Grants

The RSTMH Early Career Grants Programme provides grants every year to those early in their career, from anywhere in the world, to carry out their first piece of research into tropical medicine or global health.

Our grants programme has been established for more than 40 years and has seen significant growth. Since 2017 we have given out more than 800 awards across 66 countries.

Who are the grants for: The RSTMH Early Career Grants are aimed at individuals who have not received a research grant of £5,000 or more in their own name before, who are able to develop and deliver their first research project

Where you are based: Applications are welcomed from researchers from anywhere in the world

Grant amount: The maximum RSTMH Early Career Grant award is £5,000 (including any taxes on relevant purchases)

Duration of grant project: Project should take up to one year to be completed and should start within 3 months of receiving funding

Topic and scope: The projects can be on any topic related to tropical medicine and global health, from across the research spectrum for example: lab, translation, implementation, and policy

The 2025 RSTMH Early Career Grants Programme

Applications for the 2025 RSTMH Early Career Grants Programme will open early 2025.

More information on timings and deadlines will be released shortly.

The 2024 RSTMH Early Career Grants Programme

Applications for the Early Career Grants programme 2024 closed on 22 April 2024 at 12pm (BST).

Exclusive Funding for RSTMH members

RSTMH is delighted to be directly funding a number of awards this year to existing RSTMH members. Find out more about RSTMH membership and its other benefits here.

Partners

This year we have secured funding for the programme from National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), The International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS), and The Journal of Comparative Pathology Educational Trust (JCPET). This means we will be able to fund at least 290 awards, with a number of of those awards being exclusively for RSTMH members.

NIHR are funding around 230 awardees who are based in, and carrying out projects in, low and middle income countries, and whose projects carry out minimal laboratory-based work.

CIFF are funding 50 awardees who are investigating 7 key disease areas across Africa.

IACS are funding 2 awards, for projects focused on scabies based anywhere in the world.

JCPET are funding 2 awards, for projects focused on One Health, based anywhere in the world.

You can read about the partners for 2023 here.

Awardees

More information on the awardees for 2024 can be found here.

Applying for a grant

If you are thinking of applying for a 2025 grant, please review the following information from our 2024 programme.

More information on the 2025 application process will be released in early 2025.

My RSTMH grant

As a young scientist from Uganda, a developing country, winning this grant has greatly empowered me to work harder towards winning bigger grants. Through this award, I will have an opportunity to conduct research that will have a great impact locally and worldwide.

Maxine Atuheirwe, Makerere University & RSTMH grant awardee 2021

My RSTMH grant

This is a dream come true. Conducting this research will enhance my skills and knowledge. It will provide advanced experience in conducting implementation research towards my long-term goal of becoming a well-funded independent researcher in implementation science.

Lucy Banda, Nursing Officer, Zomba Central Hospital, Malawi & RSTMH grant awardee 2021

Mar 2024

RSTMH Early Career Grants programme: Member guidance webinar

We will be hosting a member-only session on applying for an RSTMH 2024 Early Career Grant at 11:00-12:30 GMT on Wednesday 20 March 2023.

20 March 2024, 11:00-12:30 GMT

Online event

Latest on grants

2024 Early Career Grants Programme opens for applications

The 2024 RSTMH Early Career Grants Programme is now open for applications. The Programme provides more than 200 grants every year to those early in their careers to carry out their first piece of research into tropical medicine or global health.

22 Jan 2024

Round-up: 2023 Early Career Grants Programme applications

Adheem Malik, RSTMH Grants Manager, provides a breakdown of the applications to this year's Early Career Grants programme - another record breaking year for applications.

02 Jun 2023

Round-up: 2022 Early Career Grants Programme applications

Tamar Ghosh, Chief Executive of RSTMH, provides a breakdown of the applications to this year's Early Career Grants programme - another record breaking year for applications.

20 May 2022

NIHR to fund 150 Early Career Grants

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research function of the UK Department of Health and Social Care, will fund, using UK aid, around 150 Early Career Grants in 2022.

06 May 2022

Round-up: 2021 Small Grants Programme

As the funding for our 2021 Small Grants Programme is distributed, Chief Executive Tamar Ghosh looks at the funding’s reach and gives a breakdown of the projects which have received grants.

25 Nov 2021

RSTMH announces three-year partnership with Wellcome Trust

Wellcome is the first partner to have agreed to support our Small Grants Programme over a period of several years.

06 Jul 2021

Round-up of our 2021 Small Grants Programme

We have once again seen a record number of applications for our Small Grants Programme, receiving 1,198 applications in total.

14 May 2021

World Leprosy Day: a glance at RSTMH small grants on leprosy

World Leprosy Day is marked annually on 31 January. Leprosy is a bacterial infection caused by the slow-growing bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and mainly affects the nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose.

27 Jan 2021

2020 Small Grants round-up

With over 120 small grants funded in 2020, let's take a look at the amazing projects being undertaken by our awardees.

18 Sep 2020

Soulsby Foundation calls for applications for 2019 One Health fellowships

The Soulsby Foundation has opened a call for applications for the 2019 Travelling Fellowships Programme.

07 Nov 2018

One more week to get applications in for an RSTMH small grant

We have a week to go for RSTMH small grant submissions and we would love to see more applications from those early in their careers, from around the world.

20 Apr 2020

Record number of small grants received in 2020

This year we have once again seen a record number of applicants for our small grants programme, receiving 932 applications in total.

04 May 2020

RSTMH Small Grants 2020- ideas we would like to see

Update about our small grants programme by Tamar Ghosh, RSTMH CEO

09 Mar 2020

Update on our student essay competition

An update from RSTMH CEO, Tamar Ghosh, on our student essay competition

04 Jan 2019

Rare Disease Day and neglected tropical diseases

On the last day of February, Rare Disease Day is celebrated around the world to bring a greater awareness to conditions that often escape notice. In Europe, a disease is considered rare when it impacts less than 1 in 2,000 people, while the US defines them as affecting fewer than 200,000 Americans at one time.

28 Feb 2019

A record-breaking year for RSTMH small grants

We have now awarded all the small grants for the 2019 small grants programme. This has been a record-breaking year, as we were able to award 50 early career research grants to researchers based across the world.

08 Nov 2019