Applications that propose research across the whole stroke pathway, including basic and pre-clinical applications, are accepted.

Further details and instructions for applicants can be found on the MRC website.

Stroke Association/NIHR themed call: Stroke Rehabilitation and Long Term Care

For multidisciplinary teams.
Paused for applicants.

Following the 2021 Priority Setting Partnership (PSP), the Stroke Association is partnering with NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) to fund collaborative, multi-disciplinary programmes of applied research across health and social care settings which aim to address national priorities for adult stroke.

Further details and instructions for applicants can be found on the NIHR website.

Stroke Association/British Heart Foundation Joint Clinical Study in Stroke

For multidisciplinary teams.
Open for applicants.

We have a long-running partnership with British Heart Foundation (BHF) to fund clinical trials and observational studies of stroke patients. Our joint funding is administered by the BHF Clinical Study Grants scheme.

Eligibility information, the full timeline, and details of how to apply can be found on the BHF Clinical Study Grant webpage.


Currently on hold

Stroke Association/Association of British Neurologists Joint Clinical Research Training Fellowships

Paused for applicants.

These 3-year clinical research fellowships in neurological disciplines are open to all physicians, including those interested in stroke. The fellowship can address an aspect of the causes, prevention and/or treatment of stroke, resulting in a PhD.

Applications are accepted which propose research across the whole stroke pathway, including basic and pre-clinical applications.

The application form and terms and conditions (which must be read before completing your application) can be found on the ABN website.


No longer open

Paused for applicants.

Are you a healthcare professional in England looking for dedicated time to develop an application for a doctoral-level training Fellowship? This fellowship provides a training programme to develop the skills you need to apply for doctoral-level funding.

Find out more

Closed for applicants.

Awards made: December 2020.

This call focused on funding research addressing these questions, to understand the potential causal links and mechanisms between COVID-19 and stroke.

Find out more

Closed for applicants.

The Stroke Association partnered with Fight for Sight to jointly fund a Project Grant Award for research to address visual impairment associated with stroke.

Find out about the project we funded through this programme: Is visual scanning training an effective treatment for stroke survivors with hemianopia?(link is external)

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Frequently asked questions

Select a heading below to find out more.

We expect that all applicants will have involved people affected by stroke in the planning and development stages of their funding application and will continue to do so should their application be successful.

This involvement should be meaningful, and people affected by stroke should have a real opportunity to actively shape your research and its design. Participation in clinical trials is not included in our definition of involvement activity.

For information on the national involvement guidelines we expect applications to follow please see the NIHR Briefing notes for researchers - public involvement in NHS, health and social care research and UK Standards for Public Involvement

Find out more about how we can help you to involve people affected by stroke in your work.

Our charity passed the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) Peer Review Audit for 2020.

The audit allows AMRC and its member charities to demonstrate to stakeholders, including government, researchers, funders and donors, our commitment to the highest standards of accountability and probity in the allocation of grants and awards for research. Each submission is assessed against our membership criteria, including our five principles of peer review: accountability, balance, independence, rotation and impartiality.

AMRC Certificate

The Stroke Association is part of AMRC Open Research, an open-access publishing platform. The platform is hosted and managed by F1000 Research.

It provides a hub for all outputs from charity-funded research by enabling researchers to publish outputs, including articles, posters, slides, protocols, datasets etc. The platform has an open peer-review process. This can allow researchers more flexibility, transparency and quicker publication, removing some of the barriers to publishing in traditional journals.

To find out about AMRC Open Research, how to publish and FAQs, please visit the AMRC Open Research website.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shifted priorities for research in the UK and around the world. We continue to monitor the impacts on stroke research. For more information, you can read about our support for stroke researchers and changes to our funding for research.

Want to know more about successful grant applications to us or find out about the research happening in your region or research area? You can read about them on our research projects page.