Dogs Trust’s Canine Welfare Grants Committee is seeking preliminary applications from researchers for its 2022 round of grants. Over nearly two decades, projects funded by these grants have led to huge leaps forward in the understanding of and impact on canine welfare. The deadline for preliminary applications is 9th June 2022.
Paula Boyden, Veterinary Director at Dogs Trust, said: “Funding research is a vital part of the dog welfare jigsaw and Dogs Trust is very proud to be one of the key distributors of such funding in the UK. Over the years, the Canine Welfare Grant projects have had far reaching impacts on dog welfare, making huge differences to the lives of dogs. There is a range of grants available from pump priming (up to £20,000), PhD (up to £100,000) and experienced investigator (up to £200,000). We are looking for applications with very clear pathways to impact with a focus on ‘healthspan’, the healthy lifespan of a dog.”
Researchers must be associated with an academic institution and the projects should aim to positively impact dog welfare. Dogs Trust does not fund any research which requires a Home Office licence.
Applicants should be clear on both the pathway to impact of their work as well as the pathway to sustainability.
There are two funding models:
- The standard application model, which welcomes applications from individual institutions and also across interdisciplinary groups.
- A collaborative grants programme to encourage wider collaboration with the Dogs Trust internal research team.
Key areas for the standard and larger fund applications include:
- Preventing problems in dogs developing or becoming a crisis. This could range from understanding and providing solutions for the genetic basis of disease, healthy ageing and understanding canine behaviour as it related to canine welfare.
- Epidemiology of canine disease: Dogs Trust recognises the importance of data to underpin research into canine health and is looking for applications that will help to address the current dearth of information available, including those that use big data sets.
- The welfare of dogs suffering from chronic disease*: Dogs Trust will accept applications that cover the spectrum of chronic diseases in dogs, including obesity and can include applications that help us understand the biology of important canine diseases and ways in which outcomes and quality of life can be improved.
*Dogs Trust recognises the importance of obesity in these areas and welcomes applications that focus on this important discipline.
For collaborative grants, the priority areas for funding include:
- Studies which complement and/or enhance the generation of evidence to inform improvements in canine welfare from existing Dogs Trust internal research project datasets e.g. Gen Pup, Choosing My Dog, UK Pet Dog Population, The impact of Covid-19 on dog welfare programme, Post Adoption Welfare Study – see www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/research/research-library for further information.
- Development of tools to mine large datasets which can inform canine welfare and develop an understanding of drivers of welfare.
For more information on the requirements and the application process, and examples of previous success stories, visit www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/research/funding-research
