British Heart Foundation (BHF)

A new online grant application system (Grants Management System [GMS]) was launched on 25 January 2012 for all fellowships, project, programme, special project and horizons grants. Please refer to our GMS web page  for further details and a step-by-step guide to registration and completing an application.

Background information on the British Heart Foundation (BHF)

Areas supported Causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the heart and circulation
Types of funding Research Grants (Programme & Project Grants), Fellowships (Non-clinical & Clinical - from postgraduate to senior academic), Travel Fellowships, Personal Chairs, Infrastructure Grants, Strategic (Capital & New Appointments), New Horizons (for researchers moving into the cardiovascular field from other areas)
Full details on the BHF website
Funding Guide See BHF Funding Guide
BHF funding opportunities On the BHF website
On ResearchProfessional.com. You will need to log in or click on Campus Access to view these
BHF Research Income at Oxford 2010/11: Oxford received £7.7M (10th largest research funder of the University)
Applications and Award Activity at Oxford 2010/11: 27 applications submitted to the value of £17.0M. 27 new awards accepted worth £11.7M, including financial amendments to existing awards (University financial year Aug-Jul)
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Preparing your application

  • It is essential that you refer to BHF's general funding guidance and conditions and any specific guidance issued by BHF with the funding call or scheme. Contact the BHF directly for further guidance.

  • If you are thinking of putting together a grant application, please get in touch with your Departmental Administrator, Research Officer or Research Facilitator as soon as possible (and at the very latest four weeks before the deadline), so that they can provide advice and assistance with the preparation of your proposal. The sooner you get in touch, the more they will be able to help.

  • Guidance is provided on BHF's website on eligibility to apply for all schemes.

  • BHF uses an electronic applications system (GMS) which went 'live' on 25 January 2012 for all applications other than the 3 following types which will still need to be submitted using paper forms:

Infrastructure
Personal Chairs
Strategic Initatives

Detailed instructions on how to use BHF's online Grant Management System (GMS) can be found on our GMS web page.

  • Paper application forms together with scheme guidelines can be downloaded from the BHF website.

Further information

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Preparing a Case for Support

  • This is the part of the application where you will describe your proposed project and why you should be funded to carry it out.

  • Ensure that your case is well-structured and addresses the issues or questions raised by the BHF in the call.

  • BHF advises that 'Scientifically meritorious applications may fail if the hypothesis is poorly described, the project lacks pilot data, experimental detail and power calculations, includes irrelevant information or does not address overlap with other projects.'

  • Familiarise yourself with the assessment criteria that will be used - and the weighting given to each.

  • When writing your proposal be aware of who will ultimately be reading and assessing it. This will not just be subject experts but also generalists sitting on review panels.

  • Use the advice and expertise of colleagues, especially those who have had successful proposals with the BHF - it can be helpful to ask colleagues who are both expert and non-expert in your field to read and comment on your application.

  • As with all aspects of your application, don't overlook 'minor details'. The wrong font size or exceeding page limits will result in your application being returned by the funder - and sometimes not considered at all.

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Ethics

  • Where any research proposed in the application will involve human subjects or animals then the relevant questionnaires must be downloaded from the BHF website, completed and included with the application.

Further information

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Costing and Budgeting

  • Your Departmental Administrator, Research Officer or Research Facilitator will assist you to identify the costs of your project and also prepare a Resolve costing. Please contact them as soon as you are thinking about applying and at the very latest four weeks before the deadline. The Resolve costing will provide the financial information that you must include in the Je-S forms and, since this is the form that indicates Departmental approval of the costs of a project, it has to be provided to Research Services before the application can be approved and submitted by the University to the funder.

  • Funding from the British Heart Foundation constitutes eligible income for the purpose of HEFCE's Charity Support Funding.

  • BHF will pay Directly Incurred costs only. BHF will not pay either Directly Allocated or Indirect costs.

  • Inflation should not be applied to salary costs as BHF will meet any nationally-agreed salary increases.

  • BHF sets its own student stipend rates and will reimburse fees provided the costs are included in the application.

Further Information for researchers

Departmental administrators see guidance on Resolve costings

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Justification of Resources

  • All applications must include justification for the resources requested. This is an opportunity to explain in words why you require the resources detailed in your budget.

  • Note that this is not justifying the costs (money) sought, rather the resources required to undertake the project, such as equipment or number of staff but also the level (seniority) of proposed staff and the proportion of their time they will dedicate to the project.

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I'm ready to submit my application - what should I do now?

Further Information

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The application has been submitted - what next?

  • Applications are sent to independent reviewers before being assessed by one of BHF's three research grants committees (Project Grants Committee, Fellowships Committee, Chairs and Programme Grants Committee).

  • Judgements are made on factors such as scientific merit, relevance to cardiovascular disease, timeliness, relationship to other work in the field and value for money.

  • Feedback is usually given on unsuccessful applications. Applications may be deferred for reconsideration pending further information.

  • Do let your Departmental Administrator know the outcome of your application. Where it is to be funded they will liaise with you and Research Services regarding the acceptance of the award.

Further Information

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Managing your award

  • See Managing awards for the process at Oxford for accepting and managing awards.

  • All claims, invoices and financial statements to funders must go out from Research Accounts, never directly from Departments.

  • British Heart Foundation's requirements for starting awards as well as academic and financial reports are covered in more detail in the BHF Funding Guide.

  • Publications arising from research funded by the BHF should include an acknowledgement of BHF support as set out in the BHF Funding Guide.

  • BHF's grant condition relating to open access of BHF-funded outputs should also be noted. This requires that a copy of the final version of each peer-reviewed research paper accepted for publication, supported in whole or in part by BHF funding, shall be deposited in UKPMC, to be made freely available within 6 months of publication.

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Information on costing and budgeting for departmental administrators

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Documents

Related links

Find out more