UKVRN Doctoral Training Programme

Timeline

• Applications open – 9 April 2026
• Deadline – 25 June 2026
• Time – 13:00
• Rebuttals open – 29 September 2026
• Deadline – 13 October 2026
• Funding outcome shared with applicants – December 2026

Eligibility

• Applications must be made by the potential PhD supervisory team and may have a basic, translational or clinical research focus.  
• The supervisory team (Host and Co-supervisors) must hold either a PhD or MD and be affiliated with UK-based academic or medical institution(s).
• The host institution must be based in the UK, although with justification, a small amount of time can be spent outside the UK to enable the student to travel to collaborator(s) to learn techniques required for their project. Plans and costs should be clearly stated and justified in the application form.
• UKVRN DTP students are expected to conduct research related to their thesis at both the host institution and the co-supervisor’s institution. 
• Supervisors must either hold a tenured position or be able to demonstrate that they are recipients of grant funding/ have salary provision which will extend beyond the end date of the Doctoral Training Programme.
• The scheme does not cover funding gaps for Studentships already started.

Financial support

Funding is made in line with AMRC’s position statement on supporting research in universities.

Eligible costs for applications:

• Stipends (students should receive a stipend aligned with the current UKRI rate)
• PhD fees at UK rates
• Consumables
• Essential equipment for the project
• Animal costs
• Open access publication costs
• Conference costs for the student (including one international conference)
• Other expenses (e.g., PPIE or travel)
• Additional funding to support travel and accommodation for the student to spend time at the co-supervisor’s institution (up to £20,000).

Applicants must provide a detailed budget for these expenses in their application.

Applications cannot include costs for:

• Salaries for the supervisors
• Maintenance of equipment
• Recruitment costs
• Indirect costs
• Non-attributable overhead costs

Guidance

We have recently moved our Grants Management System from CC Grant Tracker to Benefactor Cloud.

Please see our guidance page for information on how to create an account.  

Go to Benefactor Cloud.

Application process

UKVRN Doctoral Training Programme are a one-step process.

All applications must be submitted via Fight for Sight’s Benefactor Cloud system. New applicants must register for an account to access the application form.

When creating an account, the supervisor at the host organisation will be the “main contact” on the grant system and will initiate the application. Once started, they can add the ‘co-supervisor’ to the application as an additional contact. Please see the guidance for how to transfer the application between supervisors.

You must submit your application for approval by the stated deadline. This will require approval from one authorised signatory of the host institution (Finance Office) within 72 hours (three days) post submission. It is recommended to seek the appropriate signatories as early as possible, as these must be added when you submit your application. Please consider any annual leave and double check email addresses, as applications with outstanding approvals 72 hours past the deadline will not be processed.

Host institution and supervisor responsibilities

We encourage greater collaboration between supervisors in training their students. However, each student can only be registered at one institution. Prospective supervisors must decide which organisation the student will be registered with (the host organisation) before applying.

Fight for Sight Benefactor Cloud Login

Review process

Fight for Sight is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and follows their guidelines for best practice in peer review.

Applications will be reviewed by up to three external peer reviewers who are experts in the field and may include members of the UK Vision Research Network Panel (UKVRNP).

To ensure that we fund the highest quality research, successful awards must pass a minimum quality threshold as determined by Fight for Sight's UKVRNP.

Applications, reviews and rebuttals will be discussed at the UKVRNP meeting. The UKVRNP will make recommendations to Fight for Sight’s Grants and Impact (G&I) Committee on which applications are fundable. The G&I Committee will consider the UKVRNP feedback and strategic interests of the charity when making the final funding decision. 

Outcomes and further feedback will be shared with all applicants who submitted a full application.