One of the challenges that can limit participation in research is funding - you need money to pay your salary, for the research itself (“research consumables”) and potentially other costs (e.g. university overheads, PhD fees - etc). In some
cases, the research group you are joining might have enough funding to cover these - but in other cases, you might be expected to apply for your own research funding.
The links above provide information on funding sources that might be relevant to you at different stages of your research journey, from larger grants that cover three or four years of PhD or post-doctoral funding, to smaller grants that might
cover conference expenses or stand-alone 1-year research projects.
Funding opportunities change all the time, so it’s useful to have a list of potential schemes you can apply for, how much funding they provide, what the money can be spent on (e.g. your salary, research consumables, other staff, etc), deadlines
for submission, and decision dates (on whether your application has been successful - or not). The process of applying for research funding is competitive, and so it can be advantageous to make multiple, simultaneous applications; having
a list of available options can therefore be helpful in making a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C… etc. The most up-to-date information can often be found on the relevant funder webpages, and most grants will have a named contact, who you can contact
for further information. It is also worth keeping an eye on Twitter and other social media platforms, as these are increasingly used to advertise relevant opportunities.
When applying for a grant, especially some of the larger ones, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to complete the application (in the order of months), as some of these can ask for a lot of detail. Your research department should be
able to provide help and guidance with costings (for example, via a departmental or finance administrator). With regard to salary, it’s worth making sure that your salary is on a clinical PhD scale, rather than a non-clinical PhD scale,
as this can make a big difference; your departmental administrator might not be familiar with the difference and have only dealt with non-clinical PhD students previously, so do double check! Most institutions will have some form of internal
sign off that needs to happen before the grant can be submitted; this provides an opportunity for the university (often the Research Office, or equivalent) to check that the figures add up. This can sometimes take a few weeks (or even
longer!), so keep this in mind when planning for the submission deadline, and ask your departmental administrator (or equivalent) about the timescales involved so you can factor this in.
Applying for grants is competitive, and many applications are unfortunately not successful, and failure is often the norm. It can be extremely demoralising when an application is unsuccessful, especially given the time and effort involved
in putting it together. An unsuccessful application is not a reflection of you or your research! The key is to absorb any feedback provided (are there ways in which you can optimise you research plans, from a scientific perspective?) and
to keep trying - there are huge range of funding opportunities available, and eventually you will find the right one for you and your project.
Good luck!
