Project Grants
For applicants proposing hypothesis driven clinical or non-clinical research projects that aim to address sight loss caused by any eye condition.
NOTE: Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) will be integrated into the stage 2 assessment of our 2025/26 Project Grants call.
- Maximum funding: up to £250,000
- Duration: 3 years
- Stage 1 deadline: 28 May 2025
Timeline
Stage 1 abstracts
- Applications open - 1 April 2025
- Deadline - 28 May 2025
- Stage 1 outcome - shared with applicants September 2025
Stage 2 invited full applicants
- Applications open – September 2025
- Deadline – 15 October 2025
- Rebuttals open – December 2025
- Deadline – 7 January 2026
- Funding outcome shared with applicants – March 2026
Eligibility
- Lead applicants and co-applicants must be affiliated with UK academic or medical institutions.
- The research must take place within the UK, although with justification, a small amount of the work can be conducted overseas where this is essential to the success of the project. Plans and costs should be clearly stated and justified in the application form.
- Lead applicants are expected to have a PhD or MD and will usually have a tenured post or be able to demonstrate that they will have a salary for the lifetime of the grant.
- Lead applicants must not currently have two or more active grants with the charity. An applicant with two active grants where one (or more) is due to end by the outcome date of this scheme may still apply.
Financial support
Funding is made in line with AMRC’s position statement on supporting research in universities.
Applications can include costs for:
- Salaries for the person(s) carrying out the research e.g. a named research co-applicant, a recruited post-doctoral researcher, statistician, or research nurse
- Consumables
- Equipment essential for the project
- Animal costs
- Open access publication costs
- Conference costs
- Other expenses, such as PPIE or travel
Applications cannot include costs for:
- Salaries for the lead applicant or co-applicant(s)
- A PhD student to carry out the work
- Maintenance of equipment
- Recruitment costs
- Indirect costs
- Non-attributable overhead costs
Applications can be made for projects of a shorter duration up to the maximum funding value. However, applicants must be able to demonstrate feasibility, scientific excellence, and value for money.
Application process
All applications must be submitted via Fight for Sight’s Grant Tracker system. New applicants must register for an account to access the application form. Returning applicants can login to their existing account.
You must submit your application for approval by the stated deadline for your submission to be processed.
If invited to Stage 2, your full application will require approval from two authorised signatories of the host institution (Head of Department and Finance Office) following application submission on grant tracker. We allow 48 hours (two days) from the deadline for approvals. 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 48 hours past the deadline will not be processed.
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.
Project Grants involve a two-step process, with an abstract and full application stage.
Abstract applications will be scored by three members of the Research Grant Assessment Panel (RGAP).
To ensure that we fund the highest quality research, successful awards must pass a minimum quality threshold as determined by Fight for Sight's RGAP.
Invitations for full application submissions will be shared with applicants following the triage panel. All applicants will receive feedback at this stage.
Full applications will be shared with three external peer reviewers who are experts in the field. The reviews will be shared with the applicants for rebuttal.
Your full application will also be reviewed by a person with lived experience of vision loss, which will feed into the review process.
Full applications, reviews and rebuttals will be discussed at a RGAP meeting. The RGAP will make recommendations to Fight for Sight's Social Impact and Scientific Research (SISR) Committee on which applications are fundable. SISR will then make recommendations to the Board of Trustees considering the RGAP feedback and the 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.
The following review criteria across three key themes are used when considering the application:
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Key theme 1: Scientific merit
Category 1: Project
- An important, clear and focused research question, which is hypothesis driven and/or a PICO question
- Achievable in the timeframe
- Adequate and appropriate methods for the research question
- Evidence to support the feasibility of the project
- Adequate and appropriate plans for the evaluation of research outcomes, including a sample size / power calculation
Category 2: Research team and environment
- A research team with suitable experience and expertise evidenced by a good track record that will contribute to the project's success
- A research environment with the appropriate facilities and resources
Category 3: Governance
- Appropriate consideration for risks, budget and ethics
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Key theme 2: Importance of research
Category 1: Addressing unmet need driven by public involvement
- Identification of an important, clear unmet need
- Public involvement in the development of the research proposal, involvement plans throughout the project and engagement plans upon completion
- Realistic outline of pathway to potential benefit for people with or at risk of sight loss
Category 2: Potential for progress
- Avoiding duplication of existing or ongoing work
- Clear pathway to impact
- Likelihood of significant new understanding or evidence
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Key theme 3: Capacity building
Category 1: Training and opportunities
- Focus on training and development
- Support from research team and environment
Category 2: Future in vision research
- Demonstrated interest in remaining, becoming, or training a vision researcher
- Clear next steps for future studies and funding
Any questions?
You can contact our scientific research team with your questions or for support by email.
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Timeline
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Success rates
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Eligibility
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Financial support
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Process
- Timeline
- Success rates
- Eligibility
- Financial support
- Process