How we fund and track the progress of Excellence Network project grants
Our rigorous processes make sure that all projects are reviewed in a standardised, objective, and timely manner.
All Excellence Network small and large project grants are reviewed by nominated independent experts and people representing the Parkinson's community. Grants awarded are subject to ongoing reporting and monitoring.
Read on to learn about the Excellence Network's process for making our funding decisions and administering our project grants, and visit the projects grants page for descriptions of the schemes and the application process.
Both grant schemes have independent and thorough review processes to ensure transparency and confidence in our decisions and to maximise the impact of our funding.
Each project is reviewed and scored by a stipulated number of reviewers, and based on this funding recommendations are made by the Excellence Network Funding Panel to the Parkinson’s UK Board of Trustees.
The Excellence Network Clinical leads, who are members of this panel, are also responsible for reviewing small grant applications. Find out more about the Funding Panel members (PDF, 71KB).
For large grants, independent reviewers are appointed following an open call for reviewers, advertised through our channels during each grant cycle. The selection of the reviewers for each project depends upon the application's theme and conflicts of interest.
Read more about the Excellence Network large grants review process (updated December 2023, PDF, 108KB).
All reviewers are required to adhere to a strict code of conduct. This, along with the roles of the reviewers and the Funding Panel members, is available in the Terms of Reference.
View the Funding Panel terms of reference and code of conduct (last updated in 2023, PDF, 198KB).
View the reviewer terms of reference and code of conduct (last updated in 2023, PDF, 102KB).
Our expert reviewers are independent clinicians or academics with expertise in various areas of Parkinson’s care.
Our lay reviewers are members of the Parkinson’s community who are personally impacted by Parkinson’s. Lay grant reviewers lend their unique voice, knowledge and experience to inform the decision-making process for both schemes.
For both schemes, once the final decisions on funding have been made, the successful and unsuccessful applicants are notified of the results by email along with a copy of the expert reviews, lay reviews, and a summary of the funding panel discussion.
This is done as soon as the decisions have been ratified by the Parkinson’s UK staff member with delegated authority for the decision.
Following this, successful applicants receive an award letter detailing the financial and monitoring schedule.
Grant holders and collaborators must sign and return a grant acceptance form within 8 weeks and confirm a start date, which should be no later than 3 months from the date the grant acceptance form is submitted.
Monitoring takes place throughout the course of the project.
The reporting cycle depends on the length of the project and is laid out in the award letters. Typically, grant holders are required to submit bi-annual progress and expense reports.
Depending on the requirements of each project, monitoring takes place through visits or update calls.
Grant holders must submit an end-of-project report within 3 months of completion of their project.
Once the end-of-project report has been received, grant holders must submit a grant completion form confirming that all invoices due have been processed.
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