Innovation Fund: Small grants scheme

About the PRN Innovation Fund

Support is available for projects which align with the objectives of the PRN – exploring, capturing, disseminating prevention research practices and methods. We are particularly interested in proposals which expand the reach of the PRN to researchers who may not traditionally consider themselves as ‘prevention researchers’. This could include colleagues in environmental science, planning, housing, transport, early years, social work as well as methodologists working on prevention studies outside of traditional ‘health’ research.

The call for applications for funding is now open and closes on Wednesday 5th November 2025.

Guidelines for Application

What types of projects/activities will be funded?

Studies of prevention research practice (ways of working), methods or challenges that are not specific to one topic area. We can fund Directly Incurred (DI) staff time as well as research costs (e.g. transcription).

• Workshops, seminars, meetings or other dissemination event focused on the practice of prevention research. These could be standalone but we would also welcome proposals to run an event at or alongside another event or conference which will be attended by prevention researchers who may not yet be aware of the PRN. We could fund travel, subsistence and conference registration fees (where applicable) for the event organisers as well as catering or other costs.
• Graphic design for an accessible output on prevention research practice or methods: guidance, report, briefing, or other media.
• These are just examples, we welcome innovative proposals that are in line with our aims. Prior work funded by the PRN includes qualitative studies of how prevention researchers manage commercial interactions or deliver impact, webinar series on systems methods, or workshops on public involvement.

Who can apply?

Anyone can apply providing they are a member of the Prevention Research Network (PRN). You can join the network free of charge here Prevention Research Network.

We particularly encourage applications from early career researchers including as lead applicant provided appropriate support and expertise from a more experienced academic is identified within the team.

We would also welcome applications from PRN Interest Group leads and members, and we encourage new collaborations including with colleagues who have not previously joined the PRN.

Funding rules and distribution of funds

• The fund will support small to medium sized projects, generally not larger than £10,000.
• Only directly incurred costs (staff or non-staff) are eligible.
• Following UKPRP guidelines, projects should be costed at 100% Full Economic Costing (FeC) and funding will be awarded at 67% in accordance with the terms and conditions of funding with no overheads including estates and indirect being awarded.
• We envisage funding 3 – 5 projects, which must be completed by 31^st July 2026.
• If you are interested in applying for funding, please contact Anna Orme, the Prevention Research Network Manager prior to application at a.m.orme@stir.ac.uk.
• In-kind contributions are encouraged (e.g. staff time, resources, equipment)

Successful applicants will be issued an award letter from The University of Stirling which they must sign to confirm their acceptance, before starting the project. The award letter will contain the terms and conditions under which the award is made, and when payments will be issued.  Payments will be made in arrears and as scheduled in the award letter, subject to completion of agreed milestones/providing evidence of agreed spend, following submission of an invoice and in accordance with the funders UKPRP’s guidelines.

How to Apply

Please complete the application form here. You will receive a confirmation email on submission.

Applicants must fill in the online form and then download and complete the ‘PRN Innovation fund_Project Budget & Workplan_NAME’ (docx, 27KB) document with the 2 tables, which should be emailed to a.m.orme@stir.ac.uk. 

Project Budget

• Please use standard template provided for completing the full breakdown of costs.
• Please insert more rows to provide further details of project costs as needed.

Project Workplan

• Please provide a breakdown of what the project will deliver and relevant timescales including key milestone deliverables needed to achieve a successful project completion in line with your start/end dates for the proposed project activity.
• Please use the standard template provided and include relevant details to reflect your project activity.

Applications will be reviewed by a panel including representation from the PRN Co-ordinating Committee, PRN Lead Investigators, PRN Research Fellow and Network Manager in the first instance.  Where applications include any of these individuals, they will be excluded from the review process to avoid any conflict of interest.

Requirements of Funding

Successful applicant(s) will be required to meet with the PRN prior to starting and at an agreed interim check-in date, to prepare a very short final report on their activities and expenditure, and to contribute news about their activities to the PRN newsletter.

All activities and outputs supported by this fund will be expected to acknowledge the support of the PRN and adhere to the Publications Policy of UKPRP.

Further information/queries

You may submit enquiries to Anna Orme, Prevention Research Network Manager on a.m.orme@stir.ac.uk.