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CVS Clinical Research Awards (CRAs)

CVS is proud to offer funding for veterinary clinical research that aims to benefit the animals under veterinary care, and research that supports the veterinary profession in providing the best possible care to animals.

The latest call for applications has now closed. Dates for future calls will be announced in due course.

 What we fund:

  • Clinical veterinary research:
    • We support clinical veterinary research, including Quality Improvement projects, which aim to generate new knowledge that has a direct benefit to animals cared for by the veterinary profession.
  • Research supporting the veterinary profession:
    • We fund research that aims to generate further knowledge to support veterinary practice and veterinary professionals.

What we do not fund:

  • We do not fund experimental research. Any interventions on animals (including obtaining samples) must be considered part of recognised veterinary practice (and fall under The Veterinary Surgeons Act in the UK). Investigators should be familiar with UK law regarding research on animals and these standards will be applied to all territories (advice is available if necessary to applicants from Ireland and the Netherlands).

Our awards

Flexible research awards
  • These awards support clinical veterinary research or research supporting the veterinary profession. These awards could support a range of projects including PhD studentships, research projects of up to three years or small-scale projects.
  • Applications are open to CVS staff, and academics from universities or research institutes in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. Applications from practising vets and/or nurses are encouraged.
  • For applications where the lead applicant from universities/research institutes in UK, Ireland and Netherlands, inclusion of a CVS employee within the investigator team is required.
  • Funding of up to £45k per annum is available for up to three years. Funding can be used to cover any direct research costs. This includes salary costs/stipend, consumables and utilities/software specifically required for the research. A maximum of £1,500 for publication costs can be requested.
  • If supporting a PhD project, we would expect to see university funding for student fees. These awards are not intended to support residency programmes.
CVS residency awards
  • These awards support clinical veterinary research required as part of a residency programme.
  • These awards are open to CVS residents only.
  • Funding of up to £5k for each CVS resident can be requested to cover any direct research costs. This includes consumables, utilities/software and up to £1,500 for publication costs.
University residency awards
  • These awards support clinical veterinary research required as part of a residency programme.
  • These awards are open to residents enrolled on a residency programme within a veterinary school in UK, Ireland or Netherlands.
  • Inclusion of a CVS employee within the supervisory team is required.
  • Funding of up to £5k can be requested per resident, to support clinical research required as part of their residency training any direct research costs. This includes consumables, utilities/software and up to £1,500 for publication costs.

How to apply

To apply to one of our awards, please follow the guidance for the appropriate award below and email your application to clinicalresearchawards@cvsvets.com.

Please submit the following four documents to apply for a CVS research award:

  1. An application form, outlining the following:
  • Details of the applicant/co-applicants including contact details, qualifications, and current posts.
  • The study title, it’s proposed start date, and duration.
  • A lay summary to help us with promotion and publicity of the project.
  • The research question, objectives and study background.
  • Proposed methods, study design and details of planned analyses with an outline of expected duration for each step. If necessary, please consult with the CVS statistician prior to submitting your application. If available, please include a summary of results from pilot data.
  • Proposed clinical benefits of the research and a route to impact statement.
  • Details of previous submissions of the same or related proposals.
  • If staff are to be employed, please outline the planned process for this. If a student is the primary researcher (PhD or resident), please provide a supervisor statement giving details of planned training and research support.
  • Provide a detailed analysis of costs including a breakdown of expected total project costs and requested costs (this can be submitted as a separate document to the application form if necessary).

Download: Flexible research award application

Download: Residency award application (University or CVS applicants

  1. A CV Pro-Forma for each applicant (a template is included within the application form above), including:
  • Name, current post and posts held within the last 10 years
  • A breakdown of current and past funding details
  • Details of current and past research supervision
  • A list of the 5 most relevant and highest quality publications
  • Additional information relating directly to the application
  1. Ethics approval documents:
  • Please submit evidence of ethics committee application and approval.
  • We acknowledge that not all research will have ethical approval at the point of application (e.g. for qualitative research or questionnaire based research). In this scenario, please outline in a letter why ethical approval has not yet been granted and indicate the steps required to ensure the project will achieve ethical approval.
  1. Letter of support:
  • Please include a letter of support for this project from your line manager or head of department.

What happens after you apply?

Your application will undergo a detailed review by at least two members of the CVS Clinical Research Panel (CRP) before being presented, considered and scored at a meeting of the CVS CRP. Each application will be scored on three areas: i) quality and study design, ii) clinical impact and iii) likely productivity of the proposed research.

The CVS CRP consists of:

  • Chief Veterinary Officer (chair) (or nominee)
  • Chair of CVS Ethics Committee
  • SA Clinical Director (or nominee)
  • Equine Clinical Director (or nominee)
  • Farm Animal Director (or nominee)
  • Laboratory Division Director (or nominee)
  • Referrals Division representative – Dr Nicolas Granger
  • CVS statistician – Dr Imogen Schofield
  • External member 1* (Professor Sarah Freeman – Equine, Nottingham)
  • External member 2* (Dr Richard Meeson – Small Animal, RVC)

*External members will be appointed for a period of three years and will typically be experienced veterinary researchers with expertise that will complement the panel.

You may be given the chance to respond to CRP reviewer questions before the voting stage of the process. CRP meetings will be held biannually.

CRP members may also be applicants. However, CRP members who are also applicants on a project proposal will not be involved in the assessment of such proposals.

We will notify you of our decision shortly after the relevant CRP meeting. Some applicants may be asked additional details about their project proposals based on questions that arose during the CRP meeting. The responses to these questions will aid the CRP in making a final decision. If unsuccessful, you are welcome to resubmit your application once more in a future round of award calls as long as this is made clear on the application form.

If successful, you will receive a communication confirming the decision outlining total project costs and specifying the date by which the project must commence. We will require a response from you accepting the award and confirming the project start date. All awards will be subject to signed acceptance of the CVS grant university funding agreement or CVS employee terms of agreement.

CVS Advances

To read more about the Clinical Research Awards and to see examples of successful awards, please read our latest issue of CVS Advances:

Advances Magazine Volume 3