Apply for research funding

What do we fund?

We fund clinical, pre-clinical and basic research projects that can translate into better treatments and improved outcomes for PHTS patients. Funding is intended to support all essential direct costs relating to the project, including staffing, consumables, equipment, travel, and publication costs. (See our Guidance on Grant Costs here).

Who do we fund?

• Eligibility to apply for funding is not restricted to any specific geography.
• In general, PTEN Research provides grants to Principal Investigators who have qualified with an MD or PhD and have an established research programme in a recognised academic or clinical research institution. 
• Non-academic entities may also be eligible to apply for grant funding, depending on the grant call.
• For any further clarification or questions relating to our eligibility criteria, please contact research@ptenresearch.org.
• UK based researchers may benefit from support from the NIHR Clinical Research Network as PTEN Research is a NIHR non-commercial partner. 

How do we fund?

We provide grants through two main mechanisms:

• Targeted Calls
  The Foundation will periodically request applications for proposals to address specific research questions through Targeted Calls. Information on current opportunities and how to apply is provided here.
• Innovation Awards
  If you have an idea or project that aligns with the Foundation’s strategic research focus but is not within the scope of current Targeted Calls, you can apply for funding as follows:
  • Contact us for a discussion by emailing research@ptenresearch.org or complete the short (3-page) Project Proposal form as well as a Project Budget form and email it to research@ptenresearch.org.
  • Project Proposal applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis.
  • Projects that represent exceptional research opportunities and align with the Foundation’s research strategy will be invited to submit a Full Application.

Our Grant Funding Policy

Before submitting a Project Proposal, we wish to advise applicants, as well as the contract management and technology transfer offices of the Host Institution (HI), certain standard conditions associated with the Foundation's support for a grant. These are:

• Choice of law: Our granting terms and conditions are always governed by the law of England and Wales.
• Publication: We require that all work supported by our grant funding is published, even if the objectives of the grant are not fully met. We ordinarily require that all publications (including manuscripts, posters, and abstracts) are shared with the Foundation prior to publication. Guidance on how to reference Foundation funding in publications and presentations can be found in our Publication and Acknowledgement Guidelines.
• Currency: We provide grants in the HI's local currency. 
• Data sharing: We support data sharing, which will include all data generated from the Foundation’s granting activity. Subject to applicable data privacy legislation, such data will include data underpinning any publication or presentation of data that the Foundation expects to be made available, in an accessible form, to other researchers no later than at the time of the primary publication. Our position is that we can require access and a copy of all de-identified data generated from the award grant.
• Protection of IP:  We do not seek to directly own or co-own IP arising from our funding. IP that is generated from granted work should routinely be protected by the HI for the mutual benefit of the HI and the Foundation. If the HI wishes to abandon protection of Foundation-funded IP or does not protect, manage, or exploit this, we require step in rights to meet our charitable objectives. The Foundation requires the right to utilise IP arising from our funding to continue to support its charitable mission to support research into PHTS. To meet this, we require a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide, non-exclusive, transferable, and sub-licensable license. At minimum this will encompass use for academic or not-for-profit research and teaching purposes.
• Consent IP and revenue sharing:
  • Our position is that every HI needs our consent before commercialising Foundation-funded IP. This is to ensure the commercial use of the IP does not conflict with our charitable mission.
  • When Foundation-funded IP is commercialised and revenue is generated, it is essential that we have a meaningful participation in that revenue in order to meet our public benefit obligation as an English charity. It is therefore our expectation that a meaningful share will be returned to us and will be reinvested in future PHTS research. Our default share is 50 per cent and we shall consider a different proportion in very limited circumstances. For further details see here.
  • Every funded organisation will provide a report detailing all material activities concerning the protection, management and any commercialisation of any IP arising from our funding quarterly or upon our written request.
• Monitoring and evaluation: We work closely with the PI and HI to monitor that grants progress. We request regular (usually quarterly) scientific progress reports as well as a financial report once or twice per year. Our grant payments are ordinarily subject to pre-agreed milestone completion. This is a requirement of our auditors to ensure compliance with English charity law.
• Overhead costs: Our position is that we only support direct costs that are all those eligible costs which can be attributed directly to an award grant. To this effect, we will not ordinarily fund “overheads” or “indirect costs”.
• Liability: As a charity we cannot accept any responsibility for financial or other liability incurred by the funded organisation or any participant that may arise out of the Foundation-funded award grant or their use or exploitation of any PTEN-funded generated IP. To this effect, we require that the HI will indemnify the Foundation and associated parties against all liability resulting from the HI’s conduct and activities under the award grant and in connection with their use and exploitation of any PTEN-funded generated IP.

What is the application process?

• All applications submitted to PTEN Research, either in the form of Project Proposals, Full Applications, Targeted Calls or otherwise, are subject to PTEN Research’s Terms and Conditions of Applications.
• If you wish to include in your application results, data or background intellectual property that might thereby constitute a public disclosure, please contact us at research@ptenresearch.org and we will provide a Confidentially Agreement, as appropriate.
• All applications will undergo scientific, budgetary and programmatic assessment by our scientific research team. In general, Full Applications are also reviewed by external independent experts. Those applications that are considered of outstanding value by the internal and external review will be further reviewed by our Scientific Advisory Board.
• Applicants will be provided with feedback on their application and have an opportunity to respond to any specific questions raised during the review process.
• The final funding decision is made by our Trustee Board.