Researcher noticeboard

Check the noticeboard regularly to find out about upcoming events and opportunities for the cardiovascular research community.

If you have any jobs, symposia, awards or anything else that you would like to advertise here, please contact us.

Vote for the best science image and video

We’ve collected the most beautiful and striking images from your research for our annual competition – Reflections of Research. We’ve been running the competition since 2005 and have received some truly stunning images since then that demonstrated both the beauty and importance of cardiovascular research.

You can vote for your favourite image and video here.

Writing competition for regenerative medicine

EuroStemCell and the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine are running an exciting competition to find the best non-fiction writing on stem cells and regenerative medicine. The judging panel includes author Ken McLeod.

Entries are welcome from unpublished writers and artists of all backgrounds and collaborative entries are allowed.

There are three categories for entries, the winners will receive €300 and EuroStemCell will published your piece.

• imaginative science writing
• graphic non-fiction
• non-fiction poetry

The deadline for entries is 30 June – find out more about the judging criteria and entry details.

Centres for Regenerative Medicine

As part of our Mending Broken Hearts Appeal, we’ve committed to fund three Centres of Regenerative Medicine at a total cost of £7.5m. Each centre is a close collaboration between scientists at leading universities in the study of cardiovascular regeneration.

We announced the new awards in collaboration with the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform (UKRMP), which has funded three new research ‘hubs’ in regenerative medicine across the UK.

British Cardiovascular Society conference 2013

We’re sponsoring the British Atherosclerosis Society / British Society of Cardiac Research stream of the British Cardiovascular Society conference, which takes place at the ExCeL Centre in London from 3 - 5 June. BHF staff will be on hand to answer questions about our research funding schemes, grant applications, career advice and how to communicate your science to the media.

We’re also hosting a drinks reception on Monday 3rd June from 7pm to 8 pm outside Rooms 10-12 in the ExCeL Capital Suite. We hope to see you there.

Read the provisional programme here.

BHF at the Science Museum

Several BHF-funded researchers were the stars at our recent event at the Science Museum, attended by thousands of member of the public.

We teamed up with the museum to celebrate cardiovascular research as part of their Science Lates programme. Read more about the event.

ACC award for BHF Clinical Fellow

Dr Bilal Iqbal has won the 2013 Herman K Gold Young Investigator Award in Molecular and Cellular Cardiology at the recent American College of Cardiology annual meeting. Dr Iqbal won for his submission “Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-14 cooperates with Tristetraprolin to control Tissue Factor mRNA stability: a novel role for ADP-ribosylation in regulating mRNA turnover and atherothrombosis”. The work was conducted during Dr Iqbal's current Clinical Research Fellowship in BHF Professor Dorian Haskard’s laboratory at Imperial College.

BHF PhD student wins science writing award

Claire Sand, a student on the four-year BHF PhD scheme at King's College London, won the runner-up prize in Access to Understanding, a prestigious science writing competition run by Europe PubMed Central and the British Library.

Her entry, based on a recent paper from BHF Professor Qingbo Xu and colleagues, impressed the judges by explaining a complex area of stem cell science in an accessible way.

Read the winning entry and more about the award.

Award for Dr Ashish Patel

Dr Ashish Patel, King’s College London was one of the top five winners in the poster competition at the Spring Meeting for Clinician Scientists in Training, which took place on Wednesday 27 February at the Royal College of Physicians. Dr Patel is investigating the potential of a proangiogenic subset of monoctyes for revascularization of peripheral ischaemia in preclinical and clinical contexts.

Award for Professor Stefan Neubauer

The University of Oxford's Professor Stefan Neubauer, who is Co-Director of the BHF Experimental MR Unit at the University of Oxford, is the 2013 recipient of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) Gold Award.

The prestigious award is presented annually by the SCMR for outstanding achievement in the field of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. Read more in the SCMR newsletter.

New online reporting tool for evaluating outputs of our research

It’s crucial for us to capture the outcomes of the research we fund, not least to communicate the benefits of our research to supporters.

But we know that reporting outcomes to a host of different funding agencies is burdensome. So, we’ve launched Researchfish - a survey database that will allow you to upload outcome data about your research to multiple funders easily and quickly.

Here’s what you’ll have to do:

You will automatically receive an email from Researchfish asking you to register. You then need to:

• Register and start building your profile and research portfolio
• Keep your portfolio updated throughout the year
• Submit this information to us once yearly.

Please see our web page for further information on Researchfish.

Researchfish has organised training sessions in the form of webinars for researchers. For further information and registration please visit the Researchfish webpage.

Careers in academic cardiology

Entry into cardiology specialty training is highly competitive. Our Medical Director, Professor Peter Weissberg, was recently interviewed by the British Journal of Cardiology (BJC) and gave his views on starting a career in academic cardiology.

To read the interview please visit the BJC website here.

Clinical Study grant

We’ve introduced a new application process for clinical studies costing over £300,000.

Instead of applying through our Special Project Grants funding scheme, you’ll now have to apply using our Clinical Study form.

The new Clinical Study application process includes guidelines about Costing a clinical study, Clinical Trials Units, and uploading recruitment data to the UKCRN portfolio database.

Researchers applying for non-clinical projects costing over £300,000 should continue to apply for Special Project Grants funding.

Please see our website for further information about the Clinical Study grant.

Immediate Postdoctoral Basic Science Research Fellowship

We’ve launched a new personal award for outstanding newly qualified postdoctoral researchers who are ready to start establishing an independent cardiovascular research career.

Candidates should be in the final year of their PhD studies or have no more than one year of postdoctoral research experience. The award is for three years and should usually include up to 18 months spent overseas or in a second UK institution.

Successful candidates will have to show evidence of outstanding research ability by publication or otherwise.

To find out more about this new fellowship, and how to apply, please see our website.

Online grant applications

All grant applications, except for Personal Chairs, Infrastructure Grants, Strategic Initiatives and Small Meeting Funds, must now be submitted using our Grants Management System (GMS).

What is GMS?

GMS is a web based application and review process for Fellowship, Project, Programme, Special Project and New Horizons grants.

How do I register?

New users will need to register on GMS before they submit an application. If you are already registered, sign in with your email address and password and update your profile if necessary.

How do I apply for a grant online?

Please begin by reading our how to apply instructions.

When you’re ready to apply, open the online application form. 

Use the GMS User Guide to help you complete all the sections of the online application form.

The following people will need to register to apply for and review most grants:

• Grant applicants and co-applicants
• Heads of department
• Institutions' administrative authorities
• Grant reviewers.

Is your research about to be published?

We always like to know when a paper from BHF-funded research is going to be published. Please let us know by email or call 020 7554 0182.