Guidance notes for applicants

1. Who can apply

• The lead applicant must be an active researcher in the field of the sociology of health and illness.

• The lead applicant should be UK based.

• Each application must involve researchers from at least two other academic establishments.

• A minimum of four applicants is necessary, two of whom should be involved in the sociology of health and illness.

• Researchers may participate in more than one application for research initiation funding.

• Successful groups may re-apply for funding in the following financial year.
  

2. Financial terms of awards

• The sum awarded will be up to £5,000, based on actual expenditure relating to work specified in the application.

• The funds must be claimed in arrears, directly from the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness by submission of claim forms plus invoices or original receipts. Please see copy of 'Instructions for making claims', which follows.

• Funds must be used, and claims submitted, within a specified financial year (April to March) and there will be no carry-over of unspent funds. Applicants may request funding for either the current or the forthcoming financial year, and this will be taken into consideration when the application is assessed. All claims must be received by 1st March, so therefore work must be completed by February to accommodate this requirement.

3. Guidelines for the subject of research

• As stated in the introduction, in order to be eligible for funding, the research must fulfil at least one of the above RIG criteria/objectives.

4. Use of funds

• Funds may be used for travel and associated expenses, modest support-staff costs, or to fund or part-fund pilot work. NB Standard rail and air-fares (not 1st Class) will be refunded. Clear details of intended use of the funds should be given in Section B of the application form.

• Please note, if staff are to be employed on this scheme, no overheads will be paid on any salary costs incurred.

• If the award is to involve the use of consultant or independent research staff, not employed by one of the institutions linked to the award, then advance arrangements will be required, made in conjunction with the Foundation.

• If the work to be carried out involves the use of human participants/data from human subjects, Local Research Ethical Committee approval must be obtained before the work commences. Proof of such approval should be forwarded to the Foundation.

5. Outputs required from the award

• We are looking for substantive outputs in terms of publications and/or full grant applications. The latter may be submitted to any grant awarding body.

• We expect these outputs to arise within 18 months of the award date.

• The support of the Foundation must be acknowledged in all publications and communications arising as a consequence of this award, including journals and conferences. The standard phrase should be:
  This work was supported by the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness.

6. Instructions for application

• The application form which follows this document should be completed by the lead applicant and a signed version of the hard copy should be submitted to the Foundation - see address below. The application form is available as a word document on the Foundation's website (www.shifoundation.org.uk).

7. Assessment of applications and award process

• The applications will be assessed by a panel of Foundation Trustees and applicants will be notified of the outcome within 6 weeks of submission. The grants will be allocated on merit, and the full complement will only be awarded if there are sufficient applications reaching the required standard.

8. Publicising successful Research Initiation Grant applications

• In order to enable further networking and collaboration, the Foundation will place successful applications on its website. Principal applicants are encouraged to engage in dialogue with researchers who express interest.

Applications (1 hard copy + 1 electronic copy) to be sent to:

Prof Michael Bloor
CDMR
University of Glasgow
89 Dumbarton Rd
Glasgow
G11 6PW

Email: M.Bloor@socsci.gla.ac.uk