How To Apply

Application Forms

Not all awards may be offered each year

Retrospective applications will not be considered in any category.

NNUKRF RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

Research Fellowship 2026

 The Novo Nordisk UK Research Foundation in collaboration with The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (Home page | The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists) Ltd (Diabetes Care Trust Ltd)  is delighted to invite applications for grant funding to support a research Fellowship starting in 2026.  We are particularly keen to encourage new and aspiring diabetes researchers. 

This Fellowship is jointly funded by the Diabetes Care Trust through its subsidiary The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD)* and the Novo Nordisk UK Research Foundation (NNUKRF)**.

Applicants can apply for funding up to £300,000 over 3 years, which will be funded jointly by ABCD and NNUKRF (£50,000 per year per organisation).  

Please note:

  • Fellowship award includes salary, consumables, PhD fees, travel1, publication fees2.
  • Applications must be supported by the head of department and host academic institution and funding must be approved by host academic institution.
  • Applicants must register for a higher degree hosted by a UK institution.
  • Reviews will be conducted for the winning application on an annual basis which will include updates on progress against the GANTT chart submitted with the application and financial reporting.
  • Applications must be received no later than 7th January 2026.

Eligibility 

  • Applicants must be Healthcare Professionals (ie those requiring a licence or formal qualification to practice in the UK).
  • Applicants must be UK based.
  • The research proposal must take place in the UK.
  • The research proposal must be related to diabetes.
  • Projects involving animals cannot be accepted.

How to apply

Start by downloading and completing the Grant Application PDF form. You will be required to upload your completed form and all supporting documents when you complete our online application form which is found on the ABCD website.

Please note, applications will be shared with members of the ABCD Research Grant Committee, with members of the NNUKRF Research Selection Committee and external expert reviewers.  By submitting an application, you give permission for your application to be shared with the relevant award funding bodies to review and administer the award as needed.

Review Process

Applications will be competitive and assessed according to the Association of Medical Research Charities guidelines for peer review. Each application will be reviewed in depth by minimum one person from ABCD and one person from NNUKRF, dependent on the expertise of the individual committee/review panel members of each organisation and the Statistician on the NNUKRF Research Selection Committee will be invited to review the statistics of all applications.

A series of panel meetings will be undertaken to identify the top three applications. The three top applications will be sent for external independent review and applicants will be invited to present their research proposal to both organisations via an interview panel consisting of the individual reviewers for each application, Chairs from each organisations review panel/selection committee, and lay representatives.
 

1 Funding for travel and conferences limited to £2,000 over the course of the fellowship.
2 Funding for publication fees limited to £3,000 over the course of the fellowship.

* The Diabetes Care Trust (DCT) was established in 2010 with a mission to empower diabetes specialists in their vital work supporting individuals living with diabetes (charity number 1139057). The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists is the national organisation of Consultant Physicians in Britain who specialise in Diabetes Mellitus. Most are also Acute General Physicians, and many are also Specialists in Endocrinology and Lipid Metabolism.
** The Novo Nordisk UK Research Foundation (charity number 1056410) (NNUKRF) is a corporate foundation dedicated to funding research, developing young researchers, and supporting education among the diabetes health professional community in the UK. Novo Nordisk Ltd is the sole donor to NNUKRF, however, NNUKRF decides and allocates funding independently to fulfil its own independent charitable objectives.

FAQs

Read our FAQs for more details on how to prepare your application and what costs are covered.

Research Fellowship FAQs

Contact

If you have any questions please contact ukresearchfoundation@novonordisk.com

RESEARCH GRANTS (up to £12,000 maximum)

How To Apply

Applicants must be living and working in UK

The research must be based in the UK

Timelines are posted on the website each year.

Applications forms are available via the NNUKRF website www.nnukrf.org.uk when the awards open.  Application forms will contain further instructions.

Applications must be submitted by the deadline which will be published on the website and will be 23:59 on the closing date.

The review process has two stages.

Stage 1: Preliminary Applications reviewed by the independent Research Selection Committee.

Stage 2: Applicants successful at stage 1 will be invited to submit a full application to be reviewed by the independent Research Selection Committee.

Successful applicants will be informed by the end of March or early April.

Unsuccessful applicants will be informed by the end of March or early April or before.

NNUKRF Grant Criteria

The maximum amount available for a Grant award will be published when the applications open each year.

The Grant awards are open to all applicants working in the diabetes area.

These awards are made to investigate an area of interest within a larger project funded from elsewhere or to carry out a pilot project. The Grant awards are wide ranging and applicants can apply for equipment and reagents, assay kits and other consumables.  Technician time can be included although the salaries cannot be included.

Review Criteria

  • Relevance to diabetes themes and patient benefit.
  • Well written, clear application.
  • Overall contribution to body of knowledge, could the proposal lead to a poster, oral presentation or publication?
  • Clarity of objectives.
  • Methodology, is this clear and likely to deliver the objectives.
  • Is the project feasible given funding level.

The appropriateness of the funding requested will be considered (is the application seeking to support otherwise inadequately funded projects or supplement salary shortfalls?)

NNUKRF follows the AMRC Position Statement for animals in research Position statement on the use of animals in research | Association of Medical Research Charities

Reports

At the end of the project applicants are required to submit a final report. A template is provided for this.

NNUKRF CLINICAL AND EDUCATION FUND AWARDS

How To Apply

Timelines are posted on the website each year.

Awards cannot be made retrospectively and therfor awards must take place after the end of March in the award year, successful applicants will be informed by the end of March or early April.

Applications forms are available via the NNUKRF website www.nnukrf.org.uk when the awards open.  Application forms will contain further instructions.

Applications must be submitted by the deadline which will be published on the website and will be 23:59 on the closing date.

Fund Application Criteria

Applicants for a Fund Award must be a qualified health care professional living and working in the UK. A qualified health care professional is a person requiring a qualification or license to practice in the UK (such as nurses, dieticians, podiatrists and pharmacists).  The Fund Awards are not open to medically qualified GMC registered professionals.

Applications must be related to diabetes.

NNUKRF Fund Award Criteria?

There are three types of award as listed below.  The maximum amount available for Clinical Project Awards will be published when the applications open each year. Awards cannot be backdated or offered retrospectively. Fund awards are allocated to a specific educational activity, meeting or clinical project and the Foundation will not consider indirect or directly allocated costs in relation to these awards.

Clinical Projects (up to £5,000 maximum)

– the Clinical Projects are wide ranging, they should have clear application to clinical practice.  It could, for example, be a project to enhance your service, new materials, test a new idea or investigate outcomes.  Previous successful applications have included websites, videos, in-hospital insulin use, 3c diabetes, and education projects. Please contact the Foundation if in doubt.  The lead applicant for the Clinical Projects cannot be a doctor (GMC registered). Clinical projects must be based in the UK.

Educational Awards – the Educational Awards offer funding toward courses, training and new learning opportunities to enhance your diabetes service.  The educational activity must be based in the UK and hosted by a recognised educational institute.  Applications are accepted from all health care professionals except medically qualified persons (ie GMC registered). Awards are made at the end of March and requested training or courses occur after this date. Educational awards cannot be made retrospectively.

Meeting Awards – support to attend a meeting or conference related to diabetes care. Applicants can apply for registration, travel and accommodation costs. The meeting or conference must be held in the UK. Where an applicant is applying for support to attend a meeting, preference will be given to those people presenting an original piece of work or giving a talk or lecture. Applications are accepted from all health care professionals except medically qualified persons (ie GMC registered). Please be aware that applicants will be informed by 1st week in April and therefore all meetings must occur after this date. Meeting awards cannot be made retrospective.

Process for the NNUKRF Fund awards.

The review of applications for fund awards is a one stage process, however, applications are triaged to ensure they comply with the rules and are a valid application.  All valid applications are reviewed by an independent committee of Nurses and other Health Care Professionals.

OTHER INFORMATION

Partnership Awards

NNUKRF may enter into funding partnerships with other funders whose objectives overlap with the objectives of NNUKRF.

In these cases the award process will change and the details will be made available at the time the awards open.

Partnership awards will require the sharing of applications to the partner.

Application Forms

Applications forms can be downloaded from the website www.nnukrf.org.uk

Application forms should be completed in line with the guidance notes on the application forms.

Deadlines

Deadlines for applications can be found on the website www.nnukrf.org.uk

Feedback

Applicants for a Research Fellowship will receive feedback on their application from the Research Selection Committee and from external reviewers.

Applicants for a Grant award will not receive feedback because the amount of time and work that would be placed on the voluntary independent Research Committee Members.

Applicants for Fund Clinical and Educational Awards will not receive feedback due the volume of applications and the time and work of the voluntary independent Nurse and Allied Healthcare Professional Selection Committee

Success Rates

NNUKRF publishes the number of applications received each year on the website along with the number of successful applications.

Further Information

Awards will be published on www.nnukrf.org.uk

Please contact NNUKRF directly for any further information ukresearchfoundation@novonordisk.com

The Novo Nordisk UK Research Foundation is an NIHR RDN Non-commercial Partner. This means the studies we fund may be eligible to access the support services provided by the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN).

Find out more about Eligibility for NIHR Research Delivery Network support.

In partnership with your local R&D office, we encourage you to involve your regional NIHR RDN team in discussions as early as possible when planning your study. This will enable you to fully benefit from the support available through the NIHR RDN Support Services.

Do I need to complete a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT)?

You must complete a SoECAT if you:

If you meet these criteria, you must complete a SoECAT even if you do not think your research will involve excess treatment costs (ETCs).

Why do I need to do this?

The SoECAT ensures that costs are attributed in line with the AcoRD principles consistently across the UK.

It helps to produce a full picture of the site-level study activities to understand the resource implications involved for different parties:

  • activities that are research costs will be supported by the grant funder
  • activities that are service support costs will be supported by the NIHR RDN (if the study is eligible for the NIHR RDN Portfolio) in England
  • any excess treatment costs (ETCs) will be supported by the Department of Health and Social Care based on the SoECAT-derived ETC per participant value in England, with payments administered by the NIHR RDN via the National Payment System.

How do I complete a SoECAT?

  1. Contact your local AcoRD specialist as early as possible in the application process. They can advise on completing the SoECAT and provide a bespoke service to meet the needs of your study. There are different ways to contact an AcoRD specialist, depending on where you are in the UK:
  2. Complete an online SoECAT. If you do not have an NIHR Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS) account, you will need to create and activate one. Please refer to the NIHR RDN user guide for support with this. Once your account is created and active, you can complete an online SoECAT by selecting the ‘Apply for a service for a new study’ pathway. Further guidance can be found on the Online SoECAT guidance page.
  3. Ensure that you have added a lead site-based ‘Study Representative’ who can review the site resources for your study. Further details can be found in the managing study team contacts on the Getting started and logging into CPMS webpage.
  4. Request authorisation of your SoECAT.
  5. When you have authorisation, include the ‘funder export’ Excel document from your SoECAT as part of your grant application.
  6. If NNUKRF make an award to you, you must access the SoECAT from the ‘My Service Applications’ dashboard in CPMS and complete the ‘Submission’ tab of the SoECAT, including uploading the grant award letter, and submitting the SoECAT.

More information

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