Special announcement: 

Due to the ongoing financial uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the BSSH regrets to announce that our Research Grant/Fellowship is cancelled until further notice. This decision will be reviewed in March 2021.

BSSH Research Grant/Fellowship

The aim of the Research Grant/Fellowship is to fund clinical or basic science research of relevance to hand surgery. It is anticipated that this funding source will be used to fund a fellowship for a trainee, but applications from therapists for fellowships under the supervision of a BSSH member and non-fellowship research projects run by BSSH members will be considered equally. Studies to support research to assist a commercial enterprise will not be considered. Maximum funds of £50,000 per year are available. 
The closing date for applications is 15 January annually and awards decisions will be finalised in April, usually after interview. If you require further information or have any queries with regard to these awards please contact the Secretariat.

Application form

Pump Priming Research

The British Society for Surgery of the Hand invites applications from its members and associates for its pump priming scheme. This is intended principally to pump prime early studies and systematic reviews, that may lead to applications for larger funding from other organisations. The projects funded should pump prime research with the potential to benefit patients. The scheme will fund small project grants of up to a maximum of £10,000. The aim of the scheme is to promote high quality research proposals, to support pump priming, proof of principle and feasibility studies or to increase the chances of applicants being successful in winning substantial external funding. 

Applications should be sent to secretariat@bssh.ac.uk by 1st October and award decisions will be made by the end of November, sometimes following an interview. If you require further information or have any queries with regard to these awards please contact the Secretariat.

Application Form

 

List of Successful applications for Pump Priming

 

Year	Successful Applicant	Study Title
2018	Mr Edward Jeans	‘Defining in vivo kinematics of single piece silastic proximal inter phalangeal joint with magnetic resonance imaging’
	Ms Angela Kedgley	‘The role of the extrinsic finger muscles in wrist function’
2015	Professor Jane Blazeby	‘MALIT Trial Pilot Work’
	Mr Mo Akhavani	‘Ex Vivo Normothermic Perfusion of the Pig Forelimb’

 

NIHR and Large Grant Funding

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. They aim to fund high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care and provide learning and support to enable researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future. Find out how to apply for NIHR funding for your research project, including eligibility criteria, which programme is most suitable, and how to make a strong application, here:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/researchers/apply-for-funding/how-to-apply-for-project-funding/

 

List of Successful External Grants for Hand Surgery Research

Year	Study Title	Type of Grant	Money Awarded
2018	Decision making in hand surgery (Oxford)	NIHR Fellowship	£415,400
	POINT – proximal phalanx fracture fixation trial (Nottingham)	Health Technology Assessment	£1,400,000
	MRI for diagnosing traumatic brachial plexus injuries (Leeds)	NIHR Fellowship	£544,600
2017	NINJA – Nail bed injury analysis trial (Oxford)	Research for Patient Benefit	£348,600
2016	REACTS – returning to work after carpal tunnel release (Southampton)	NIHR Fellowship	£284,400
	DRAFFT2 – Distal radius fixation trial 2 (Oxford)	Health Technology Assessment	£1,248,600
	Outcomes from common hand conditions (Oxford)	NIHR Fellowship	£335,200
	DISC – Dupuytren's surgery vs. collagenase RCT (Leicester)	Health Technology Assessment	£1,942,000
2015	DRAFFT – Distal radius fixation trial (Oxford)	Health Technology Assessment	£66,000
	Needle fasciotomy vs. limited fasciectomy for Dupuytren's (Nottingham)	Research for Patient Benefit	£259,800
2013	Improving management of carpal tunnel (Leicester)	NIHR Fellowship	£542,400
	SWIFTT – cast vs. fixation in scaphoid fracture trial (Leicester)	Health Technology Assessment	£2,284,700
	In-Practice Fellowship on carpal tunnel (Keele)	Integrated Academic Training Programme	£111,000
2010	RCT in K-wires vs. locking plate distal radius fracture (Warwick)	Health Technology Assessment	£1,300,500
	DRIFT - Distal Radius Internal Fixation Trial (North Wales)	Research for Patient Benefit	£236,400
2009	Recovery of sensory/motor function post carpal tunnel (Norwich)	NIHR Fellowship	£378,300
2006	Genetics of Dupuytren's disease (Manchester)	Integrated Academic Training Programme	£727,100

 

James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) ) 

The collaboration between the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) and the James Lind Alliance (JLA) has been completed. The Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) has collected data concerning potential uncertainties suggested by patients, carers and clinicians, the current literature base concerning those suggestions and the relative importance of the suggestions.

The “top 10” questions will be publicised and discussed at events where research funders will attend. The PSP will work with its stakeholders and partners to raise awareness of the priorities and try to get them funded as research projects. The questions will be considered by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and other funding organisations when commissioning research.

Click here to find out more about the James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnership (PSP)