The Tavistock & Portman Charity currently has three research funding schemes: Fellowships, Large Collaborative Grants and Part-Time Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships.
Fellowships and Large Collaborative Grants
In the case of either Fellowships or Large Collaborative Grants, applications should be for research projects which either make new contributions to knowledge, or enable service innovation, or both.
Projects must fall within one or more of the following areas:
- Schizophrenia
- Intergenerational trauma
Within these areas, projects should reflect the values and priorities of the Tavistock and Portman Charity which funds, alongside psychotherapy training, research and innovation that stresses the impact relationships have on our mental health and general wellbeing. For further information see https://tavistockandportmancharity.org.uk/. For information on the broader traditions of thought and practice to which the Charity belongs, see the essays in M. Waddell and S. Kraemer (eds.), The Tavistock Century (Phoenix, 2020). Preference may be given to projects which show a demonstrable benefit to present or future staff, students or service users of the North London Foundation NHS Trust.
Applications should specify to which Scheme – Fellowships or Large Grants – the application is being made. Applications to either Scheme, which must begin with a brief (<200 word) lay summary, should set out the details of the proposed project; an explanation of why the proposed project is worthwhile (for example, why it is innovative in the context of the current state of research or state of service provision, with references where appropriate); an explanation of why the proposed project reflects the values and priorities of the Tavistock and Portman charity; a justification of costs; and a detailed timetable for completion, including for example the approximate dates of key milestones such as hiring new staff (if any), conferences/events, and dissemination. Applications should not exceed 5 pages of A4.
Applications Fellowships must have a single sole applicant with the right to work in the UK, who must send a full CV in addition to the application. Fellowship applicants who have not yet been awarded a PhD must include a designated mentor who is a substantive academic in their service or department. Post-PhD applicants may name a mentor if they wish, but mentors may not be costed into the grant itself.
Applications to the Larger Collaborate Grants must have just one Principal Investigator, who must send a full CV in addition to the application, and have the right to work in the UK.
Applications to either Scheme must also at least one letter of reference and one letter of support from an appropriate senior source, e.g. Head of Department, Research Manager or equivalent.
Large Collaborative Grants only: While applications are welcome for which the Tavistock and Portman Charity is the sole funding source, applicants are encouraged to craft projects in such a way that the grant can be used to unlock further funding from other sources, e.g. NIHR, UKRI or charitable foundations. Preference may therefore be given to applications which include details either of funding already obtained (so the Charity’s Large Collaborative Grant constitutes match funding for something else), or concrete plans to seek match funding (e.g. what the envisaged match funding is and why, if the proposed project is a pilot for a larger-scale externally funded project, it will increase the likelihood of obtaining it).
Allowable Costs
Grants will normally fall within the range of £5,000 – £150,000. Though preference may be given to projects which demonstrate scale and ambition as well as innovation, applicants should ask for what they need.
Eligible costs for Fellowships include salary costs for the Fellow only (including on-costs but excluding indirect costs); costs of conferences, seminars etc, including travel and subsistence costs; costs of PPI, and costs of dissemination. Unless they have an existing contract of employment (e.g. with an NHS Trust or university), Fellows would be expected to become employees of the North London NHS Foundation Trust for the purposes of invoicing. 1For Large Collaborative Grants, eligible costs include costs of new research staff, costs of conferences, seminars etc, including travel and subsistence costs, costs of PPI, and costs of dissemination.
Directly allocated costs will not be paid to university staff with existing substantive contracts but NHS staff with no research function can apply for an appropriate level of salary buyout, that will not normally be expected to exceed 20% of FTE. Grants may not be used for equipment, social events, or to fund existing services.
Eligibility of Applicants
Fellowship applications are open to all. Large Collaborative Grant applications are also open to all, but must include a current employee of the North London NHS Foundation Trust, either as Principal Investigator or as a Co-Investigator or as an uncosted collaborator (e.g. mentor or chair of an advisory board). Early career applicants (defined as within 5 years of award of PhD or equivalent) for Large Collaborative Grants must specify a senior mentor or Collaborator. The award will not cover costs for this mentor.
Review Process
Applications will be evaluated by an expert committee, who will report to the Board of Trustees of the Charity on applications’ suitability for funding. The power to award grants rests with the Board of Trustees.
Applications will normally be decided twice a year, at the Board of Trustees of the Tavistock & Portman Charity in May and November. Deadlines for applications are six weeks in advance of each meetings, i.e. 5 October for the November 2026 round.
Resubmissions will be considered.
Spending must begin within 12 months of notification of the award. Spending should normally be over a period of between 12 and 24 months from the start date. Reports on outcomes are expected annually.
The charity reserves the right to cancel the award at any time if conditions of the award are not met.
Part-Time Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships
The aim of this Scheme is to support part-time research, to be undertaken in parallel with employment as a Child Psychotherapist. Funding would be at the rate of £12,000 per year, intended to cover one day per week of research, for up to three years. The intention is to award one such Fellowship per year in the first instance. Each Fellow would have regular access to a senior colleague for supervision of their research.
Candidates must have been awarded a Professional Doctorate (DPsych) in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (M80) with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust or, after 1st April 2026, with the North London Foundation NHS Trust2, or at least have fulfilled the requirements for the award of the DPsych by the application deadline. They must not normally, however, have been awarded their doctorate more than three years prior to the application date, though applicants may make the case for their eligibility more than three years post-award in special circumstances e.g. prolonged sick leave or parental leave.
The applicant’s research topics may, though need not be, linked to the theme of the applicant’s DPsych. Topics must however be linked to the area of intergenerational trauma, in its broadest meaning. Additional Fellowships, with a different theme, may be advertised in subsequent years.
Applicants should send an outline research proposal specifying their research topic (within the above theme) and why research on this topic fills a gap in our knowledge; the literature/sources of evidence they intend to consult; their plan for completing the proposed research over the (max.) three-year funding period; and the intended outcomes and outputs of the research (e.g. publications, conference participation, changes to their clinical practice).
Applications will normally be decided once a year, at the Board of Trustees of the Tavistock & Portman Charity in November. Deadlines for applications are six weeks in advance of each meeting, i.e. 5 October for the November 2026 round.
Applications for any of the three Schemes should be sent to Gabriella Leoncini gabriella.leoncini@nhs.net by, at the latest, 5pm on the deadline as specified above. Inquiries in advance of application should be sent to the same email address.