Purpose
Early career collaboration awards, of up to £2000 each, are available for early career researchers (ECR) who are members of UKSBM. The aim of the UKSBM ECN collaboration award is to:
- Provide members of UKSBM the opportunity to collaborate and work towards a larger project related to the field of behavioural medicine.
- Provide ECRs with the opportunity to form a collaboration with someone outside of their immediate research group.
- Provide ECRs with an opportunity to broaden their network.
- Provide ECRs with the opportunity to prepare and lead a funding application, to enhance their CVs.
- Offer benefits to UKSBM as a whole by reinvesting into the society and its ECR membership.
The proposed collaboration must be based on aims to pursue a specific project or activity. All projects must be related to the field of behavioural medicine, and must be feasible to complete within one year. Collaborations can take a variety of formats, e.g., with other academics or research groups, with clinicians, or with partners from industry. Example activities could include undertaking a research visit to a proposed mentor, development work for a fellowship or grant for the ECR (that the proposed collaborator would be involved with), learning about a specific method that the collaborator has expertise in. Both the ECR and collaborator should be invested in the proposed activities, and it should be clearly explained how the collaborator will support the ECR and how this collaboration will benefit the ECR, as well as how the collaboration will be sustained beyond the duration of the award.
All applications must demonstrate how their collaboration will be of wider benefit to UKSBM via a clear outcome, beyond submitting an abstract to the annual conference. This could take many forms dependent on the project. For example, the applicant may deliver a workshop on the methods that they used or learnt about during the award, organise a webinar or panel discussion, or create a short training video series/ practical guide or resource.
Eligibility
The applicant must fulfil the following eligibility requirements:
- Currently an early career researcher, working in the field of behavioural medicine. Early career researcher is defined as being within 5 years of completing your most recent degree (not including any periods of career disruption or career breaks). Current PhD students are also encouraged to apply.
- The ECR must be a current member of UKSBM and continue to be a member for the duration of the funded project.
- The proposed collaborator must be in a different organisation/institution from the ECR, both based within the UK.
Details of the funding
- Applicants can apply for up to £2000 of funding. All costs must be justified.
- The funding can be used for any activity deemed necessary for the collaboration, as long as it is fully justified. For example, travel, resources, research costs.
- It is strongly encouraged to include meeting your collaborator in person as part of the award (e.g. undertaking a short research visit). If the collaboration will be fully virtual, it should be clearly articulated how this will work.
- Funding can be used to strengthen existing collaborations, or to initiate a new collaboration.
- The proposed mentor/collaborator must be willing to discuss the collaboration ahead of submitting, provide a letter of support, and to provide ongoing support to the applicant throughout the duration of the project (e.g. meetings/ research visits/ training etc.).
- The funding cannot be used to pay for the salary of the ECR or the collaborator.
- The award will run for 12 months, and all funding should be used within this time.
- Successful applicants will be required to provide a summary of their project for UKSBM communications on commencement of their project, a longer blog describing their experiences during the project, and a report at the end of the award to describe activities that have been undertaken, outcomes arising from the award, and any ongoing collaboration.
Application documents
To apply, the following documents should be submitted to s.m.c.green@leeds.ac.uk.
- A letter of intent (maximum 2 pages) describing:
- A description of the proposed collaboration including aims and justification as well as outputs.
- A description of how this collaboration will be of benefit to the ECR.
- Clear objectives of the proposed activities, alongside a plan of how the activities will be completed within the proposed timeline. For any research visits occurring, a detailed overview of activities taking place during the visit is required.
- Clear and realistic outcomes of the proposed award.
- A description of how this collaboration could be maintained beyond the duration of the award.
- A clear dissemination plan, including how the collaboration will be of benefit to wider UKSBM members.
- A clear budget of how the funds will be used.
- A CV for the applicant (maximum 2 pages).
- A letter of support from the home institution of the ECR (e.g. from a current supervisor or line manager), stating support of the proposed collaboration, strengths of the applicant, and how this collaboration will benefit the ECR (maximum one page).
- A letter of support from the collaborator demonstrating agreement to the ECR’s proposed activities, evidence of communication with the ECR, and confirmation of sufficient time and resources to support the ECRs proposed activity (maximum one page).
Award selection process
All applications will be reviewed by a panel made up of UKSBM executive committee members and members of the UKSBM Early Career Network. Applications will be reviewed using a standardised scoring system, based on:
- Relevance of the project to the field of behavioural medicine.
- Potential benefit to the ECR, relevant to the career stage of the applicant- i.e. how will this award support the applicant’s career.
- Clarity and feasibility of the proposed activities.
- Potential outcomes from the award.
- Potential benefit to wider UKSBM membership.
- Support from the host institution and proposed collaborator.
- Potential for ongoing collaboration.
- Justification of budget.
Deadline
Midnight (GMT), 12th December 2025.