BHF Centre of Excellence Call for Pump-Priming Proposals

BHF Cambridge Centre for Cardiovascular Research Excellence

Internal call for pump-priming proposals

The BHF Cambridge Centre for Cardiovascular Research Excellence (BHF Cambridge CRE) has received £3M from the BHF to fund interdisciplinary research over the next five years (2014-2019).  As part of this, a budget is available to pump-prime studies in the broad area of atherothrombosis.

This funding is aimed at highly innovative and interdisciplinary projects for which it would be difficult to attract peer-reviewed funding in the first instance (exploratory, hypothesis generating, proof-of-concept studies, development of novel tools, high risk projects). Proposals will be assessed against each other four times per year - in September, December, March, and June. Update: the Centre has now awarded all available pump-priming funding (19/11/2015).

Awards will be up to a maximum of £50K - requests for smaller awards are welcome.  The overall goal is to allow researchers to be responsive and innovative. Pump-priming proposals provide an opportunity to obtain pilot/preliminary data that should enable subsequent submission of a grant application to an external funding agency. Consideration will also be given to requests for part-funding funds towards strategic equipment bids.

Applications for pump-priming should be a maximum of 3 A4 pages (Ariel 11 font, 1” margins) in length and should contain the following information:

  • names of the CRE PIs and collaborators;
  • proposed start and end date;
  • an abstract of <300 words;
  • a clearly stated hypothesis (except in cases of equipment);
  • a description of the work to be undertaken, and relevant references - Figures should be embedded in the text
  • a clear account of what preliminary data will be generated by this work and the plans for future applications to leverage additional peer-reviewed funding or engagement with industry;
  • a justification of the costs and a summary of the requested funding;
  • any other relevant information.

Priority will be given to projects that would be difficult to fund from external peer-reviewed sources because the project is too high risk, the data are too preliminary, where a rapid decision is needed, or where there are concerns about confidentiality that make external peer-review unattractive. 

All PIs associated with the CRE are eligible to apply for pump-priming funding.

Applications will be assessed by the Centre Director, Prof Nick Morrell, with the assistance of a panel of experts external to the pump-priming applications. Funding decisions will be made within one month of application DL.

Applications and any enquiries should be emailed to Katja Kivinen (kjk28@cam.ac.uk).