PetSavers offers partial funding for a Postgraduate Student to carry out a PhD research project in companion animal science. We will award up to £80,000 towards the following costs:
- Postgraduate student stipend at BBSRC standard rate (students with a veterinary degree qualification are entitled to a higher rate)
- Payment of relevant institution fees
- Research equipment and consumables purchases
- Travel expenses for the postgraduate student
Up to 30% of our contribution can be used for research staff costs, which must be essential to the success of the studentship and justified in the application form.
The application must be made by the prospective academic supervisor (the grantee), and the institution that they belong to is responsible for securing any remaining funding required to cover the postgraduate student’s work on the project. Grantees are welcome to apply for funding which either names the prospective PhD student, or before advertising for a prospective student.
You don’t need to be a qualified veterinary professional to apply, but we expect applicants to have a level of veterinary experience appropriate for the project.
Future calls will be advertised on this page and on our social media channels. Find dates for all our grant calls on our grant calendar or sign up to receive email notifications when grant calls open.
The acceptance rate for this grant in 2024 was 12.5%.
How to apply
- Complete the application form below, making sure to fill in the checklist, provide the names and contact details of three reviewers with whom you have no conflicts of interest, and provide truncated CVs for each grant applicant.
- Obtain a letter of support from your head of department or practice principal.
- Obtain, or at the very least apply for, ethical approval for your project and provide supporting evidence of this.
- Complete our terms and conditions (below) by obtaining signatures from the main applicant (supervisor) and an authorised representative of the institution.
- Email all documents to petsaversadmin@bsava.com.
Please note that the use of experimental animals is not permitted in any work funded by BSAVA PetSavers, and this includes work on tissues derived from experimental animals. Visit our Guidance for Applicants page to read our full statement on experimental animals, view eligibility criteria and guidance on designing a robust research project.