Why the BSF funds research?

There are over two thousand skin diseases ranging from mild short-term conditions to long term debilitating and sometimes fatal diseases. Skin disease sufferers can experience, pain and discomfort causing distress to themselves and their families and often leading to long term mental health issues. Two thirds of the UK population will suffer from some form of skin disease in their lifetime, placing a strain on individuals, families, health care professionals and services.

The British Skin Foundation believes that there is a dearth of dermatology research funding in the United Kingdom and is resolved to secure and distribute funds in support of high-quality peer reviewed research.

Who does the BSF fund?

The BSF invites funding applications from all researchers and research institutions operating within the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

The Foundation will award grants in two separate rounds. Small grants with awards up to £10,000 are awarded in July of each year and the Major grants with awards up to £90,000 awarded in December.

The BSF invites applications to support the investigation of all aspects of skin disease. Although the Foundation will fund work where there is a limited benefit to the specialty of dermatology, the Grants Advisory Committee scoring process is weighted in favour of projects with a direct benefit to dermatology.

The Foundation is dedicated to the future of dermatology research and each year offers at least one major grant aimed at younger investigators, no more than ten years into their post doc research careers.

The BSF often grants funding to smaller novel work which offers the opportunity for researchers and research teams to build on this seed funding and to make successful applications to the UK’s leading medical research funders.

The Foundation does not prioritise funding when acting as the sole funder. All applications will be reviewed by the Grants Advisory Committee and no preference will be given with regards to the disease being investigated or the research team or institution applying for funding.

Funds will often be ringfenced when the BSF has partner funding. This can be based on the location of the research institution or the disease under investigation The terms will be specific to that partnership but will be clearly stated in grant advertisements and award guidelines.

How the BSF funds research

The British Skin Foundation receives no statutory funding. The charity relies on various fundraising streams to support its research programme. The BSF corporate partner scheme does not dictate research priorities and money generated through the programme goes to the general research fund. The British Skin Foundation does not fund research as a condition of a product accreditation partnership.

The BSF will sometimes partner with an organisation to jointly fund a piece of research. In these circumstances, the BSF will advertise the grant with an explanation of the role of the funding partner. Any award criteria agreed between the BSF and the partner will be made clear to prospective grant applicants.

British Skin Foundation committee members    GAC membership