Apply Now: Early Career Researcher Award in PPIE

This new award aims to encourage and recognise the efforts of early career researchers in adopting effective and inclusive PPIE approaches. It is open to any early career researcher in rare disease in the UK, along with a key PPIE contributor, not just those associated with Rare Disease Research UK (RDR UK).

The winning researcher and PPIE contributor will receive funding to attend the annual RDR-UK conference (March 2025, Manchester). The pair will be celebrated at the conference at a prize-giving, and invited to co-write a blog for the websites of RDR-UK and Genetic Alliance UK.

Applications are invited from pairs consisting of a researcher and a key PPIE contributor they have worked with. Each member of the pair will need to contribute to the application form.

Applications will be accepted for PPIE work that has reached a point of having impact. The research and involvement activities do not need to be fully complete – completed projects should have ended within the last two years.

We define early career researchers as post-doctoral researchers who are establishing their career and have not yet applied for grants or fellowships as an independent PI. Rare diseases are defined as those that affect fewer than 1 in 2,000 people. The award is not limited to particular disciplines and all UK-based early career researchers are encouraged to apply, whether their research is in, for example, basic science, therapeutic development, applied/translational or psychosocial research in rare disease.

The judging panel consists of:

Jillian Hastings Ward (Chair; PPI Contributor)

David Church (Oncology Researcher, Basic Science)

Sadia Haqnawaz (PPIE Contributor)

Amy Hunter (PPIE Facilitator)

Kerry Leeson-Beevers (PPIE Facilitator and Contributor)

Michelle Peter (Social Scientist)

Amanda Stranks (PPI Lead)