Project Grants

For short-term research projects lasting up to four years and costing less than £500,000:

Entry requirements

• The principal investigator will usually be a post-doctoral researcher at any stage of their career.
• The centre where the work is to be pursued must be an established research institution in the UK.

Grant duration

• Up to four years (under exceptional circumstances).

Award may include

• Staff salaries. For example: technician, research assistant, postdoctoral salaries. This excludes support for PhD students, who are not eligible to work on a Project Grant.
• Research consumables directly attributable to the project.
• Essential research equipment required for the project. Please note that for larger items, an additional contribution from other sources may be desirable.
• Travel funding of up to £1,000 per year to present research at or attend scientific meetings relevant to the grant.

How to apply

• Read the information in How to apply.
• If you are applying for funding for a clinical study, also read:
  • Costing a clinical study
  • Costing a clinical research imaging scan
  • Clinical Trials Units 
  • Clinical Study Guidelines
• Log onto the online application form.
• Complete all the sections of the online application form.

Case for Support

You will be asked to attach a single PDF document to your online application form containing the following information: 

1. For resubmissions, include an unedited copy of the original feedback followed by a detailed response, limited to 3 sides of A4, explaining how the revised application has changed from the original submission.
2. Title of the proposed research.
3. Abstract of the proposed investigation in 200 words or less.
4. Background to the project and pilot data.
5. Original hypothesis.
6. Experimental details and design of proposed investigation.
7. Power calculations.
8. Expected value of results.
9. List of references relevant to the proposed project.
10. List of the principal investigator's and co-applicant(s)' six most relevant research outputs and grants (up to six research outputs and/or grants in total for the principal investigator and six for each co-applicant). Research outputs can include - but not limited to - datasets, inventions, preprints, software, protected IP and citations in policy documents, in addition to journal articles. Where possible, please provide a DOI or other unique identifier such as PMID. Please also articulate in a single sentence your contribution to the work. CRediT – Contributor Roles Taxonomy terminology may be useful in describing your contribution to the output.
11. Justification for the duration of the proposed project with Gantt chart (maximum one side of A4).
12. Appendices should be a maximum of 3 sides of A4 containing only tables or figures essential to the understanding of the application. Research papers whether published, in press or in preparation may not be attached (although hyperlinks can be provided).

Sections 2-8 must not exceed six A4 sides. The PDF file size must not exceed 20MB.

Please ensure Arial font size 12 is used. If this font size is not used, the application will be rejected prior to formal consideration.

Additional document uploads that will be requested within pages on the application form:

• supporting letters from collaborators
• intellectual property agreements where relevant
• valid copy of ethical approval if relevant
• brief CV (two A4 sides) of named staff for whom salary is requested
• quotes obtained for any requested equipment with a value of £5,000 or more.

Decision process

There are no closing dates. Please submit the application when it is ready and allow up to 6 months from submission to decision.

Receipt will be acknowledged within 24 hours and we will advise you when you can expect the result. A decision will be reached by the Project Grants Committee (4 meetings a year) after it has considered external peer review reports.

The flowchart below shows the application journey:

Independent expert review

To help applicants better understand how their proposals are assessed, please see BHF independent review guidelines and blank review form.

Apply online