WELLBEING OF WOMEN/ROYAL COLLEGE OF MIDWIVESENTRY-LEVEL RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP 2017
Supported by the Burdett Trust for Nursing
GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS
Applicants are strongly advised to read these guidelines before they commence writing their application and to note the conditions of acceptance. Failure to follow the format suggested by the guidelines may reduce an applicant's chance of success and may result in applications being rejected.
The upper limit for this award is £10,000.
ABOUT WELLBEING OF WOMEN
Wellbeing of Women funds basic science and clinical research on all aspects of obstetrics, gynaecology and midwifery. Studies in the area of gynaecological endocrinology, urology and oncology are all appropriate to our funding.
ABOUT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MIDWIVES (RCM)
The RCM is the professional association and trade union representing the interests of midwives and maternity support workers in the UK We promote excellence, innovation and leadership in the care of childbearing women, the newborn and their families, nationally and internationally.Our mission is to enhance the confidence, professional practice and influence of midwives for the benefit of child-bearing women and their families.
ABOUT THE BURDETT TRUST FOR NURSING
The Burdett Trust for Nursing is an independent charitable trust named after Sir Henry Burdett KCB, the founder of the Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses (RNPFN). The Trust was set up in 2002 in recognition of the foundation, philosophy and structure of the RNPFN.
Nurses, midwives and the allied health professions make up the majority of the healthcare workforce and play a pivotal role in direct care to patients. The Trust makes grants in support of nurse-led projects, using its funds to empower nurses and make significant improvements to the patient care environment.
THE SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME
Applicability
Applications are invited for Entry-Level Research Scholarships to enable candidates to develop research interests in Midwifery, maternity services, pregnancy, childbirth and women’s health. This work must be undertaken in the UK. The aim of these awards is to provide ‘pump-priming’ funds to enable candidates to be exposed to a research environment, or to obtain pilot data for bids for definitive funding. Applicants would normally be new to the research discipline, and will not previously have been heavily involved in substantial or funded research projects.
Wellbeing of Women in association with the Royal College of Midwives is inviting applications for training in midwifery, maternity services, basic science, clinical or translational research including explanatory and feasibility studies in one of the following areas:
- Pregnancy, birth and the post partum period, including midwifery practice
2.Public health relating to pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period
Scholarships consist of a single payment up to a maximum of £10,000 to contribute to salary and/or research costs.
The ELS is not intended as a ‘top-up’ for existing grants. It is aimed at midwives who already have their academic time funded and who would benefit from consumable, equipment or supervisory salary support in order to undertake their own research study. However, if appropriate, the ELS can be used for some of the applicant’s salary. It is anticipated that award of an ELS would allow the study to be adopted onto the NIHR research portfolio and access to NHS Service Support Costs.
Successful completion of an Entry-level Research Scholarship will be viewed positively should an applicant subsequently choose to apply for a Wellbeing of Women Research Training Fellowship.
We would hope that applicants will be based in a department which has at least a silver Athena Swan award.
Level of Award
Applications may be made for the financial support of work that is already in progress or for a new project.
The award of a Scholarship is subject to the acceptance of Wellbeing of Women’s Terms and Conditions for Research Grants.
Restrictions
The following restrictions apply to Entry-level Research Scholarships:
- Funds will not be released without evidence of ethics committee support.
- We do not pay indirect costs or NHS Service Support Costs.
- Charges for administration by University or NHS Authorities will not be met.
- We do not cover University Fees.
- The ELS is not intended to fund PhDs – it is aimed at applicants who are pre-PhD
- Applicants must be registered with the RCM
Successful Applicants
Please be aware that successful applicants will be expected to reasonably aid Wellbeing of Women and the Royal College of Midwives with publicity and fundraising. This may involve activities such as providing quotes and/or ‘lay’ write-ups, speaking at our events or hosting visits at your lab. While we would ensure that any requests were not excessive or disruptive, by applying you are agreeing to reasonable assistance in principle
COMPLETING THE APPLICATION FORM
Please complete the application form for Wellbeing of Women/Royal College of Midwives Entry-level Research Scholarship 2017using font size 10-12 pt throughout.
Please save two copies of the application – one as a Word document and one as a PDF. Email both versions to , and send 1 original signed version of the completed form to Philip Matusavage Research Manager, Wellbeing of Women, at First Floor, Fairgate House, 78 New Oxford Street London WC1A 1HBby the closing date. The closing date applies to all copies so please obtain all signatures as early as possible.
The closing date for applications is 3.00 p.m. on Friday 14th April 2017
LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. PLEASE OBTAIN ALL NECESSARY SIGNATURES ASAP.
The points below relate to specific numbered sections of the application form:
- Application Details
Midwifery academic Supervisor/Mentor: it is desirable that there be a academic midwifery supervisor, or midwifery buddy/mentor, in the academic supervisory team overseeing any midwifery ELS. This individual does not have to be geographically close – it is envisaged that they will provide support and advice and they should ideally be someone with research experience.
Proposed Department and Proposed Institution: This will be the point of contact for all correspondence.
Proposed Start Date: At this stage this may be an estimate. However it should be as accurate as possible.
Duration: Expected length of project in months
Total Funds Requested: This should be the total from point 4, Financial Information.
Title of Project: This should be as brief as possible and should be relevant to the work undertaken.
- The Applicant
2.5Postgraduate Career: Please do not include a separate CV. Details of previous posts must be contained within this section of the form, as well asa list of previously published or waiting for publication works. For ‘status’ please indicate if the article has been published, accepted for publication, submitted for publication or in preparation.
- About the Project
3.2Research Summary: Applicants must give a simple description up to 250 words, of
the proposed research. This summary may be used by any of the awarding bodies for publicity purposes. As a guideline, you may wish to describe the issues or condition to be studied, the nature of the proposed research, what the research is trying to achieve and its possible benefits in terms of improving women’s health or maternity care/services.
3.3Research to be undertaken: You should include the aims and objectives of the
research together with the techniques to be used and training to be undertaken.
4.Financial Information: The award is a single payment and the upper limit of funding is £10,000.
PLEASE NOTE:For research undertaken in the NHS you must be aware of and consider the AcoRD guidance on attributing research costs. Please discuss with relevant NHS Trusts and/or Clinical Research Networks in order to ensure correctly attributed costs. The guidance can be found here:
4.1Salary: The percentage of salary will in no case exceed the top of the Registrar scale (or equivalent); or Band 7 (AfC). The Research Grants or Finance Officer of the proposed institution must complete this section. The amount should be as accurate as possible and should include estimated pay awards.
4.2Expenses: The amount requested in addition to the Salary (4.1) must not exceed £10,000 overall.
- Approval for Research
5.1No funding will be released until a copy of anyrelevant Ethics Approval has been received by Wellbeing of Women.
5.2HFEA License Number: Projects involving the use of human embryos must show the HFEA license number, and in addition, documentary evidence of HFEA approval for the project must be enclosed.
5.6Wherever possible, Wellbeing of Women would prefer the use of procedures and techniques that avoid the use of animals, but where this is not possible, the minimum number of animals that will give valid results in any experiment should be used. It is required that all general and local regulations relating to the use of experimental animals will be observed.
6.Certificates
No application can be accepted without completion of this section by the Applicant his or her Head of Department and the Finance Officer responsible for administering the grant.
6.4For research involving NHS patients, a signature is needed from the R&D Director or Deputy confirming that the project will be carried within the NHS research governance framework.
7.Lay Description
Applicants must give a description of the research to be undertaken which will be understandable by an educated lay audience. You should detail the problem to be addressed, the aims and objectives of the research together with the techniques to be used. This may be used for publicity purposes by any of the awarding bodies.
Please devote some time to this section – it is extremely important and the quality of the lay summary is considered in awarding the grants. The final decision in awarding grants is taken by our Trustee Board which consists predominantly of lay members. Please use up to two pages of A4.
For monitoring purposes, please could you enter how you became aware of this award.
Please note that these guidelines must be strictly adhered to. Failure to do so (such as: wrong font size; excessive word count; disallowed additional materials) will be taken into account. Applications may be and have previouslybeen rejected for deviation from guidelines.