Small Grant Awards

Fight for Sight’s mission is to prevent and stop sight loss by funding the highest quality clinical and non-clinical research.

Small Grant Awards are intended to be used to collect preliminary/pilot data to make research ideas more competitive when developing larger follow-on funding applications. These awards offer competitive funding of up to £15,000 to early career clinical or research scientists to conduct stand-alone research projects for up to 12 months.

Fight for Sight is committed to being an inclusive research funder and building research capacity in ophthalmic and vision research. Together with our research partners, we welcome applications from new investigators, those currently working in fields outside of vision research and those returning to research following career breaks.

If you would like to read more about our funded Small Grant Awards from the previous round, you can click this link.

Awards

These awards will be used to support original, ground-breaking ophthalmic and vision research.

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

• Prevention: prevent eye diseases and conditions occurring.
• Understanding: enhance understanding of eye diseases and their underlying causes.
• Diagnosis: enable eye diseases and conditions to be detected earlier.
• Treatment: develop new and improved treatments for eye diseases and conditions.

Fight for Sight is pleased to be collaborating with other funders and applications are being invited for the following:

Fight for Sight Small Grant Awards

Note: default award for projects not in line with other partnerships.

For research addressing sight loss caused by any eye disease or condition which are not addressed through one of the partnership awards below.

Fight for Sight / AZOOR Society Small Grant Award

For research addressing sight loss associated with Acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) to build understanding of the condition. Applications investigating the potential link between bacteria and the immune response in AZOOR are particularly encouraged.

Fight for Sight Blue-Cone Monochromatism Small Grant Award

For research addressing blue cone monochromatism. Applications progressing knowledge into potential treatments are particularly encouraged.

Fight for Sight / Bowman Club Small Grant Award

For ophthalmologists or research scientists undertaking research addressing diseases of the cornea and conjunctiva.

Optometrists are ineligible to apply to this award.

Fight for Sight / Chief Scientist Office (CSO) Small Grant Award

Up to two awards open for clinical or non-clinical research focused on the understanding, prevention, diagnosis or treatment of sight conditions and ophthalmology/optometry services.

The research must be carried out in a Scottish academic or medical institution.

Fight for Sight / DEBRA Small Grant Award

For clinical or research scientists to support vision loss related research in Epidermolysis Bullosa which should be used to collect preliminary/pilot data to develop follow on applications.

Researchers currently working in fields outside of vision research are welcome to apply.

Fight for Sight / Glaucoma UK Small Grant Award

For research addressing sight loss associated with glaucoma.

Fight for Sight / Health and Care Research Wales Small Grant Award

For research that satisfies the policy and quality threshold for clinical or non-clinical research focused on the understanding, prevention, diagnosis or treatment of sight conditions and ophthalmology/optometry services.

The research must be carried out in a Welsh academic or medical institution.

Fight for Sight / Nystagmus Network Small Grant Award     

For clinical research addressing visual impairment associated with nystagmus, focusing on quality of life or causes (including genetic), diagnostic testing/analysis or treatments.

Fight for Sight / Stargardt’s Connected Small Grant Award

For research addressing sight loss associated with Stargardt’s disease, which will move research in this area forward.

Fight for Sight / Thyroid Eye Disease Charitable Trust Small Grant Award

For research addressing sight loss associated with thyroid eye disease.

Fight for Sight / Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund Small Grant Award

For research addressing any aspect of sight loss caused by choroideremia. This award will continue to build on knowledge of the condition and potential treatments.

Fight for Sight / Versus Arthritis Small Grant Award

For research addressing arthritis and visual impairment. This includes, but is not limited to Bechet’s Syndrome, Giant Cell Arthritis, and Sjögren's syndrome. Any research relevant to inflammation and uveitis are also welcomed. 

Applicants should indicate in their application under which award their proposal should be considered. Applications not addressing the specific eligibility for a partnership award should be submitted for the Fight for Sight Small Grant Award. For any queries regarding the schemes, contact Fight for Sight at Grants@fightforsight.org.uk.

How are applications assessed?

Applications are assessed according to the research question and how this award will generate data to lead to future studies and further funding.

Small Grant Award applications will be reviewed by the Fight for Sight Research Grant Assessment Panel (RGAP) and a representative from the relevant partner charity (where applicable). Approval of research partners will be obtained prior to any funding decision. 

Eligibility

• Early career researchers (more information available in the guidance), although more senior researchers can apply for areas of research where there is limited activity in the UK, provided adequate justification is given.
• Lead applicants must be affiliated with UK academic or medical institutions and the research must be undertaken in the UK.
• Lead applicants are expected to have a PhD or MD and and be able to demonstrate that they will have a salary for the lifetime of the grant.
• Small grant awards are not intended to top-up existing grants or be part funding for a larger project.
• Applications limited to one per lead applicant, who must not have two or more active Fight for Sight grants. An applicant with two active grants where one (or more) is due to end by December 2023 may still apply for a Small Grant Award.

Deadline

All applications must be submitted via Fight for Sight’s Grant Management System. 

The deadline for applications is 13:00 on Wednesday 13 September 2023. Please note applications past the deadline will not be accepted.

Successful applicants of the 2023/24 grants round will be notified in December 2023. Approval of research partners will be obtained prior to any funding decision.