Project Grant Awards

Fight for Sight’s mission is to stop sight loss by funding the highest quality clinical and non-clinical early research. We support original and ground-breaking ophthalmic and vision research.

What funding is available?

Up to £250,000 is available over three years to applicants proposing research projects which are hypothesis-driven, innovative, involve high-quality scientific methodologies and are supported by robust preliminary data. Projects involving collaborative/multidisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged.

Fight for Sight is committed to building research capacity in ophthalmic and vision research. Applications from new investigators and those currently working in fields outside of vision research are welcome.

Award

Applications are invited for stand-alone projects which aim to prevent or address sight loss caused by any eye disease or condition.

Strategic areas of focus: as part of the new research strategy Fight for Sight will be transitioning away from clinical areas of strategic focus outlined in the previous strategy to the following patient pathway themes:

• Understanding: Increasing understanding of how eye diseases and conditions start and develop
• Prevention: Preventing eye diseases and conditions
• Diagnosis: Enabling eye diseases and conditions to be detected earlier
• Treatment: Developing new and improved treatments for eye diseases and conditions

Applications in all clinical areas will still be welcome, including those highlighted in the last strategy (Age-related Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, Inherited Eye Disease, and Multi-morbidity).

Changes to Eligibility

Whilst we would like to be able to fund as much high-quality research as possible, we need to be mindful of the funding that we have available in any given grant round and are keen to encourage research from as many different scientists/clinicians as possible. Therefore, lead applicants must not currently have more than three active Fight for Sight grants. If an applicant has three active grants and one (or more) is due to end by March 2024 they may still apply for a Project Grant.

For more details on the eligibility criterion or the financial support offered, please see our guidance document below.

Deadlines

Applications must be submitted via our online Grants Management System.

The deadline for abstract applications is 13:00 on Wednesday 21 June 2023. Please note applications past the deadline will not be accepted. For shortlisted applicants the closing date for full application submissions will be 13:00 on Wednesday 1 November 2023. The successful applicants of the 2023/24 grants round will be notified in March 2024.

Please note that all the signatories must also have confirmed approvals on the Grant Management system by the deadline.

Contact us

For any queries relating to your application, including eligibility queries, please contact Fight for Sight at grants@fightforsight.org.uk.