Applying for Funding

The JRES supports researchers in the development, due diligence, costing and approvals of research grant applications which are submitted by researchers employed by St George’s University and St George’s NHS Trust.

We are here to help you to put together the optimal grant application, using our research funding expertise to guide you through the process. Being a joint department – supporting both the Trust and University – we can help with both Trust and University aspects of applications, including all University and NHS costings, clinical research governance requirements, formal approvals and pathways to impact.

Most research grant applications require an institutional approval, and this needs to come from JRES for St George’s University and Trust. It is a requirement of both St George’s University and Trust that all research grant applications are authorised by JRES before their submission to the research funding body – whether or not the funder needs this approval.

The service which JRES provides depends on the nature of the research grant application. This may include but is not limited to the following.

• The costing of research grant applications, in accordance with the requirements of the project, the overheads offered by the funder, St George’s policies and the research funder’s rules (funding rules differ considerably across different research funders).
• Advice on the considerations where St George’s leads a multi-partner project, such as project coordination costs.
• Advice on the particular issues where St George’s leads a multi-site clinical research project, including sponsorship, monitoring, insurance and ensuring compliance with UK and overseas clinical research regulations. This can be particularly complex where there is an interventional clinical trial and may require the inclusion of a Clinical Trials Unit or Clinical Research Organisation.
• Advice on the particular considerations where international collaborators are involved, such as exchange rate and due diligence issues.
• Where the application is to an overseas funder (such as the EU or NIH), advising on their specific requirements, which can be quite different from UK funders.
• The development and approval of the Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Template (SoECAT) for all St George’s sponsored projects involving NHS patients, in accordance with NIHR requirements.
• Checking equipment costs and whether they are eligible for St George’s University co-funding.
• Approval of sponsorship in principle where required for clinical research projects.
• Support with ‘Pathways to Impact’ statements.
• Advising on and checking the non-scientific parts of research grant applications to ensure that they are completed in accordance with funder’s rules, and signposting to the relevant St George’s department where this falls outside of JRES.
• Ensuring that the eligibility requirements of the funder are met.

The Research Funding Officers in JRES are the points of contact for research grant applications – they will coordinate with others in JRES as necessary.

The Research Funding Officer’s details can be found on our about page.

In general, the longer the better – the more time we have, the more support we can provide for applications. As soon as you think that you may submit a grant, please let your Research Funding Officer in JRES know.

Deadlines for research grant applications are usually available months prior to the deadline, and well-planned grant applications will have a higher chance of success. JRES will signpost some of the major research funding opportunities.

Available research funding opportunities and their deadlines can be accessed directly by St George’s University and Trust researchers (anyone who has an @sgul.ac.uk or @stgeorges.nhs.uk email address) on the Research Professional database.

Research grant applications can vary a lot in their complexity and the time taken to support them, with clinical trial applications and those involving international research collaborations being particularly complex.

The minimum amount of time which JRES will need to support applications – as set out below - depends on the level of complexity. Please note that this timetable applies to

preliminary/stage one applications as well as full applications. These timescales are there to help to improve the chances of success, ensure that the requirements of the funding body and St George’s are met, and make sure that the project is properly costed and all considerations are taken into account so that it runs smoothly if awarded.

By the date set out below, JRES would ask to receive at least the main details of the project, including an outline of the proposed research and details of the collaborators involved – we don’t need to see a completed grant application at this stage.

If JRES receives the project details after the dates set out below, we can’t guarantee to be able to provide a full review of the application, nor can the University/Trust guarantee to accept any subsequent award. Should we receive project details less than five days before the deadline, then JRES may not be able to review the application at all. This will not apply in the event that the grant application call is announced at shorter notice than the minimum number of days required, or if St George’s is approached to join a project led by another institution at shorter notice.