AMS INSPIRE Round 5, 2019

Closing date: 5 Sep 2019 16:00 GMT

INSPIRE began in 2012, with £1million in funding from the Wellcome Trust. The scheme has been open to all medical schools since its induction and all dental and veterinary schools since 2016. In this time, we have awarded 89 small grants and a further nine special project grants. The grants, previously of up to £10,000, over 1-2 years were awarded in four rounds, reaching 31 schools in the first round in December 2012, 22 schools in December 2014, 8 in 2016 and 28 schools in October 2018. The nine special project grants were awarded in June 2014. For more information about the activities designed and implemented by each school, please scroll down to the 'Recent Awardees' section.

The Academy offers grants of up to £20,000 to succesful applicants, who each then have the responsibility and ownership for deploying the funds locally for INSPIRE focused activities over a two year period. Such activities should focus on, but are not limited to:

Workshops, lectures, events and discussions based around research and research careers.
Opportunities to network and develop mentoring relationships.
Introductions to practical research through workshops teaching topics such as methodology and laboratory techniques.
Stipends for competitively awarded, short-term vacation studentships.
Creation of teaching materials.
Films, websites and multimedia projects.

The aims of the scheme are:

Inspire medical, dental and veterinary undergraduates to consider a research career.
Stimulate schools to design and implement local, innovative approaches to building student interest in research.
Encourage student involvement: the experiences and needs of local students should inform the development of the local INSPIRE programme.
Promote high quality, collaborative partnerships between members of faculty and students, and between schools and other local/regional/national organisations.
Strengthen local, regional and national student research networks, sharing experiences and resources.
Foster a research culture in all clinicians entering the NHS, not just those with an interest in pursuing a career in academic medicine. Likewise, INSPIRE aims to foster a research culture in dentists and vets across the country.

For Universities that have both a medical and dental school, INSPIRE related activities should be made accessible to both types of student.

In carrying out the INSPIRE Project, selected Schools nominate a faculty member to be the INSPIRE lead. They are the lead contact for the Academy and for anyone interested in INSPIRE activities delivered in their School. The Academic leads work closely with student representatives to plan activities, apply for funding and lead delivery, in most cases, with administrative support.

For more information, or to apply, visit the call webpage.