MND Scotland benefits from UK government fund

MND Scotland has been awarded £261,360 from the UK government’s ‘Medical Research Charities Early Career Researchers Support Fund’ to provide support for existing research projects that support early career researchers.

Started by the Department of Science Innovation and Technology, a total of £50 million has been awarded to 90 research funding charities across the UK for projects that are specifically supporting over 1,200 early careers researchers.

This scheme was first introduced in 2021 and is designed to provide some economic stability for medical research charities in the wake of the COVID pandemic. It is also aimed at helping charities to attract, retain and develop talented researchers and develop the next generation of world class researchers.

This current award builds on the £151,760 the charity received from the same fund in 2021-22 and both awards are a direct result of MND Scotland’s membership of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC).

The fund is administered by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with the help of the AMRC, and is made up of £45m funding from Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, alongside £5m from the Department for Health and Social Care.

Dr Jane Haley, Director of Research for MND Scotland, said: “We are very grateful for this funding from the UK Government. When economic times are challenging and uncertain it makes an enormous difference to our charity, which relies on the generous fundraising efforts of our MND community, to know that we can fulfil our commitments to our research projects.

“We particularly welcome the targeted support for early career researchers, who will be our MND researchers of the future. It’s time we found a cure for this devastating disease and these funds will help bring us closer to that day.”