The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust has announced the Sir Jules Thorn Biomedical Award 2025.

One grant of up to £1.7m is offered to support a five-year programme of translational biomedical research led by an outstanding researcher in the early years of an established research and academic career. The work must include research on patients and be based on appropriate bio-statistical analysis. The application must set out a clear strategy defining how the research will translate into benefit for patients and the timescale within which this will take place.

Please note a few points about eligibility from, including updates obtained through communication with the funder: 

• The work set out in the proposal must be a major commitment for the Principal Applicant, comprising at least 50% of their research time. Where the Principal Applicant holds an existing award from another funder, the institution/organisation will need to verify in its letter of support that the terms of that other funding are consistent with the 50%-time commitment required by the Award.
• Grants must be led by a single Principal Applicant of outstanding quality in the early years of an established research and academic career. Typically, shortlisted candidates have an established a strong track record of independent research, previously supported by competitive, peer-reviewed fellowships such as Wellcome, the MRC or NIHR. Shortlisted candidates typically have been PI for one or more research grants with a value <£500K - or have been named as co-investigators on larger awards - from similarly prestigious funders. However, the Trust is not prescriptive about how the early years of an established research and academic career is defined and recognises that outstanding researchers may not follow a conventional career path, and/or may have had periods away from research for professional or personal reasons. 
• the award may not be used to meet the salary costs of the applicant, who should be in an institutionally-funded post for the duration of the grant. 
• Please note that the funder has communicated with us that it will accept applications from any eligible applicant so long as the project is human focussed and translational. Therefore, applicants need not be affiliated with the University’s School of Clinical Medicine to apply.

Please see the funder's guidance for applicants for full details and the funder's webpage for further useful resources, including the Guidance for Institutions document. Examples of the type of research funded under this programme can be found in the previous awards section of the Trust’s website.

University Internal selection: