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BRACE is one of the very few of charities dedicated solely to funding research into the different forms of dementia. We also seek to raise public awareness of the disease and encourage a dialogue between different disciplines and experiences of dementia in order to deepen understanding.  

We support medical and scientific research in four main areas:

• How the brain works, in order to understand more clearly what has gone wrong in someone with dementia.
• Development of effective and accurate means of diagnosing the condition as early as possible
• Finding new treatments and assessing their effectiveness in clinical trials
• Investigating the potential link between certain genes in our DNA (the information we carry in each cell in our body) and the chances of developing dementia.

BRACE is committed to funding high quality research projects that ultimately contribute to the knowledge of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. These projects may be in any discipline but must have as the basis of the project, an intention to generate results that will bring further understanding of the risk factors/causes, effective diagnosis or treatment of dementia. All researchers must have the intention of publishing the results of their studies.

BRACE will consider applications for PhD studentships, pilot projects and equipment grants.

PhD studentship grants will be the cost of tuition fees, MRC-recommended stipend and a fixed sum for consumables and other overheads. This is typically around £90,000 at current prices.

We would expect pilot projects normally to last 12-18 months and cost no more than £70,000, but applicants with pilot proposals that exceed these guidelines are welcome to contact us for advice. As a general guideline, equipment grants typically do not exceed £25,000.

Applications will be considered from researchers in South West England or South Wales. Applications from outside this region will not be considered. Our geographical restriction is a sensible policy for a charity of this size, and it has enabled us to help develop a strong research network in this part of the UK.

Applicants must be based within appropriate academic/research institutions, preferably one where there is clear evidence of existing studies in dementia. No application will be considered without a letter from the institution to confirm that facilities will be made available for the proposed research project, for the duration of the grant and that the financial elements of the application have been checked.

Any project requiring ethical approval will only be awarded once such approval has been granted.

You can read about our current research projects here.

Grant Applications

Applicants are asked to contact the Chief Executive before submitting a full application, to check the eligibility of their research and the availability of funds.

Applications are subject to peer review and we ask that they are submitted three months before a meeting to allow time for this process. However, we are dependent on the availability and goodwill of selected reviewers and cannot give a guaranteed time for completion.

Decisions will be taken by the Trustees at their quarterly meetings as shown in the table below. Applications relating to BRACE's historic commitment to core funding within the University of Bristol may be considered at any meeting but the submission deadlines are the same.

Application Deadlines for 2021 Grant Applications

MEETING	TYPES OF APPLICATIONS	SUBMIT NOT LATER THAN
11 March 2021	Pilot grants of 18 months or less/equipment	15 November 2020
10 June 2021	PhD studentships/pilot grants of 18 months or less/equipment	15 February 2021
09 September 2021	Pilot grants of 18 months or less/equipment	15 May 2021
09 December 2021	PhD studentships/pilot grants of 18 months or less/equipment	15 August 2021

General guidelines for applicants

Please read the general guideline document before applying.

BRACE General Guidelines

As is outlined in the above document please fill in one reviewer submission form as well as one of the PhD application form or Pilot Project / Equipment grant form. We have recently updated our application forms to streamline the application process.

Reviewer Submission Form 

Please see the link below for the reviewer submission form. This form should be filled out with every application.

BRACE Reviewer Submission

PhD applications

To make an application for PhD studentship, please download the document below and return to BRACE with the accompanying Reviewer Submission form.

BRACE PhD Studentship Application Form

Pilot grant applications / equipment grant

To apply for a pilot grant or equipment grant, please download the document below and return to BRACE with the accompanying Reviewer Submission form.

BRACE Equipment or Pilot Application Form.