Funding opportunities
The British Heart Foundation Accelerator Award will fund several new posts for high calibre researchers early in their careers and provide them with the training, mentoring and support to enable them to become the research leaders of the future.
Academic Clinical Lecturer positions
The posts are offered by the University of Leicester in partnership with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Health Education England, working across the East Midlands as support to the BHF Accelerator Award. Post holders will become members of an Accelerator cohort of early career researchers who will be supported by bespoke training, mentoring and educational programmes.
Academic Clinical Lecturer positions offer the opportunity for those with excellent potential as clinical academics to refine their medical and intellectual skills, produce high-level publications and attracting external grant funding for future progress. Appointees will spend 50% of their time within the clinical environment and 50% of their time undertaking academic research.
The Postgraduate Dean has confirmed Academic Clinical Lecturer positions have the required educational and staffing approval.
Early Career Researchers
The aim of these awards is to attract, appoint and develop Early Career Research Fellows who will deliver our strategic priorities. Fellowship opportunities will initially be available for one year, with extension to two years subject to progress reviews deemed satisfactory by the Executive Committee. Senior staff will mentor these highly-promising researchers, and we will provide a cohort-training fund to augment current institutional researcher training programmes.
Up to 4 fellowships will be awarded annually in years 1-3 of the BHF Accelerator Award. Leicester is a leading University committed to inclusivity, promoting equality and celebrating diversity among our staff. We very much welcome applications from women and career-break returners, emphasising our ongoing commitment to the Athena SWAN scheme and promotion of gender equality. Applicants are encouraged to speak with the Accelerator Director prior to applying.
In addition to the strategic priorities described above, applications must provide evidence of:
- Collaborators and supervisors who will ensure appropriate support and leadership
- A trajectory towards becoming an independent researcher
- A track record of high quality research as evidenced by high quality research papers and successful external funding applications
- The timeline and pathway to external funding
- The University’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity
- A training plan that will facilitate delivery of the fellowship’s objectives
ECR Interdisciplinary Fellowships
We have been successful in funding numerous Interdisciplinary Fellowships. Requirements for Accelerator funding were specifically precision medicine in cardiovascular disease, the development of MRC key skills in early career researchers, promotion of EDI, and links with research centres of excellence or industry alongside key criteria of Interdisciplinarity, Precision Medicine, Feasibility and EDI.
Pump priming funds
The aim of these awards is to provide funding for key experiments or work packages that are essential to the development of external grant applications. Support will not include salaries for new staff. At least three awards of up to £25k each will be administered per annum.
Equipment fund
The aim of this fund is to leverage key equipment for the success of the Accelerator.
Up to £50k of the Accelerator Award has been set aside for equipment with up to £200k in matched funding from the college Equipment Fund. No formal calls will be made. Applicants should contact the Director for information.
Training and development funds
The aim of these awards is to support bespoke training programmes for early career fellows. The Doctoral College has established an Institutional Training Programme for Early Career fellows and it is expected that all those receiving support from the Accelerator will access this to develop their own training plan in agreement with their supervisors. A proportion of the Accelerator Award has been set aside to support the following activities:
- Internal and external courses and workshops in Key Skills.
- Visits to external collaborators
- Training and Development workshops in partnership with the Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies
- Networking activities that promote innovation or tech Transfer in partnership with Innovate UK.
No formal calls will be made. Applicants should contact the Director for information.