Apply for funding

Through our successful PhD studentship programme we have a track record of attracting and funding promising young scientists to develop their careers in MND research. We only fund research of the highest scientific/clinical excellence and greatest relevance to MND.

Deadline

We hope to accept further grant applications in 2026, please see planned details below.

Please read our Guidelines, Terms and Conditions and our Guide to Completing the Online Summary Application Form. It is also recommended that you read the MND Association Research Strategy and Research Governance Overview.

Duration

Awards will be offered for three and a half years (42 months) to allow registered students to undertake full-time research for a PhD.

Eligibility

Studentship applications are invited from prospective supervisors, based in UK and Ireland laboratories. Collaborative projects between departments are welcomed, provided the relative roles of the supervisors and departments are addressed. Supervisors should recruit and nominate the student of their choice (subject to MND Association approval). Students should hold, or expect to obtain, a first or upper second class honours degree.

Assessment and Budget

Please see our Guidelines for more information on assessment criteria and budget information.

We are committed to playing a key role in ending MND. Our biomedical research programme is delivering significant and measurable advances in understanding and treating the disease. We only fund research of the highest scientific excellence and greatest relevance to MND.

Application Process and Deadlines

We hope to accept further grant applications in 2025, please see planned details below.

Please read our Guidelines, Terms and Conditions and our Guide to Completing the Online Summary Application Form. It is also recommend that you read the MND Association Research Strategy and Research Governance Overview.

If you need further information please email [email protected].

Duration

Grants will be offered for up to three years duration. Applications for less than two years should include a named researcher with the relevant expertise, familiar with the laboratory.

Eligibility

Applicants can be based outside the UK and Ireland, provided the project is unique in concept or design (i.e. no similar research is being performed in the UK) and involves a significant aspect of collaboration with a UK institute.

Assessment and Budget

Please see our guidelines for more information on assessment criteria and budget information.

Our Lady Edith Wolfson Fellowship programme, in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC), is attracting and developing outstanding young clinicians in MND research in order to create future scientific leaders in this field.

Central to the MND Association’s research strategy is the need to develop opportunities for the scientific training of young clinicians, to strengthen the links between the laboratory and the clinic.

The MRC/MND Association Lady Edith Wolfson Fellowships aim to support clinicians wishing to pursue research into the pathogenesis and treatment of motor neurone disease. Awards under this scheme are available at three levels:

Clinical Research Training Fellowships
The deadline date for 2024 round one is 10 January 2024

Clinical Scientist Fellowships
The deadline date for 2024 round one is 10 January 2024

Senior Clinical Fellowships
The next deadline April 2024

Please check all deadlines on the MRC's website. The application systems are usually open about two months before the deadline.

How to apply

The Lady Edith Wolfson Fellowships are administered by the MRC. Further information can be found on the MRC website.

If you wish to discuss your proposed research area in advance of submission, please contact Dr Brian Dickie,  our Director of Research Development.

Since 2015 the MND Association has awarded non-clinical fellowships to nurture the best post-doctoral researchers and develop the MND research leaders of the future.

The fellowships will be awarded at two levels, depending on the experience of the applicant: Junior Non-Clinical fellowships or Senior Non-Clinical fellowships.

Deadline

We hope to accept further grant applications in 2026, please see planned details below.

Please read our Guidelines, Terms and Conditions and our Guide to Completing the Online Summary Application Form. It is also recommended that you read the MND Association Research Strategy and Research Governance Overview.

Duration

Grants will be offered for up to three or four years duration.

• Junior Non-Clinical – awards will be offered for 2 – 3 years
• Senior Non-Clinical – awards will be offered for 3 – 4 years

Eligibility

Fellowship awards may only be held at an institute in the UK and Ireland. At the time of application the prospective fellow may be based elsewhere

• Junior Non-Clinical – applicants must have 2 – 6 years post-doctoral experience at the time of commencement of the award. Exceptional final year PhD students may apply but should consult the Association prior to submitting a summary application.
• Senior Non-Clinical – applicants must have 4 – 10 years post-doctoral experience at the time of commencement of the award.

Assessment and Budget

Please see our guidelines for more information on assessment criteria and budget information.

The Doctoral and Advanced Fellowships, in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), aim to support individuals on their trajectories to become future leaders in health and social care research. This new partnership will build research capacity in MND and help researchers receive valuable input from public and patient MND groups along with greater research exposure.

Awards under this scheme are available at two levels:

Doctoral Fellowships - aimed at those wishing to undertake a PhD

Advanced Fellowships - aimed at those wishing to continue their career in research after a PhD

Duration

Awards will be offered for 3 years for the Doctoral Fellowships.

Awards will be offered for 2-5 years for the Advanced Fellowships.

How to apply 

These Fellowships are administered by the NIHR. Further information will be available on the NIHR website when the funding calls open. 

The MND Association has a longstanding record in commissioning and funding healthcare research. Our goal is that healthcare research we fund will lead to better symptom management and quality of life for people with MND, their families and carers and help strengthen the case for public funding of high-quality MND care.

We hope to accept further grant applications in 2026, please see planned details below.

Researchers should be able to demonstrate their proposed study will inform and expand the NICE Guideline: Motor Neurone Disease: Assessment and Management through identifying knowledge gaps and/or generation of more robust evidence base, strengthening the case for statutory funding of high-quality MND care. For 2025, we additionally have three specific areas of research for which we would welcome applications.  Please see Healthcare Grants 2025 Specific Subjects.

Please read our Project Grant Guidelines and PhD Studentship Guidelines, Terms and Conditions and our Guide to Completing the Online Summary Application Form.  It is also recommended that you read the MND Association Research Strategy and Research Governance Overview with Supporting Document.

We also have a longstanding record of supporting studies in co-operation with other agencies, such as Marie Curie to fund research into improved care for those living with MND. We will be keen to discuss opportunities for jointly funded initiatives at any time. 

Enquiries about Healthcare research can be directed to the Research Grants Team at [email protected].

Patient registries are essential tools to capture every case of MND to answer questions about incidence, prevalence and regional distribution.  Registries can also serve as a recruitment facilitation tool for research and to provide information to guide future development of care services.

We invite full applications for an award of up to five years funding (~£2.2 million) for a programme to roll out a disease registry of MND in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  Proposals seeking to establish multicentre collaboration to maximise cohort size are encouraged.

Please contact the Research Programmes and Partnerships Manager by email: [email protected] for a full application form.  The deadline for receipt applications is 6 June 2025.

Application Process

Please read our Terms and Conditions . It is also recommend that you read the MND Association Research Strategy and Research Governance Overview.

Eligibility

Applicants should be based in the UK, and the project should be unique in concept or design (i.e. no similar research is being performed in the UK).