Race Against Dementia Fellowship

Race Against Dementia and Alzheimer’s Research UK are launching a call for proposals. We aim to fund at least one Fellowship supported entirely by Race Against Dementia.

This Fellowship is designed for early career researchers with no more than six years post-PhD research experience. Research question should be framed to understand/diagnose/treat/ reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Race Against Dementia encourages dementia researchers to adopt the Formula 1 mindset and gives them the opportunities to do so, in a bespoke training programme, which aims to shake-up the status quo and accelerate progress. Race Against Dementia offers developmental opportunities for Fellows, including a mentoring scheme where top academic scientists, industry and/or commercial professionals are partnered with Race Against Dementia Fellows, sharing their problem-solving techniques, research technologies and open minds.

Preference will be given to applications that demonstrate how they will leverage artificial intelligence in their projects to improve understanding of dementia, diagnosis, reduce risk and develop treatments.

Join our livestream webinar on the 27th January at 12pm GMT for further information, to get tips from a current Fellow, and to get answers to your questions.

Get more information / Apply for the Fellowship

Eligability

The Applicant

• Applicants must have no more than six years post-PhD research experience at the time of applying, adjusted for part-time working and career breaks.
• Applicants that have not yet been awarded their PhD may apply but must provide proof that their PhD has been awarded before the final Grant Review Board meeting in July 2025.
• Applicants to the Race Against Dementia Fellowship will not be eligible to apply for any other Alzheimer’s Research UK Fellowship schemes in the same round.
• Applicants to previous Race Against Dementia Fellowship calls may re-apply. In the application form, applicants will be expected to directly address the Grant Review Board’s feedback and detail any changes made in response to feedback.

The Institution(s) and the Supervisor(s)

• The Fellowship must have a UK academic or not-for-profit research institution as a base.
• The applicant will need to secure a Supervisor at the Host Institution who is expected to hold a contract (fixed-term or tenure) for the duration of the project. If the Supervisor does not hold tenure, the application must include a Co-Supervisor at the host institution that does.
• For secondments to other institutions, which are actively encouraged through this scheme, applications must include a Co-Supervisor from the Visiting Institution and a letter of support from the relevant department. Race Against Dementia Fellowships aim to be flexible; if opportunities for secondment arise after the start date, Fellows should approach Alzheimer’s Research UK with their plans.
• The Supervisors will provide the facilities required for the research programme, have oversight of the Fellow and their research programme, contribute actively to the training of the Fellow and be supportive of the Fellow’s involvement in the diverse developmental opportunities provided by Race Against Dementia.

Funding Options

• The Race Against Dementia Fellowship provides up to £500,000 in direct costs over five years, to cover salary, secondment, and running costs.
• For international secondment(s), salary costs will be corrected based on justified living costs from the Visiting Institution(s). The applicant must provide proof that the budget(s) for the secondment phase(s) have been approved by the Visiting Institution(s).
• Permitted secondment costs include: visa costs, health insurance, justified living costs (incl. salary adjustment) and travel expenses for meetings with the home Supervisor and/or Mentors.
• Race Against Dementia Fellowships aim to be flexible; if opportunities for secondment arise after the start date, Fellows should approach Alzheimer’s Research UK with their plans.
• The Host Institution will be responsible for administering payments to any Visiting Institutions.

The terms and conditions of a grant differ between grant schemes. Contracts are drawn up individually once the grants have been awarded. However, Race Against Dementia Fellows will be expected to:

• Be entirely committed to the work proposed in the application. The scheme will be supportive of Fellows required to undertake additional academic commitments for personal development needs, including teaching, demonstrating work and NHS clinical sessions. All such activities should relate to the main thrust of the Fellow’s research interests. The Head of Department at the Host institution should confirm their willingness to comply with the conditions relating to teaching when the Host Institution accepts the award, and they should provide the Funders with details of the teaching or any other extra activity the Fellow will undertake at the earliest opportunity.
• Embrace all developmental opportunities offered by the scheme, including enrolment in the Race Against Dementia training programme and mentorship scheme, where they will be matched with innovative and ambitious academic scientists, and industry and/or commercial professionals.
• Participate in the annual Race Against Dementia Summit and Forum, which brings together our cohort of researchers in a week-long event offering developmental opportunities to researchers inspired by Formula One’s culture of pace and precision.

Application form

Applications are made via Alzheimer’s Research UK’s grant application website.

Review Process

While funded entirely by Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK will handle the application and review processes, administer funds, and lead on impact and progress reporting.

Alzheimer’s Research UK is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities and follows their guidelines for best practice in peer review. Grants are awarded entirely on scientific merit in relation to ARUK’s remit and on the basis of open competition. The quality of the application and applicants is the key determinant of outcome, although the strength of the dementia research environment within the institution is also considered.

Triage

Three expert panel members from our Grant Review Board (GRB), who are not conflicted carries out an in-depth assessment of the applications drawing on their specific areas of expertise, and score each application A triage of the applications is carried out by a sub-set of GRB members to determine which applications move forward in the review process. Scoring and Review criteria are available here.

Rebuttal Opportunity

Before final review, applicants are given the opportunity to respond to the feedback from the GRB members. This rebuttal stage allows applicants to address any concerns or questions raised by the reviewers, providing clarifications or additional information to support their application. For prospective fellows, this will be in the form of live rebuttal during the interview process.

Lived Experience Review

Those applications which have human volunteers are sent for Lived Experience Review. As part of the application, applicants are required to write a Plain English proposal, which are sent to volunteers from the Lived Experience Involvement Group for comments, and for scoring. The comments are made available to the GRB members and incorporated into discussion at the board meeting.

Fellowship Interviews

As part of our review process, interviews will be conducted alongside the Grant Review Board (GRB) meeting. The interview panel will consist of a subset of the GRB members, individuals with lived experience of dementia, and the Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK.

During the interview, prospective Fellows will be asked to deliver a 5 minute PowerPoint presentation outlining their work. This presentation provides an opportunity to showcase their research and discuss its potential impact.

Final Funding Approval

Based on the in-depth discussions and assessments, the GRB makes recommendations for funding.

Success rate

In the last funding round Alzheimer’s Research UK received 11 applications one of these were awarded funding.

Conditions and Monitoring

• All grant holders are expected to report annually on the progress of their project. All reports will be reviewed by a Review Panel which has been established to specifically monitor and support the progress of the Race Against Dementia Fellows. Grant holders may be expected to attend meetings with the Review Panel on an annual basis.
• Race Against Dementia Fellows will be expected to participate in the annual Race Against Dementia Summit and Forum and at least three Alzheimer’s Research UK Research Conferences (registration costs for which will be covered by Alzheimer’s Research UK) in order to disseminate their progress to scientific community and stakeholders.

Read more about our reporting requirements on the measuring progress and impact page.

Policies

All applications submitted to Alzheimer’s Research UK are subject to the policies found in Research guidelines and policies. Please ensure you familiarise yourself with these policies and contact research@alzheimersresearchuk.org with any queries.

Visit funding web page
(https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/grants/race-dementia-fellowship/)