Medical Research - The Sir Jules Thorn Award for Biomedical Research

The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust is an independent charity that awards grants to registered and exempt charities in the UK. Our funds are generated from an endowment from Sir Jules Thorn. The resources provided by its endowment have enabled the Trust to give substantial support to a wide range of charitable causes in the United Kingdom.

At the discretion of the Trustees one Biomedical Research Award of up to £1.7 million is offered to support an original programme of translational biomedical research, extending for up to five years. The Award enables successful applicants to pursue their own independent research programme.

UK medical schools and NHS organisations are eligible to apply, provided that they are able to demonstrate: a) a track record in international cutting edge clinical translational research, b) robust research infrastructure to support the proposed programme; and c) institutional commitment to support the Principal Applicant’s research

Only one application per eligible institution/organisation is permitted and must be selected following an internal competition coordinated by the Research Dean, Head of the Medical School, or other appropriate person who must provide written support for the submission on behalf of the institution/organisation. Where a medical school and affiliated NHS organisation both have a prospective proposal, they must coordinate the selection process to decide which one should be submitted. The work must include research involving patients. There must be a clear specification of the hypothesis based on pre-clinical experimental data supporting the rationale of the clinical study, arising from the applicant’s own work (and not derivative of someone else’s observations). Further work to support the hypothesis in the early phase of the grant or to substantiate questions arising from clinical experiments may be supported by experimental animal models. There must be a clear strategy defining how the research will translate into benefit for patients and the timescale within which this will take place.

The studies might include for example: • significant proposals which could lead to improved diagnosis and/or prognosticmethods and to new treatments. • concept validation. • intervention trials. All proposals must be based on appropriate bio-statistical analysis.

The research must have a justifiable claim to be at the leading edge of international science and must be led by a clearly identified Principal Applicant of outstanding quality in the early years of an established research and academic career. The work involved must be the major commitment of the Principal Applicant, comprising at least 70% of his/her research time or 50% of his/her total time, whichever is greater. Any co-applicants are expected to be actively involved in the work. Their precise role and time commitment must be stated in the application. The Award may not be used to meet the salary costs of the applicant(s) who should be in institutionally-funded posts for the duration of the grant. There must be visible strategic commitment to the research by the host institution. Funding is restricted to work, including data collection, carried out in the United Kingdom. The Trust does not fund the overheads of the host institution or any costs incurred by the sponsoring organisation. The Trust is an NIHR Non-commercial Partner in England and its equivalent elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The Trust is unable to provide a grant for an existing project, to cover expenditure already incurred, or to supplement support provided by other funding bodies. Applications submitted concurrently to other funders will be accepted but subsequent short-listing would be conditional upon any such applications being withdrawn unless theTrust agrees otherwise. It is essential that any related applications are noted in the answer to Question 7 in the application form. The Trust’s charitable status does not permit the provision of a grant which might, whether directly or indirectly, contribute to a profit for a commercial company. An application cannot, therefore, be considered where a company is supplying a cash grant, equipment, materials, drugs etc. at no cost, whether express or implied, for commercial use of the findings of the project.

The Award will be subject to the Trust’s Terms and Conditions. The successful institution/organisation will be required to enter into the Trust’s standard: • Intellectual Property Agreement defining the management of any IP Rights arising from the research, and the sharing of any resulting income • Sponsor Responsibility Agreement, accepting the responsibilities of Sponsor for any research involving human participants, their tissue or information as defined in the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research. The Trust will not act as Sponsor for any project.

The Trust has an Open Access Publishing Policy for all publications arising from work funded under the Biomedical Award programme. A copy of the Policy may be downloaded from the Resources section of the Trust website.

There is a two-stage application process running from July in the year preceding the Award to November in the year in which the Award is made: a. A short preliminary submission leading to long-listing; and b. A full application leading to short-listing, followed by detailed discussions and a decision on the award of the grant. Institutions whose preliminary submissions are long listed will be invited to complete a full application.

Applications for the Sir Jules Thorn Award are welcome from UK medical schools and NHS Organisations with only one application allowed per eligible institution/organisation. The research must have a justifiable claim to be at the leading edge of international science and must be led by a clearly identified Principal Applicant of outstanding quality in the early years of an established research and academic career.