SRF Research Grants
SRF Research Grant
Please note that applications for 2025 are closed.
The SRF are pleased to introduce the new SRF Research Grant Fund (which replaces the Academic Scholarship). The purpose of these is to support SRF members in developing and maintaining research programmes.
Following consultation with our members, the SRF offers four separate research grants:
- Academic Research Fund
- Return to Research Scholarship
- Mid-Career Research Scheme
- Collaborative Research Scheme
Academic Research Fund:
Eligibility
- The applicant must have an academic post and be continuing in that post for the duration of the award.
- The applicant must be a current, fully-paid up full member of SRF and must have been a full member for at least five consecutive years.
- The applicant must be an active member of SRF (e.g. by attending conferences, membership of committees, publishing in Reproduction Journal).
- Academic Research Fund awardees must complete a further five years of continuous SRF membership before being eligible to receive another SRF Research Grant (i.e. only one award will be made per individual per five years of membership).
- Only members may apply for this award.
- Applicants must not already be in receipt of substantial research funding as the Principal Investigator (defined as sufficient to employ a postdoctoral researcher or technical support).
Mid-Career Research Scheme:
Eligibility
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- The applicant should be within the first five years of a tenured academic position at the time of application and be continuing in that post for the duration of the award.
- The applicant must be a current, fully-paid up, full member of SRF and must have been a full member for at least two consecutive years.
- The applicant must be an active member of SRF (e.g. by attending conferences, membership of committees, publishing in Reproduction).
- The applicant cannot currently hold substantive funding (defined as sufficient to employ a postdoctoral researcher or technical support)
- Mid-Career Research Scheme awardees must complete a further five years of continuous SRF membership before being eligible to receive another SRF Research Grant (i.e. only one award will be made per individual per five years of membership).
- Only members may apply for this award.
Return to Research Scholarship:
Eligibility
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- Applicants must have taken at least six month’s continuous maternity, adoption and/or shared parental leave. There is no maximal leave limit. Confirmation of duration of leave will be required from the applicant’s home institution.
- Applicants must apply within 12 months of returning to work from maternity, adoption and/or shared parental leave.
- Applicants must hold a permanent academic position and be continuing in that post for the duration of the award.
- Applicants must be a current, fully-paid up, full member of SRF and must have been a full member for at least two continuous years.
- Applicants must be an active member of SRF (e.g. by attending conferences, membership of committees, publishing in Reproduction).
- Applicants who have previously received the Return to Research Scholarship may make additional applications when taking further maternity, adoption and/or shared parental leave.
- The fund cannot be used to cover the applicant’s salary, maternity pay or childcare costs.
- Only members may apply for this award.
Additional details of the Awards:
Further Information
- Eligible applicants may only apply for one research grant (Academic Research Fund; Return to Research Scholarship; Mid-Career Research Scheme; Collaborative Research Scheme) in any single year.
- The maximum amount awarded will be £10,000. Project budgets must be realistic. Justification must be given for each cost requested.
- The maximum amount awarded for the Collaborative Research Scholarship will be £3,000
- Travel costs will only be considered for travel directly associated with the project as described in the application. Costs for travel for research visits/meetings/talk tours are ineligible.
- The number of awards made each year will depend on the quality of the applications received and the financial position of the society.
- The Society reserves the right not to make any awards in any given year if the quality of applications does not meet the required standards.
- Funds will be paid to the applicant’s institution.
- Funds awarded are final, do not include overheads and are not subject to appeal.
- Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.
- All successful applicants must submit a report within three (3) months of completing the project describing how the funds were used.
- Failure to provide the appropriate reports within the stated time will result in the applicant becoming ineligible to applying for further SRF supported funding.
- All successful applicants must acknowledge the SRF in any publications or presentations arising from work supported by this fund.
- The main criteria will be the quality of the application, however if two applicants are equally rated, preference will be given to first time applicants.
- All Research grants follow the same application process and rubric.
- Funding will be forfeit if the awarded project is delayed for more than nine months unless agreed otherwise with SRF. If the project is subsequently proposed to resume, a new application for funding will be required.
- In line with the SRF’s ‘Policy on use of animals in research’, any research which is conducted on live animals as a result of this funding will: be performed in accordance with local institutional ethical approval, be performed in accordance with national regulatory guidance (e.g. UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1996; European Directive 2010/63 on the Protection of Animals in Scientific Experimentation), adhere to the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) ARRIVE guidelines (download at https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines).
5. Timeline
- Applications for SRF Research Grants are open from June 2025.
- The deadline for submitting applications is 17.00 (GMT) Friday 19 September 2025.
- Awards are expected to be announced in mid-December 2025.
Evaluation of Applications
The SRF is committed to ensuring that the evaluation process is carried out in a responsible, fair, non-discriminatory and transparent manner. Applications are anonymously evaluated by GMC following a rubric. The following key criteria are used in evaluation. The listing does not imply any order of importance.
- Scientific merit, approach and study design.
- Relevance and impact to the field of Reproduction and Fertility.
- Innovative nature of the proposed study.
- Other factors, such as feasibility and budget.
Applications are now closed.
