From the archive: Colt Foundation to the rescue

When the MRC rejected a project on Grenfell firefighters, an occupational health funder stepped in

First-time applicants to the Colt Foundation, which is specialised in occupational and public health, should be pleasantly surprised to learn how simple the funder’s application procedures are. For its Project Grants, which usually run twice a year, the foundation does “not rigidly specify the format of project grant applications”, in its own words, but rather notes the elements it needs to see included.

As Paul Cullinan, professor of occupational and environmental respiratory disease at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, related in this article, first published in July 2020, such freedom allows applicants “to not be endlessly repetitive”. However, as Cullinan says, applicants should be sure to treat their applications with due care and attention, as Colt is a funder that pays close attention to technical details.