Call for UK biomedical PhD Studentships
January 07, 2021
Action for M.E. is delighted to announce a call for applications for biomedical PhD studentships.
Following the success of our Big Give Christmas Challenge, and the generosity of our amazing supporters and donors, we have been able to invest in our support services for children, adults and families with M.E.
With some of the funds raised ring-fenced for research, we are now announcing our 2021 call for UK PhD studentships in biomedical M.E. research, providing match-funding for up to three years totalling £45,000.
Our aim is to support scientists in the early stages of their career who have the potential to become leaders in the field of M.E. research.
Sonya Chowdhury, CEO, Action for M.E., says:
“Fostering new talent is essential if we are to drive M.E. research forward to the level at which it’s needed. While this funding is small compared to something like DecodeME, the world’s largest M.E. DNA research project that we are co-leading, it can lay the foundations for new collaborations, insights and ideas that all add to our biomedical picture of M.E.”
This will be our third PhD studentship, alongside Marissa Amato supervised by Prof Neil Harrison, and Joshua Dibble supervised by Prof Chris Ponting. Speaking at the UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative conference last year, Joshua highlighted the importance of opportunities like the Action for M.E. PhD Studentship.
“The research would not have been funded without your [Action for M.E.] input because the Scottish Chief Scientist’s Office money was only available to match it,” he said. “I would not be working in this field without the opportunity provided by this project. So even if you can only part-fund studentships (and find matching contributions) you will likely be able to draw new researchers to M.E./CFS research.”All applications, which must be received by noon Monday 22 February, will be subject to our rigorous research funding assessment process; we expect to announce the successful Studentship in May’s M.E. Awareness Month.
