This award will be over a period of five years; longer terms will be considered for part-time schedules.
Applicants should be UK-based and at a point in their career where they are within eight years of award of their PhD or MD (date of viva examination). They must be able to demonstrate commitment to establishing themselves as independent researchers. Applications from those currently working abroad and looking to return to the UK for this next stage of their careers would be welcome as would applications from clinicians or scientists alike. The grant is intended to cover full salary of the applicant plus research costs. (Applicant’s salary should be commensurate with experience and an appropriate proportion of overall project cost).
Applicants should not have been the previous recipient of a Retina UK grant either as a PI or PhD supervisor. Previous Retina UK PhD students are welcome to submit an expression of interest application.
Full proposals will be by invitation only.
The proposed project must be translational in nature, must involve development of an innovative technology at a minimum of Technology Readiness Level 3 (as defined by UKRI), and must aim to progress therapy for inherited retinal dystrophy, ideally for the largest possible proportion of those living with IRD.
Any proposals necessitating focus on a single gene for the purposes of the work should include a full explanation of how the outcomes may be more widely relevant.