Healthcare Professional Clinical Research Training Fellowships Application Form - Barts Charity
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Healthcare Professional Clinical Research Training Fellowships Application Form

Healthcare Professional Clinical Research Training Fellowship

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This form has either already been submitted OR is currently unavailable for submission. For assistance, please contact funding@bartscharity.org.uk.

The Prospective Fellow is considered the Lead Applicant and is responsible for completing this application form, with support from their Supervisory team.

Before starting your application, please familiarise yourself with:

You must complete this online application and provide the following documents as attachments. 

  • Letters of support. See page 14 for details.
  • Additional project information (e.g. references, figures, Gantt chart and SoECAT). See page 14 for more details.
  • Detailed cost breakdown template. This must be downloaded, completed and attached to the form. The application must be costed and agreed by the Queen Mary University of London Joint Research Management Office (JRMO) or the City, University of London Research Support Services. You must contact the relevant team well in advance of the deadline to allow enough time to provide your costing. See page 15 for more details.

If you have any questions, please contact funding@bartscharity.org.uk.


Do get in touch if we can support you in the application process by applying reasonable adjustments.


You can download a sample version of the form to help you prepare your application, but you must complete and submit the online form for Barts Charity to consider your application. 


Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are must be completed in order to submit the form.

Checks

In ticking this you as the Lead Applicant confirm that:



Section 1: Application Summary





Guidance: If your application is successful, this is the organisation that will be responsible for administering the award. This is usually the Prospective Fellow’s substantive employer for the duration of the Fellowship. If this is not the case, you must discuss your situation with Barts Charity’s Funding & Impact Team before submitting an application.

Guidance: This date should be as realistic as possible, taking into account the application assessment process as well as appropriate estimates for the time required to set up the project (e.g. receive ethical approval etc). You may adjust your start date if your application is successful.

Guidance: We offer flexible research career opportunities, and you can request flexible and part-time working. Your employing organisation must agree to the working arrangement. You must spend at least 0.5FTE on the Fellowship.


Guidance Applicants can request funding for 36 months full-time, pro-rated if you wish to undertake the Fellowship part-time. If the Fellowship is taken up on a full-time basis, you may spend up to 20% of your time undertaking clinical duties to maintain clinical competencies.

Your application must be reviewed and electronically approved by a Finance Manager at your organisation with appropriate delegated authority. Please confirm their name and email address here. 

When you submit your application, they will be sent a copy of the application form and asked to approve it before the application is submitted to Barts Charity. The application needs to be submitted to us by 5pm on the day of the deadline.

We will confirm receipt of the application after the Finance Manager has approved it. 




Your application will need to be reviewed and electronically approved by the Legally Responsible Contact at the Joint Research Management Office (JRMO) - Coleen Colechin (c.g.colechin@qmul.ac.uk).

When you submit this application, they will be sent a copy of the application form and asked to approve it before the application is submitted to Barts Charity. The application needs to be submitted to us by 5pm on the day of the deadline.

We will confirm receipt of the application after the Legally Responsible Contact  has approved it. 




Section 2: Project Summary


Guidance: Succinctly outline the project, including the background to the problem, key aim(s) and objective(s), your methodology/plans for delivery and anticipated outputs/benefits.

Guidance: We may use this to describe your project through our communication channels (such as our website) and to describe your project to the public, supporters, donors and our Trustees. You should avoid unnecessary jargon, abbreviations and technical terms wherever possible. If you have to use them provide a clear explanation. Further guidance on writing a lay summary, and other useful resources can be found through the INVOLVE ‘Make it Clear’ Campaign.

Section 3: Related Applications


Guidance: If this or a similar application has been considered by another organisation recently (decision within 6 months of this application deadline), please select 'Yes'. This might include, for example, the NHS or an external funding body.



Guidance: Please upload this letter as a PDF.

Section 4: Prospective Fellow and Supervisory Team

Guidance: The Prospective Fellow:

  • must be (or plan to be) an employee of Barts Health NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) or City, University of London (City) and 
  • must plan to register for a PhD at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD), QMUL or the School of Health and Psychological Sciences, City.

The Prospective Fellow must have a Primary Supervisor with a contract of employment at FMD or City for the duration of the proposed grant. The Primary Supervisor will act as Sponsor for this application and, if successful, will be responsible for the administration of the grant.


The Secondary Supervisor can be based at any organisation, provided that the expertise they bring to the project is justified.


Additional collaborators can be identified to support the work proposed in this application.


All supervisors must provide the Fellow with guidance and support during the application process and grant, if successful.





















Guidance: We encourage applications from individuals who have taken career breaks. We want to ensure that any such breaks are taken into account when we consider your track record. We are not asking for the reasons for this break so please do not provide these here, including sharing any sensitive personal health information.

Any disruption to your usual work caused by the coronavirus pandemic should be included here.










Guidance: We expect all Fellows to be registered with their relevant healthcare regulator. If you are not registered with a regulator, please use the questions below to state where and when you intend to complete your registration during the Fellowship. 




Guidance: If the Fellowship is intended to be taken up on a full-time basis, up to 20% of the Fellow’s time can be spent on clinical duties. If the Fellowship is intended to be taken up part-time, the time in which Barts Charity supports the Fellow’s salary must be projected for this Fellowship.

If you are currently in clinical training or hold a clinical post, you must upload a letter from the appropriate authority (e.g. Training Programme Director, Clinical Director, Director of Nursing, AHP lead or equivalent; see page 14 for more details):
  • confirming that you, the Prospective Fellow, will be released from any training or clinical requirements for the duration of the Fellowship
  • clearly explaining the type and extent of clinical work (i.e. non-research time) to be undertaken during the Fellowship.



Guidance: Research outputs may include (but are not limited to):

  • Peer-reviewed publications and preprints

  • Datasets, software and research materials

  • Inventions, patents and commercial activity.

D   Do NOT add the journal impact factor, number of citations or other article level metrics to this list.




Section 4a continued: Prospective Fellow



Guidance: You should consider including details of:
  • Research you have undertaken to date (making clear what your role was), the research methods you have experience of, and the outputs and impact of the research you have been involved in. Research outputs may include (but are not limited to):
    1. Abstracts, posters or oral presentations at conferences
    2. Peer-reviewed publications and preprints
    3. Datasets, software and research materials
    4. Inventions, patents and commercial activity.
  • Your clinical experience to date and how it links to this research project
  • Any relevant awards and prizes you have received
  • Other skills and experience which highlight your suitability for the Fellowship you are applying for and which demonstrate your commitment to a clinical-academic career
  • Your short- and long-term research and clinical career aspirations and how the Fellowship will enable you to achieve them.

Section 4b: Supervisors

Guidance: 
The Primary Supervisor must provide guidance during the application process and will act as Sponsor if the application is successful, taking responsibility for the administration of the grant.

The Primary Supervisor must:
  • have a contract of employment (for an established post) and meet the requirements to supervise PhD students, at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, QMUL or City, University of London
  • have strong track record in research and training 
  • must provide a letter of support for this application - see page 14 for more details.
The Second Supervisor can be based at any organisation provided the expertise they bring to the project is justified. They must be committed to providing the Fellow with guidance and support during the application process and the grant, if successful. 
Supervisor's Details
















Guidance: We encourage applications from individuals who have taken career breaks. We want to ensure that any such breaks are taken into account when we consider your track record. We are not asking for the reasons for this break so please do not provide these here, including sharing any sensitive personal health information.

Any disruption to your usual work caused by the coronavirus pandemic should be included here.









Guidance: Research outputs may include (but are not limited to):

  • Peer-reviewed publications and preprints.

  • Datasets, software and research materials

  • Inventions, patents and commercial activity.






Guidance. You may include details of individuals who you did not directly line manage. In this case you should indicate the group within which the individual was based and state your role in their training.
Use the 'Add another response' button below to add details for the Second Supervisor.

Section 4c: Collaborations


Guidance: Collaborators may contribute additional expertise, access to resources, materials, access to technology or similar to support the project. The named collaborators may be replaced with suitable alternatives, should it be necessary or appropriate to do so.


Guidance: We do not require letters of support from collaborators for this application.


Guidance: Applicants must work with their local Technology Transfer office to ensure that any commercial partnerships are managed appropriately.

Section 5: Project Details

This section forms the main body of the proposal and must contain all the key information about the planned research project. It consists of the following subsections:
  • Project description
  • Projects involving human participants
  • Research involving animals.
  • Additional questions 
You should use the subsections to best describe your project plans, while avoiding repetition.

Your application will be read by a range of people including experts in the field as well as individuals who may not know the context of your application in detail. Please write your application with this in mind.

References, Gantt charts, figures and any other supporting information referred to must be uploaded as attachments. See page 14 for more details.

Provide a detailed description of: 

  1. the background, rationale, context or need for this project 
  2. the key aims and objectives
  3. the project plan, including the approach and methodology
  4. the expected outcomes/outputs/benefits
  5. the training the Prospective Fellow will receive, and who will support this.


Guidance: 


Please structure this section following the headings above. 


1. Background, rationale, context or need 

Describe the background to the project and how the need for intervention in this area has arisen. In this section please provide the evidence base/justification for the proposal, including the current state of the field/area. It is important to include details of any preliminary work (published or unpublished) that has led up to this proposal. Include citations, where appropriate, to the literature as well as your own work (including to figures/data uploaded as additional information).


2. Key aims and objectives

Describe the key research questions/hypothesis that you will address through this work and indicate how this work will lead to progress in the field.


3. Project plan 

Clearly explain how you will address your project’s aims/objectives. Your project plan should give a clear indication of the intended chapters of your thesis.


Provide enough information to demonstrate why you consider your approach is likely to be successful, including details of any relevant contingency plans. Include, as appropriate:

  • justification for the choice of (qualitative/quantitative/mixed) methodology/ies and detail how they will be used/applied to address your questions/hypothesis
  • details of any validation already undertaken or rationale for using the selected protocols
  • the proposed sample size (including power calculations) and/or details of (statistical) analysis plans. Where you have received input from an expert statistician, please include their details.
  • method(s) for sample selection
  • potential risks and associated mitigation plans
  • details of any milestones.

If you are requesting support for project involving human participants, you must provide full details, including study design, in the 'Details of studies involving human participants' section of the form.


If you are requesting support for research involving animals protected by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 (ASPA), you must provide full details in the ‘Research involving animals’ section of the form.


4. Expected outcomes/outputs/benefits

Outline the key outcomes/outputs/benefits that are expected to arise from this project.


5. Training and support 

Describe the training that you will need to successfully complete the Fellowship and support your career development. You should include details of:

  • plans to acquire the broad range of skills required to complete a PhD (e.g. clinical, academic, patient/public engagement and involvement skills etc) 
  • how this training will be delivered (e.g. will you attend a course or will a mentor provide direct training)
  • where training or mentorship will be provided by a specific person, please state their name and expertise.

Section 5b: Projects involving human participants and the NHS



Guidance: The World Health Organization defines a clinical trial as: “any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes. Interventions include, but are not restricted to, drugs, cells and other biological products, surgical procedures, devices, behavioural treatments, process-of-care changes, preventive care, etc.” 
Expectations for clinical trials

Guidance: We expect clinical trials to be designed to ensure that the results are applicable to the population group(s) (including under-served groups) for whom the intervention is intended. 


We encourage applicants to use the NIHR INCLUDE Framework in the trial design stage to identify which groups should be included in the research, potential challenges to their inclusion and ways to address the identified challenges. Additional costs related to addressing identified challenges may be included in this application.

 

Additional guidance, including worksheets and examples, can be found here.


You should include details of how you have integrated elements of this framework in your trial design in your answers below.



Guidance: Types of interventions can include but are not restricted to: screening procedures; collection of biological samples; biometric and clinical data; experimental challenges; pharmacological or behavioural treatments; process-of-care-changes.


Guidance: Provide evidence to support your recruitment plan. A letter of support from each centre confirming their willingness to participate should be added as an attachment in the Collaborators section. If you have identified any potential challenges to the inclusion of appropriate patient groups, you can include appropriate costs to overcome these challenges within this application.





Guidance: The sponsor is the organisation that takes responsibility for the design, conduct and management of the research. The sponsor provides the indemnity and insurance for the study, protecting the research team and study participants from negligent and non-negligent harm. Barts Charity cannot fulfil this role.


Guidance: When considered necessary by an AcoRD specialist, a completed Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Template (SoECAT) must be submitted as a part of the application. When a completed SoECAT is not considered necessary by an AcoRD specialist, only submit the front page (study information tab). This must be signed off by an AcoRD specialist. You can submit your SoECAT whilst we are reviewing your application, but we cannot make a funding decision without it.


Upload a PDF of the full form or just the front page (study information tab) as per your instructions from an AcoRD specialist. 

Section 5c: Research involving animals

Guidance: We support the AMRC principles on the use of animals in research as outlined in this statement.

 

Applicants are expected to be familiar with the relevant NC3R guidelines and have applied them to this project. More information is available on the NC3Rs website.

 

If your project involves primates, cats, dogs, equidae, pigs or their data, please contact the Funding & Impact team for advice before applying. 


Use CTRL + Click to select multiple options.

Provide a justification for the use of animals in this project, including:

  • why animal use is necessary for this work

  • why the species to be used is most appropriate for the planned work

  • how the principles and guidelines set out by the NC3Rs have been incorporated into the project design.

  • research projects involving animals should include both sexes unless there is a strong rationale for not doing so, this information should be detailed within this section.

(500 words)





Section 5d: Additional questions 

Patient and public involvement and engagement
Guidance: As a local funder, effective involvement and engagement of patients and the public in the work we fund is very important to us. 

The UK Standards for Public Involvement has produced detailed guidance and best practise case studies related to involving and engaging patients and the public in research. This includes processes, procedures and values necessary to support suitable public and patient involvement. We recommend that you review this guidance before planning any involvement activities.

Patients and the public should be involved and/or engaged in every stage of a project, from developing a proposal through project delivery to evaluation and dissemination.

If the main aim of your project is to support the wellbeing, recruitment, training and/or retention of Barts Health NHS Trust employees and volunteers, plans to involve and engage these groups should also be considered here.

Costs related to involvement and engagement within your project can be funded by this grant and should be detailed in the finance section of this application form.


Specific guidance for patient and public involvement in lab-based projects can be found here.

Guidance: Outline your approach to the involvement and engagement of patients and public in all stages of the project, including:
• Who will be/has been involved and why?
• Why your approach to patient and public involvement is appropriate for this project?
• Details of how you will support and enable patient and public involvement and engagement in your project (e.g., payments, training).

Where you have decided not to include patients and/or the public in the development, delivery and/or dissemination of the project, you must explain why in this answer.
Outputs with patentable potential


Guidance: Applicants must work with their local Technology Transfer office to ensure that any patentable or commercially exploitable results are managed appropriately.
Patient Benefit

Approximately how many patients will benefit from this project? Please provide:

  • evidence of how this figure has been derived 
  • details of the population who will benefit (e.g. age, demographic profile, location or disease/staff profile)
  • details of patients/staff who may benefit within Barts Health NHS Trust specifically, if applicable.

Guidance: If possible, provide the number of patients that would benefit per year in the UK. Where this is not possible, please state the units that you have used.

Section 5e: Attachments 

Before you upload a document, please convert it to PDF and ensure that the information is
clear and easy to read in that format.

Application attachments


Upload a list of the sources cited in the Project Description. Include all authors, the full title of each publication, journal title, year, volume and pages. For citations to preprints, state 'Preprint', the repository name and the article persistent identifier (for example DOI).

Include details of major milestones and dependencies. 

Preliminary data, figures, schema and other supporting information. This document is not included in the word counts of the Project Description. This document must not exceed one A4 page (or two A4 pages if your project involves human participants). If you exceed these limits, we will return the application to you so that you can reduce its length.

Letters of support


Upload a letter of support from the Primary Supervisor. The letter must be signed and on headed paper. It should include:
• an assessment of the calibre of the Prospective Fellow and why they are a suitable candidate for this Fellowship, including how the proposed research relates to their (clinical/research) experience, abilities and career aspirations 
• brief details of how the proposed work relates to other research carried out in your lab and the wider centre/department/institute
• details of how the Prospective Fellow will be supported during the Fellowship and in the pursuit of a clinical academic career by you, the Second Supervisor and members of your teams
• the guarantee of space and access to core facilities.

Upload a letter of support from the appropriate authority (e.g. Clinical Director, Service Manager, Director of Nursing, AHP Lead, Training Programme Direct or equivalent). The letter must be signed an on headed paper. It should include:
• confirmation that the Prospective Fellow will be released from any training and/or clinical requirements for the duration of the Fellowship, if awarded
• (if applicable) details of any clinical work (i.e. non-research activities) to be undertaken during the Fellowship, clearly specify the type(s) of activity and the time required. 

Section 6: Project Finances

Guidance:

  • We will fund only the direct costs of the project.

  • All requested costs must be justified in the context of the proposal.

  • You must obtain accurate costs from the Joint Research Management Office  (JRMO, Queen Mary University of London/Barts Health) or the Research Support Services at City, University of London.

  • All costs requested must be in line with Barts Charity's Cost Policy.

  • The table below must be used to summarise the costs requested from Barts Charity, with a detailed breakdown provided using this template.  

  • We expect that the majority of the project’s costs would be incurred in Barts Health NHS Trust, QMUL's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry or City University School of Health and Psychological Sciences. We will consider providing funds to other collaborating organisations on a case-by-case basis. Where agreed by the Charity, this collaboration will need to be managed by the Administering Organisation as a sub-contract. 

  • All amounts below must be shown as whole numbers and in pound sterling (£).


Guidance: If your Administering Organisation has calculated the full economic cost (FEC) of this proposal, please include the total calculated here. Barts Charity will only pay Directly Incurred costs as per FEC calculations. You should also include the value of contributions from other sources (e.g. other funders or industry partners). 

Guidance: If your Administering Organisation has calculated the FEC for this proposal, please state the  sum of Indirect and Directly Allocated costs calculated for this project and state that these will be covered by the Administering Organisation. For all other contributions, please provide a list of the value and source of funding as well as what this will cover. 

Please ensure the breakdown below matches the Amount Requested from Barts Charity.

All amounts below must be shown as whole numbers and in pound sterling (£).
Year 1 (£)
Fellow's Salary
Materials and Consumables
Equipment
Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement
Publications/ Dissemination
Animals
Other

Provide a breakdown of costs requested from Barts Charity using the following cost categories.

You must ensure the breakdown matches the Amount requested from Barts Charity.

All amounts below must be shown as whole numbers and in pound sterling (£).

Year 1 to 3
Year 1 (£) Year 2 (£) Year 3  (£)
Fellow's Salary
Materials and Consumables
Equipment
Public and Patient  Involvement and Engagement
Publications/ Dissemination
Animals
Other
Year 4 to 6
Year 4  (£) Year 5  (£) Year 6  (£)
Fellow's Salary
Materials and Consumables
Equipment
Public and Patient  Involvement and Engagement
Publications/ Dissemination
Animals
Other


This figure is the sum of those provided in the cost breakdown above. You must ensure that this field matches the amount entered into the 'Amount requested from Barts Charity' field. 


Guidance: Upload this file as a PDF. Please append any quotes to this file.

Guidance: Provide a brief description and project-specific justification of the costs requested from Barts Charity, using the budget headings above to structure your answer.


Full details of allowed/disallowed costs is available in Barts Charity’s Cost Policy.


The following information should be included for specific budget headings:


Salary 

  • We will provide funds to cover the actual cost of employing the Fellow. No other salary may be requested.
  • If the post is part-time, the Basic Starting Salary must be quoted on a pro rata basis.
Materials and Consumables
  • You may request up to £10,000 per year for Materials and Consumables.
  • Provide a breakdown of the costs requested and a project-specific justification for all costs. 

Equipment

  • This grant cannot be used to purchase standard laboratory equipment.

Public and Patient  Involvement and Engagement

  • We encourage the involvement of patients and the public in the design and delivery of your project. You may request funds to support these activities.

Section 7: Ethics and Approvals

Ethics and regulatory approval


Guidance: You must include details of: 1) the Committee or regulator, 2) the date of (actual/planned) application(s) and 3) the outcome or date of expected outcome.  
We reserve the right to request copies of relevant approval documents at any point during the lifetime of the grant.
Research involving human participants, human biological material and identifiable data


Internal Barts Health NHS Trust Approval

Guidance: We expect applicants to seek these approvals from any internal governance groups before your application is considered by the Charity. We will require their support/approval before we make a decision on your application. Contact the Funding & Impact team if you need advice regarding which groups to approach.

Potential for misuse

Is there a potential for the outcomes of this project to be misused for harmful purposes?

Conflicts of interest

Guidance: Applicants and organisations must identify and effectively manage any actual or potential conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest exists when an individual’s personal interests, those of their family, or their loyalties to another person or organisation, may (or may reasonably appear to) unduly influence or affect a decision. Examples include, but are not limited to, secondary employment, consultancy, financial or commercial gain (pensions, shareholdings, directorships, voting rights), honoraria, etc. You should confirm that each case has been disclosed to your organisation. If you are satisfied that there are no issues, enter N/A.

Section 8: Peer review


We will seek expert review of your application to support our assessment of your application. 

Guidance: We will not contact anyone with a potential conflict of interest with the Prospective Fellow and/or Supervisory Team. This includes, but is not limited to, a current or recent (within the last 3 years) working relationship, recent (within the last 3 years) shared publication(s), a close personal relationship or financial interests (such as shares) relevant to the application.

Diversity Monitoring 


Barts Charity is committed to ensuring that our decision-making processes are fair and free from bias. We ask that all applicants complete a short diversity questionnaire to allow us to monitor our progress against these aims.

Data collected will be held separately to your application and cannot be accessed by anyone involved with processing or assessing your application.

Each applicant will receive an email with further details and instructions on completing this survey shortly after the application is submitted. If an applicant has provided this data in the last two years, we will not ask them again. They may however request a form to update or remove this data but contacting funding@bartscharity.org.uk.

Submission and next steps

When you submit, your application will be sent to your Legally Responsible Contact (LRC, see page 3 of this form for more information) for approval. The LRC will then review your application and submit it to the Charity.

Your application must be received by 5pm on the day of the deadline.

The Prospective Fellow will be send a PDF copy of the data entered into this form.

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