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Applications must be submitted to our online award management system.
1. Summary
The Stroke Association wishes to fund project grants which clearly address priorities for stroke research within the top ten topics from the James Lind Alliance (JLA) 2021 Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) for either prevention and acute care, or rehabilitation and long-term care. We are also looking for applications in childhood stroke that fall under the priorities of the Childhood Neurological Disabilities PSP Top 10. We seek applications for projects costing up to £270,000 which can be completed over an approximately three-year period.
Stroke Priority Setting Partnership: Shaping stroke research to rebuild lives
2. Background
There has been encouraging progress in stroke care driven by research over the last three decades, yet stroke remains a leading cause of death and complex disability. Through research, we can improve treatment and care where people affected by stroke need it most. It will also tackle the need to reduce the impact of stroke on health and social services, and wider society. We know that uncertainties within the evidence base act as a roadblock to reducing the devastating effects of stroke. In order to prioritise these research uncertainties, The JLA PSP for stroke, led by the Stroke Association, brought stroke survivors and carers together with professionals across the stroke pathway, including GPs, neurologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Together, they submitted and prioritised almost 4,000 questions about stroke in adults. This process has given us two lists of 10 priority areas: the first in prevention and acute care, and the second in rehabilitation and long-term care, ranked in order of importance.
The scope of the Stroke PSP only included adults and not paediatric stroke. However, in 2022 the British Paediatric Neurology Association completed a JLA Childhood Neurological Disabilities PSP. This set the Top Ten UK research priorities in childhood neurological disorders, including stroke. There is only a limited amount of childhood stroke research underway, therefore we wish to promote research in paediatric stroke in this call.
Stroke Association/Health and Care Research Wales Partnership Award
While all applications from Wales are encouraged and will be assessed on their own merits, under our partnership with Health and Care Research Wales, we expect to jointly fund at least one application from Wales through this call, subject to the quality threshold for funding being met.
3. Scope of Funding
We wish to fund research with a clear pathway to impact and focus on benefits to people affected by stroke for up to three years in duration. In order to be eligible, the pathway leading to impact upon one or more of the Top 10 PSP priorities (either Stroke or Childhood Neurological Disabilities) must be clearly and specifically demonstrated. In most cases, we expect a clear plan for further funding from national research funding bodies to build the evidence base following this research leading to effective implementation into the healthcare system to benefit stroke survivors.
We are seeking robustly designed projects which have been developed by a multi-disciplinary team consisting of relevant expertise and informed by people affected by stroke. Applications from teams who do not have the full range of relevant multidisciplinary expertise are unlikely to be competitive. We expect applicants who are developing or testing complex interventions, such as those used for rehabilitation, to closely follow the MRC and NIHR framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions.
The project may or may not include a clinical trial, depending upon the research question being addressed. The types of research we a looking to fund in this call can be found in Appendix A of the project grant guidance document. It is expected that applicants will consider value for money when considering the costs of the research in relation to the methods, and request funding up to £270,000 accordingly.
4. Proposed areas of interest
Read about the 2021 JLA PSP for Stroke topic areas.
Read about the 2022 JLA PSP for Childhood Neurological Disorders. Any applications addressing one or more of these priorities must have a clear link to stroke prevention, treatment or care.
5. Award amount and duration
These awards are for up to £270,000, over a period of up to 3 years.
6. Deadline
Project Grant applications will be adjudicated using a two-stage process.
Deadline for applications
Stage 1: 21 August 2023
Stage 2: 8 December 2023
7. Patient and Public Involvement (PPI)
We define involvement according to NIHR, "as an active partnership between patients, carers and members of the public with researchers that influences and shapes research."
We expect that all applicants will have involved people affected by stroke in the planning and development stages of their funding application and explain how they will embed involvement in their work going forward, should the application be successful.
This involvement should be meaningful, and people affected by stroke should have a real opportunity to contribute to research. We expect stage one applications to clearly explain the purpose of involvement related to the research proposal, who will be involved and at what stages of the research. Find out more about how we can help you to involve people affected by stroke in your work or contact Dan Taylor, Research Involvement Lead at daniel.taylor@stroke.org.uk.
8. Eligibility
- Primary organisation:
Stroke Association Awards must be carried out at Universities, NHS Trusts, Statutory Social Care Organisations or other Research Institutions within Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Your application's primary organisation should be the place where the award will be based. Usually, this refers to the organisation which holds the Lead applicant's employment contract and will administer invoicing for the award.
- Lead Applicant:
The Lead applicant must be a senior researcher holding a PhD (or equivalent) with a track record of managing grants, delivering research studies and a strong publication record. Peer reviewers will judge the expertise and suitability of the applicant and co-applicant team.
The salary of the Lead applicant has to be guaranteed for the duration of the proposed programme. Therefore, the Lead applicant's salary cannot be requested in the budget.
- Co-Lead Applicant:
A Co-Lead applicant option is available, although not compulsory. A Co-lead is someone with the research knowledge/experience to lead a grant, but with limited or no experience of leading a research team. The Co-lead will have managed their own research awards, and have a minimum of five years' research experience post-PhD.
For the full eligibility criteria, please see the guidance document.
9. Adjudication
The application process is in two stages, and will be administered via our online grant management system. For more details on the application and adjudication process, please see the guidance document.
10. Apply
Applications must be submitted to our online award management system.
To begin an application, please create an account. If you have previously interacted with us, then your email address may already be in the system. If you find that this is the case and you cannot remember your password, please click on 'Login' and 'Forgot password?' The system will then email you instructions to set yourself a password.
After you have logged in, please click on 'Application Portal' at the top of the page, then select which award you would like to start an application for, from the 'Click here to start an application' search bar in the blue panel on this page.
Our online award management system should work on all major browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge, but we would not recommend using Internet Explorer below version 9.
If you have any issues with the system or have any feedback, please email us at research@stroke.org.uk or call 020 7566 1543.
Please note: The Project Grant Stage 1 Application form will only become available on the opening date.
11. Our Adjudication
Members of the Research Awards Pool will be chosen based on the expertise required on adjudication panels. To avoid conflicts of interest, any RAP member applying for funding in any of our funding rounds will take no part in the adjudication of that round. All RAP members sign up to our RAP Code of Practice. All applications are sent out for external peer review, and all reviewers sign our Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest Policy.
Please find below the members of the adjudication panels for our Project Grants:
Project Grant Panel Members 2022/23
Prevention and Acute Care Panel:
Adrian Parry-Jones
Elizabeth Warburton
John Potter
Chris Price
Tim England
Arshad Majid
Else Charlotte Sandset
Bruno Frenguelli
Will Whiteley
Derrick Bennett
Stephen Morris
Rehabilitation and Long-term care panel:
Catherine Sackley
Jacqui Morris
Rachel Stockley
Unni Sveen
Stephanie Rossit
Heidi Feld
Clare Gordon
Angie Logan
Amanda Farrin
Jenny Hewison
Andy Vail
If you are a stroke research expert and would like to register your interest in becoming a member of our Research Awards Pool, please email us at research@stroke.org.uk.
12. Success rates for Project Grants
Details on the number of applications received and the number funded for this funding stream in previous rounds: