My winning proposal: Researcher development works for Dunhill

Lucy Dipper's professional development was a key element of her Dunhill Medical Trust bid

Top tips:

• Make sure you stay focused on the ultimate goal of improving the lives of older people—and their carers.
• Be explicit about the next steps that will follow after you complete your grant.
• Build in researcher development aspects to your grant.
• The initial application should be in as plain English as possible as its purpose is to communicate the importance of the research.

The Dunhill Medical Trust Research Project Grants support research that is important in understanding the mechanisms of ageing, treating disease and frailty, but which is often overlooked by other funders. This may be because projects are too small to be managed by research councils, or fall outside their priorities.