Our research policies

For all clinical research that needs Health Research Authority (HRA) approval (refer to criteria for HRA approval), a Schedule of Events Costs Attribution Template (SoECAT) must be completed, approved and submitted with the grant application. If you meet these criteria, you must complete a SoECAT even if you do not think your research will involve excess treatment costs (ETCs). Only clinical research needs HRA approval.

You will need the assistance of a local AcoRD specialist to complete and approve the SoECAT form. There are different ways to contact an AcoRD specialist depending on where you are based in the UK:

• England: NIHR website
• Scotland: NHS Research Scotland website
• Wales: email fundingsupport@wales.nhs.uk
• Northern Ireland: HSC R&D division website

We strongly recommend that you contact your local AcoRD specialist as soon as you know you are planning a piece of clinical research, to allow sufficient time for completion and approval of SoECAT before the grant application deadline.

In order to create a SoECAT, you will need to create an account in the online NIHR Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS). Please refer to the NIHR RDN user guide for further guidance on creating an account. 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.

Assistance with designing your research application is also available from the NIHR CRN and Research Design Service.

Once the form has been completed and authorized, please save the ‘study information’ and ‘summary’ page of the ‘Funder Export’ form as a single PDF and upload it with your application in the Finance section of the application form. If the final form cannot be completed prior to submission of the application, you must contact us at researchgrants@musculardystrophyuk.org to explain the delay.

Please note that MDUK is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC). You may find more useful information on the AMRC website.

Please refer to the NC3Rs’ ARRIVE guidelines when designing animal experiments and ensure you report animal-based studies in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines. Grant holders are required to implement the principles found in the NC3Rs’ guidance document, Responsibility in the use of Animals in Bioscience Research. For more information and guidance about the use of animals in research see the NC3Rs website.

If the research involves use of higher animals (cats, dogs, equines, pigs, non-human primates), the proposal will be sent to NC3Rs for specialist expert review. This will be in addition to the regular scientific expert reviews of the application.

We support the Association of Medical Research Charities’ statement on the use of animals in research – refer to our position statement on animal research.

MDUK is under an obligation to ensure that any results of its funded research (whether in whole or part) are applied for the benefit of the public. In some circumstances, this obligation may be best achieved through the protection of intellectual property (IP) and commercial exploitation.

All IP created or acquired through research funded by MDUK belongs to the Institution to which the grant has been awarded.

MDUK requires the Institution to develop and implement strategies and procedures for the identification, protection, management and exploitation of MDUK-funded IP.

Muscular Dystrophy UK reserves the right to seek a share of any potential revenue according to the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) model from the research organisation resulting from any commercialisation or exploitation.

If you are a MDUK-funded institution and you want to discuss the policy above please write to Researchgrants@musculardystrophyuk.org.

When developing funding proposals, researchers must ensure generative AI tools are used responsibly and in accordance with relevant legal and ethical standards where these exist or as they develop. Any outputs from generative AI tools in funding applications should be acknowledged.

Expert reviewers must not input content from confidential funding applications or reviews into, or use, generative AI tools to develop their expert review critiques or applicant responses to critiques. Our reviewers are selected for their expertise and experience in their field and we value their unique perspectives.

Muscular Dystrophy UK supports the AMRC’s statement on PPI.

Our applications are assessed by people with lived experiences of neuromuscular conditions.

Much of the funding for Muscular Dystrophy UK’s research programme comes from members of our community, i.e. families and supporters of the charity.  We encourage researchers to engage with the public in general, and with the muscle wasting community in particular, when thinking about disseminating results and project outcomes.

It is important to us that people with muscle wasting conditions should be involved in all stages of research where practically possible. In particular clinical researchers should consider how they will involve people with neuromuscular conditions in the design/co-design of studies.

All grant applications are assessed by independent, expert reviewers who are governed by the Reviewer Guidelines and a Conflict of Interest Policy.

We are a supporter of the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice which recognises the impact research has on the environment and aims to reduce that impact wherever possible. As such we encourage researchers and their institutions to have in place policies and procedures to understand and moderate the impact of research on the environment. In particular the concordat focuses on sustainable infrastructure, sustainable procurement and emissions from business and academic travel. You can read more about the concordat here.