Research

Book

Overview

Helping you find research opportunities that encourage development of the science and practice of rheumatology.

Research is a key part of the society's daily function, helping to deliver excellence in rheumatology care.

Besides the registers, guidelines and other quality improvement initiatives, there are professional development opportunities available throughout the year.

These range from research funding to visiting fellowships and relevant courses.

Research Funding Call

This is for members who have not had any substantial involvement with research to date; the award gives you access to an early-career research project funding opportunity.

Five members successfully applied for this funding in 2019. Their projects are:

Can models of fibromyalgia care be shared across organisations to improve patient self-management, pain medication usage, work retention and physical performance?
Assessing the utility of point-of-care testingof serum and synovial fluid to discriminate septic from non-septic monoarthritis in the acute hot joint presentation
A prospective longitudinal single-centre study to determine if the performance of the Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST) can beimproved by the addition of serum bone-turnover biomarkers to screen for psoriatic arthritis in patients with cutaneous psoriasis
Investigating Virtual Immersive Experiences in the Management of Chronic Widespread Pain (the VIPA study)
Development and validation of quantitative imaging biomarkers (QIB) in JIA

Areas prioritised for support this year were:

Guidelines: we recommended that there should be a consistent format for research recommendations in published guidelines. We should support research work which then undertakes some preparatory work in relation to these recommendations prior to research funding submission
Data: we recommended that support be prioritised for research proposals which are predominantly or wholly based around the use of our data (registers, audit)
Paediatric rheumatology: there is less scope for paediatric rheumatology in terms of guidelines and data, so we recommended that this should also be a specific area of focus

From our most recent funding call, the key focus areas for research proposals were:

Health services research
Chronic pain including fibromyalgia
Rare diseases

Proposals involving multidisciplinary teams were also particularly welcome.

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Visiting fellowships

Week-long fellowships held at a research centre of excellence in the UK, hosted by a member of the society.

Open to all members, this can be used as a first exposure to a research environment or for members with previous experience in research, who wish to access specific expertise at a centre other than their own, to allow them to develop a fellowship or research proposal for other funders.

We are working with UK EULAR Research Centres of Excellence for these fellowships, but applications for visits to other centres will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Travel, accommodation and subsistence is covered, with a suggested maximum application of £1000, depending on location of awardee and centre.

Four members successfully applied for this opportunity in 2019.

Find out more

Research mentoring

Our rheumatology researchers mentoring scheme is targeted to support a wide range of potential researchers to develop their academic interests and career ambitions.

Whether you are an experienced consultant looking to move into an academic career, an early career researcher, or have no research experience but an interest or idea you’d like support to develop, then we encourage you to apply.

The scheme is intended to encourage autonomy and self-development and mentors are not expected to collaborate on projects.

Find out more about mentoring

Essential Research Skills

This course runs for the first time on April 19 2020 in Glasgow, the day before Annual Conference.

More details of the course, its learning objectives and how to apply can be found below.

Book now

Research

Overview

Helping you find research opportunities that encourage development of the science and practice of rheumatology.

Research is a key part of the society's daily function, helping to deliver excellence in rheumatology care.

Besides the registers, guidelines and other quality improvement initiatives, there are professional development opportunities available throughout the year.

These range from research funding to visiting fellowships and relevant courses.

Research Funding Call

This is for members who have not had any substantial involvement with research to date; the award gives you access to an early-career research project funding opportunity.

Five members successfully applied for this funding in 2019. Their projects are:

Can models of fibromyalgia care be shared across organisations to improve patient self-management, pain medication usage, work retention and physical performance?

Assessing the utility of point-of-care testingof serum and synovial fluid to discriminate septic from non-septic monoarthritis in the acute hot joint presentation

A prospective longitudinal single-centre study to determine if the performance of the Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST) can beimproved by the addition of serum bone-turnover biomarkers to screen for psoriatic arthritis in patients with cutaneous psoriasis

Investigating Virtual Immersive Experiences in the Management of Chronic Widespread Pain (the VIPA study)

Development and validation of quantitative imaging biomarkers (QIB) in JIA

Areas prioritised for support this year were:

Guidelines: we recommended that there should be a consistent format for research recommendations in published guidelines. We should support research work which then undertakes some preparatory work in relation to these recommendations prior to research funding submission

Data: we recommended that support be prioritised for research proposals which are predominantly or wholly based around the use of our data (registers, audit)

Paediatric rheumatology: there is less scope for paediatric rheumatology in terms of guidelines and data, so we recommended that this should also be a specific area of focus

From our most recent funding call, the key focus areas for research proposals were:

Health services research

Chronic pain including fibromyalgia

Rare diseases

Proposals involving multidisciplinary teams were also particularly welcome.

Visiting fellowships

Week-long fellowships held at a research centre of excellence in the UK, hosted by a member of the society.

Open to all members, this can be used as a first exposure to a research environment or for members with previous experience in research, who wish to access specific expertise at a centre other than their own, to allow them to develop a fellowship or research proposal for other funders.

We are working with UK EULAR Research Centres of Excellence for these fellowships, but applications for visits to other centres will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Travel, accommodation and subsistence is covered, with a suggested maximum application of £1000, depending on location of awardee and centre.

Four members successfully applied for this opportunity in 2019.

Find out more

Research mentoring

Our rheumatology researchers mentoring scheme is targeted to support a wide range of potential researchers to develop their academic interests and career ambitions.

Whether you are an experienced consultant looking to move into an academic career, an early career researcher, or have no research experience but an interest or idea you’d like support to develop, then we encourage you to apply.

The scheme is intended to encourage autonomy and self-development and mentors are not expected to collaborate on projects.

Find out more about mentoring

Essential Research Skills

This course runs for the first time on April 19 2020 in Glasgow, the day before Annual Conference.

More details of the course, its learning objectives and how to apply can be found below.