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CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Process

Applying to partner with us is a two-stage process. In the first instance, please email a short concept piece to applications@waterloofoundation.org.uk as an attachment. Please see below for what we ask you to include in this.

Applications successful at triage will then enter a stage of formal assessment. From this point, we hope to have an answer for you within 2-4 months. The principal factor in this is the speed with which applicants can reply to queries and with which reviewers can complete their assessment.

If you are successful at triage, you will be asked to submit a full protocolwhich expands certain components of your concept piece, and to complete a risk assessment. At this point we will ask you to nominate someone from either the Research or Development Office of the host university.
 
Once your full protocol is submitted, it will then be reviewed both internally (our Child Development Fund officer has a background in research) and externally by peer experts. If necessary, applicants will have the opportunity to respond to points raised by reviewers. Consultation will be taken where necessary, and then recommendations will be made to the Trustees about which projects to fund.

Deadlines

For research projects into Dyslexia, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, ADHD, and Trauma, we welcome applications for 2012’s funding between 4th November, 2011 and 1st May, 2012. On rare occasions, and if there is a compelling reason, we may be able to make an exception to these timing constraints.

For the first time in 2012, we will have single deadlines for two of our key topics. We plan to make the final decision for Epilepsy-related applications in March 2012, and so Epilepsy concept pieces need to be submitted via the above process prior to 4th November, 2011. We plan to make the final decision for Autism -related applications in July 2012, and so Autism concept pieces need to be submitted prior to 2nd March, 2012.

Scope

Levels of funding are typically between £30k-£50k per project. We often support the collection of pilot data, to strengthen proposals later for substantial research grants from larger research funders. Sometimes support is for one-year’s worth of work, sometimes for other pilot project costs. Sometimes we support studentships, and generally as a matched-funder. Sometimes this level of funding is sufficient to support an entire research project.

Awards

In general, we expect all ethical approvals and other permissions to be in place before the period of funding begins. We are very happy for the set-up period to be of sufficient duration this to happen, prior to the financial component of the grant becoming active.

To apply for a research grant

Concept piece requirements

A concept piece can be up to 4 pages long, and must include the following 

  1.  Please head it with the:
    1. Name of your organisation
    2. Name of the project
  2. Information about who you are:
    1. The name of the Principal Investigator, with his/her institution’s name, address and (where applicable) charity number
    2. Contact details of the person to reply to:
      1. Email
      2. Phone number
      3. Postal address
    3. A link to your website
    4. The name and email address of all collaborating researchers, with their institutions’ name, address and (where applicable) charity number
  3. Information about your project:
    1. Scientific abstract of the project
    2. Lay summary of the project
    3. Theoretical and scientific rationale
    4. Practical importance of the topic, and who will benefit
    5. Research design, such as hypotheses, control procedures, proposed sample and recruitment channels, proposed outcome measures and method of analysis. We are interested in whether the design you have chosen is the most appropriate for the topic, so do give an explanation of why your proposed method is most appropriate
    6. How ethical issues have been addressed
    7. Sources of advice you have used during the development of your proposed project
    8. Costings
    9. Timescale
    10. A summary of job descriptions for any posts included in the application
    11. Any other sources of funding involved
    12. What will happen if your application to partner with us is unsuccessful
  4. Information about the expected impact of your project
    1. The key beneficiaries of the project – who they are and how many there are
    2. Where you expect to disseminate this academically
    3. How you will disseminate this to allied professionals and to individuals affected by the condition
    4. How you will disseminate this to the public community at large
  5. Suggested external reviewers.
    1. Please suggest three independent reviewers who would be suitable to review your project. They must be from a different institution to you, and not have worked with you for a minimum of five years. Please give their names, institutions, and email addresses.
    2. If there is anyone you would like NOT to review your application, please also provide their name and institution (maximum of two).
  6. CVs, which should include publication and citation metrics, ideally including the h-index
    1. The cv of the Principal Investigator, as an attachment
    2. Brief cvs of all collaborators, as attachments

 

 

 

 
Last updated Thursday 3 November, 2011