Boosting the rate of heart research

The British Heart Foundation has so many research grants on offer that it is enough to send a budding researcher into a flutter. The BHF is the largest independent funder of heart research in the UK and in 2002-3 it spent a total of £49.6m on studies into heart and circulatory disease. While the average size of research aid on offer isn't huge, the grants are comprehensive and there are plenty to choose from.

The grants range from PhD studentships to various fellowships. For the PhD studentships, university heads of department can apply to allow graduates to carry on to do a PhD degree at a UK university. Awards here are for three years and applicants can apply for funds to cover stipends, university fees and up to £5,000 a year for research consumables. About £3,000 a year is available through the John Fyffe memorial fellowship. This is to help research in the field of collagen disease and especially into the causes, diagnosis, treatment (including surgical techniques) and the eventual elimination of Marfan's syndrome. The award is supposed to pay for visits to other centres so researchers get first-hand experience of others' knowledge and techniques.

Clinical science fellowships are for clinicians between the ages of about 25 and 30 who, having completed basic specialist training, are judged to have outstanding potential for clinical research. Awards are for up to seven years, the first three of which should be spent in a basic science department. The awards are to cover researcher salaries on the NHS or clinical academic equivalent scale and up to a further £5,000 can be applied for to cover research consumables - but this has to be fully justified.

Junior research fellowships are for clinicians, or non-clinical postgraduates looking to train in academic research full time. Again, they cover the salary and up to £5,000 a year for research consumables - and in special circumstances, additional funds on top of that. They last for up to two years but could be extended to three years in exceptional cases.

Intermediate research fellowships offer much the same deal, only up to £7,000 is available for research consumables. But clinical applicants should hold a PhD or an MD, and non-clinical applicants must have at least two years of postdoctoral research experience.

Finally, the BHF funds overseas visiting fellowships and travelling fellowships to the UK. The first covers a foreign researcher's salary to undertake cardiological research for up to two years in a UK department and up to £5,000 a year for research consumables. The second allows UK heads of department to invite overseas researchers to the UK to train members of their department in new techniques. The maximum duration is six months and covers travel and subsistence costs and up to £3,000 for consumables.

The deadline for applications is noon on August 5 and there is another deadline on November 5. Details are available at www.bhf.org.uk/professionals or email research@bhf.org.uk.

· Anthea Lipsett is senior reporter for Research Fortnight