Fellowship scheme

Our Fellowship scheme aims to build research capacity in hearing research, by supporting the career development of the UK’s most talented new ‘investigators’ towards becoming independent scientists.

For this year’s scheme, we are working with the Dunhill Medical Trust to fund these fellowships.

The fellowship supports salary and project costs for 2 years, up to a total of £150,000 (increased from 2023).

It’s designed to support post-doctoral researchers as they begin to make the transition towards establishing themselves as an independent researcher in the field, analogous to the MRC’s Exploration career stage.

Research areas

Applications are invited in any of the following areas:

Research to underpin the development of treatments for hearing disorders, including tinnitus

Including, but not limited to, medical devices, pharmacological treatments, genetic or cellular therapies – treatments should aim to prevent hearing loss, restore auditory function or silence tinnitus.

Research to improve how new treatments for hearing disorders, including tinnitus, are developed and tested

Including research to improve the measurement of auditory function or tinnitus, or to develop models of human hearing disorders, including tinnitus.

Applications with a focus on understanding the mechanisms of age-related hearing conditions, or how ageing affects the auditory system, are especially encouraged, and will be considered for joint funding.

Projects should bring tangible benefits closer for people who are deaf, have tinnitus or hearing loss.

Summary of the fellowship

Value

Up to £150,000

Duration

Usually 24 months

Eligibility

The applicant should be an early career investigator who has the desire and potential to become an independent scientist in the field of hearing research. They must hold a PhD and can be based at any UK university or research institute, but must not be a permanent employee.

The award should support progression towards an independent research career.

Deadline

Wednesday 24 April 2024 at 11:00pm.

In the last round of funding (2023), we received 6 applications and awarded 2 Fellowships.

Application procedure

All applications should be submitted via our online grants management system, Flexi-Grant. There is further guidance on Flexi-Grant about how to complete your application.

Please note

As part of the application process, you are required to obtain approval to submit from an authorised representative at your institution.

We will not extend the deadline to allow you to secure this approval, so please allow plenty of time for this.

See the Flexi-Grant user guide (below) for more details.

The call and guidelines and our standard terms and conditions (subject to review) can be downloaded below:

Application guidance

Explore our videos and information for additional guidance on how to apply for the Fellowship scheme.

Explore our guidance

Selection procedure

Eligible proposals will be reviewed by three external reviewers. These reviews and the original proposals will then be considered by our Future Leaders Review Panel who will rank the proposals and shortlist candidates for interview.

Interviews will take place in September 2024 – the final date will be confirmed with all applicants once the final date has been set. Short-listed candidates will be informed no less than 2 weeks before the interview date and given further instructions for the interview then.

Interviews will be conducted by the Future Leaders Review Panel. Following the interviews, the panel will make funding recommendations to RNID and the Dunhill Medical Trust.

Everyone involved in the review process of any grant application is asked to abide by our code of conduct.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible following the final decision.

Future Leaders Review Panel

Professor Brian Moore, University of Cambridge (chair)
Dr Dan Jagger, University College London
Dr Morag Lewis, King’s College London
Professor Walter Marcotti, University of Sheffield
Professor Jennifer Linden, University College London
Professor Walter Marcotti, University of Sheffield
Dr Deborah Vickers, University of Cambridge
Dr Rebecca Dewey, University of Nottingham
Dr Leila Abbas, University of Sheffield/Rinri Therapeutics
Dr Magdalena Sereda, University of Nottingham
Dr Juan Fons, King’s College London
Professor Victoria Bajo Lorenzana, University of Oxford
1 panel member to be recruited
Additional members from the Dunhill Medical Trust Advisory Panel to be confirmed

Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC) and open access publications

RNID is a member of the Europe PMC Funders’ Group. We support open access publications and require RNID grant-holders to make their publications open access.

Read our open access publication policy for more information and visit the Europe PMC website.

Contact us

Get in touch for for more information about the fellowship scheme.

Phone: 020 3227 6158
Email: [email protected]