Grants & Awards

On the following page you will find details of the British Pain Society’s grants and awards and other bodies’ grants and awards.

The British Pain Society awards grants for research that advances the understanding and treatment of acute, cancer and chronic pain and the wider impact thereof. Awards may be made for projects that advance basic scientific, epidemiological or clinical knowledge in all fields relevant to pain. The BPS invites applications from all disciplines of pain research. Applications are assessed and awards made in accordance with AMRC guidelines and policies including the AMRC position on Full Economic Costing. The British Pain Society is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (www.amrc.org.uk).

The Society awards a number of grants and awards as a means of encouraging and promoting the study of and research into pain; these awards are only available to members of the Society.

Current Society grants and awards are as follows:

British Pain Society research awards:
Mildred B Clulow Research Award

British Pain Society travel/meeting bursaries:
Patrick Wall Overseas Travel Bursary
IASP World Congress Travel Bursary
British Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting Bursary
British Pain Society Study Day Bursary

Other bodies' Grants & Awards
We do not have any listed at present.

The Mildred B Clulow Award
In 2001, Mildred B Clulow bequeathed a legacy to the British Pain Society to fund research into the causes and cure of pain; the Society,created a research grant award named after Mildred B Clulow. This is a bi-ennial award. The next round will be 2009.

Deadlines

Details for 2009 award applications will be posted on the website as soon as they are available.

A grant of up to £50,000 will be awarded for a research proposal which may be in any field of pain research. The funds may be awarded for a variety of purposes in support of a research project (e.g. small project grant, salary support, capital equipment purchase, running costs or additional funding to an existing grant). However, should a proposal request a proportion of the total costs of a research project then, in the event of an award, funds cannot be released until funds covering the full costs of the project are in place. Applications will be peer reviewed and a decision made by the British Pain Society Science and Research Committee.

Grant conditions

You may download a copy of the standard British Pain Society research grant conditions by clicking here.

Full economic costing

Applicants should note that in accordance with the Association of Medical Research Charities, to which the British Pain Society belongs, grants awarded by the Society will not fund the full economic costs of research (fECs), or a proportion of these. Applicant may read the AMRC statement at http://www.amrc.org.uk.

Eligibility

• The applicant must be a current, Ordinary member of the British Pain Society, in good standing
• The subject of the research must be within the field of pain
  

Application

The applicant must complete a Mildred B Clulow Research Grant online application (details for 2009 will be posted when available). The application form should be accompanied by the annexes (A-E) as detailed below:

• Annex A: a 100-word abstract of the proposed research
• Annex B: a 100-word abstract of the proposed research, capable of being understood by a member of the general public with no scientific or medical training
• Annex C: a letter of support from the applicant’s supervisor, Clinical Director or academic Head of Department indicating that the necessary resources required to prosecute the proposed work will be made available.
• Annex D: a CV (including full list of publications) and a list of grants currently held and held within the last 5 years
• Annex E: an outline of the proposed research (maximum of 2,000 words). The outline should include information under the following headings:
  • title
  • aims
  • hypothesis to be tested/research question
  • background and justification, properly referenced
  • a statement of the topic’s importance to, relevance to and expected impact on the understanding or management of pain
  • methods (including a statistical power calculation of the number of animals, subjects or patients required, where appropriate)
  • an estimated timetable to complete the work
  • justification of resources requested
  • additional comments/appendices
  • a statement indicating whether the proposed research is likely to lead to any patentable or commercially exploitable results must accompany the application. If so, a brief comment as to the nature of this should be included.
  • a complete list of the resources required and costing for the research project approved by the institution which will be responsible for administration of the grant (e.g. hospital or university) and who must agree to comply with the research grant conditions. Part funding: If some resources are to be requested from another body then confirmation of such funded must be provided before funds will be released by The British Pain Society.
  • evidence must be submitted of ethical committee approval for research involving human volunteers or patients
  • evidence must be submitted of Home Office personal and project licences for projects which involve experiments on laboratory animals. If animals are to be used then a justification statement must accompany the application confirming:
    • why the use of animals is necessary?
    • are there any other possible approaches which have been considered and are feasible which would not involve the use of animals? If so why such approaches are not being used instead of animals.
    • is the species to be used the most appropriate?
    • that the principles of replacement, refinement and reduction have been considered.
    • that the International Association for the Study of Pain Ethical Guidelines for Investigations of Experimental Pain in Conscious Animals have been read and will be adhered to. (Pain 1983;16:109-110 (www.iasp-pain.org/ethics-a.html)

Decision

• Applications will be evaluated by peer review.
• A British Pain Society sub-committee will assess the peer review and will submit their recommendation for approval at the next Council meeting following the deadline for applications.
• Funding will be forwarded to the institution who employs the successful applicant, in stages, according to each project and on submission of relevant expense receipts
  

Progress reports and presentation of research

The institution for which the successful applicant works will be expected to submit an interim report, 6 months after the Award and a further progress report, 12 months after the Award. It is expected that the result of the research will be presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting (within two years of receipt of the Award).

Previous Awards:
In 2005, the Mildred B Clulow Grant was awarded to Prof. Maria Fitzgerald to support a project on 'Cortical pain processing in preterm infants'.

In 2007, the Mildred B Clulow Grant was awarded to Dr Laura Mitchell to support a project on 'Experimental investigation of the effects of cannabis use on pain perception, control and coping'.

The Patrick Wall Overseas Travel Bursary
Professor Patrick Wall had an International reputation for research work on pain, especially the application of basic research towards clinical benefit. In particular, he was keen to promote the work of young researchers. The Society has made limited funds available to assist those members of the British Pain Society who require financial assistance to present research at overseas scientific meetings, other than the British Pain Society's Annual Scientific Meeting and the IASP World Congress. The funds are available throughout the year.

Eligibility

• The applicant must be a current, Ordinary member of the British Pain Society, in good standing
• The applicant must have an income of less than £40,000 p.a. and give evidence of such
• The applicant must be working within the field of pain
• The applicant may not apply for this bursary if he/she has been granted
  a British Pain Society bursary to attend a meeting within 12 months of
  the meeting for which he/she is now applying
• The applicant must be a major contributor to the research that is being presented

Application

• Applications may be submitted online by clicking here or by post by submitting the 'Patrick Wall Overseas Travel Bursary Application Form'. An application form can be downloaded by clicking here.
• The Application Form must be counter-signed by the Head of Department or Sponsor
• The applicant must provide a copy of the abstract they intend to present and confirmation of acceptance
• The applicant must submit a CV (including full list of publications)

Decision

• Applications will be evaluated by a British Pain Society sub-committee each year.
• The applicant will be notified of the decision in writing within two weeks of the appropriate evaluation date
• If successful, the applicant must provide all receipts against which the aid is to be provided. Aid is limited to the cost of registration, accommodation and economy travel. A cheque will then be sent to the applicant
  

IASP triennial World Congress Bursary
The deadline for applications has now closed: 31st December 2007.

In order to encourage members to attend the International Association for the Study of Pain World Congresses, The British Pain Society has made funds available to assist its members who require financial assistance to attend the 12th World Congress on Pain, on 17-22 August 2008 in Glasgow, UK.

Eligibility

• The applicant must be a current, Ordinary member of the British Pain Society, in good standing, and a member of IASP.
• The applicant must have an income of less than £40,000 p.a. and give evidence of such
• The applicant must be working within the field of pain
• The applicant may not apply for this bursary if he/she has been granted other British Pain Society bursaries within 12 months of this application
• The applicant must be presenting work at the Congress

Application

• Applications may be submitted online by clicking here or by post by submitting the 'IASP World Congress Bursary Application Form' by 31st December 2007. An application form can be downloaded by clicking here.
• The Application Form must be counter-signed by the Head of Department or sponsor
• The applicant must provide a copy of the abstract they intend to present and confirmation of receipt of abstract
• The applicant must submit a CV (including full list of publications)

Decision

• Applications will be evaluated by a British Pain Society sub-committee
• The applicant will be notified of the decision in writing
• If successful, the applicant must provide all receipts against which the aid is to be provided. Aid is limited to the cost of registration, accommodation and economy travel. A cheque will then be sent to the applicant.

British Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting Bursary
Each year, the Society offers bursaries to members of the Society to attend its Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM).

Eligibility
In order to be eligible to apply for a bursary to attend an ASM Meeting, the applicant must have joined the Society the September before the ASM and still be a member at the time of the Meeting, having paid that years membership subscription. The applicant must have a salary lower than £28,000/annum.

Level of support offered
The level of support offered to each applicant is dependent on the number of applications received, the applicant’s salary and whether the applicant is exhibiting a poster at the Meeting. Applicants may request financial support to cover the registration fee to attend the Meeting, travel expenses and accommodation expenses up to a maximum of £50/night for a maximum of 3 nights.

How to apply
Applications must be submitted on the Bursary Application Form; the form is available from the Secretariat in the four months leading up to the ASM.

British Pain Society Study Day Bursary
The British Pain Society launched a series of study days covering selected aspects of the core curriculum for pain specialists, entitled the "Learning in pain" series. The study days are designed to be refresher days for established pain practitioners, and educational days for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in training.

The Society has made limited funds available to assist those members of the British Pain Society who require financial assistance to attend these study days

Eligibility

• The applicant must be a current, Ordinary member of the British Pain Society, in good standing
• The applicant must have an income of less than £25,000/annum
• The applicant may not apply for this bursary if he/she has been granted other British Pain Society bursaries within 12 months of this application.

Level of support offered
Assistance will be provided towards the cost of registration and travel (up to a maximum of £50) and will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis.

How to apply
Applications may be submitted online by clicking here or by post by submitting the 'Study Day Application Form' by the deadline date outlined below. An application form can be downloaded by clicking here.

Please return completed application forms to:

The Secretariat
The British Pain Society
Third Floor, Churchill House
35 Red Lion Square
London WC1R 4SG.

Decision

• Applications will be evaluated by the British Pain Society Education Committee.
• The applicant will be notified of the decision in writing within one week of applying.
• If the application is successful, the Society will waive the cost of the registration fee and the applicant’s registration to attend the meeting will be processed with immediate effect.
• If the application for support towards the cost of travel expenses is successful, the Society will reimburse the costs after the study day, once receipts are submitted. Receipts are to be sent to the Secretariat, marked for the attention of the Honorary Treasurer.

Deadlines

-10th Study Day: 7th May 2008 Neuropathic Pain
Deadline: 23rd April 2008

-11th Study Day: 29th September 2008 Research Methology
Deadline: 15th September 2008

-12th Study Day: 4th December 2008 Back Pain
Deadline: 20th November 2008

Other bodies' Grants & Awards

From time to time the Society is made aware of grants and awards offered by third parties, including industry-sponsored grants and awards, that may be of interest to members of the British Pain Society.

Please see About us and EFIC for details of their grant.