Pump priming grants

Closed: Due to reopen October 2025

The Royal College of Surgeons of England is offering awards to newly appointed consultants (appointed since 2020), senior lecturers, SAS doctors and post-doctoral trainees in surgery working at hospitals and universities within the UK. The aim of the awards is to give assistance to such surgeons in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Awards will be made competitively and may be used flexibly to support the award holder’s research programme.

Value of the award

The award is up to £10,000 over two years and must be used exclusively to support the award holder’s own research and may not be used for their own personal salaries. They may be used, among other things, for small items of equipment, consumables or technical assistance.

At the end of the year, the award holder will be required to write a short report on how they have used the award.

Eligibility

All applicants must comply with the following:

Must be members or fellows of RCS England.
In addition, successful applicants must remain in good standing with their membership fees throughout the tenure of the award.
Must not have received a pump-priming grant from us before.
Must be consultants (appointed since 2020), senior lecturers, post-doctoral trainees or SAS doctors in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Must be working in surgery in the UK.

Application

All applications are rigorously assessed through a peer review process to ensure the research and facilities are of a high standard and that the proposed work will be valid and beneficial.

Applications consist of: