Eligibility

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Researchers must apply for their own bridging salary. It is expected this will give some early career researchers the opportunity to hold their first award in their own name.

Eligible applicants must:

1. Hold a Chancellors, Masters and Scholars (CMS) contract of employment with the University of Oxford, with an affiliation with a Department within the Medical Sciences Division, where the majority of their time is spent on research
2. Hold an externally funded contract (either fixed term or open-ended) where funding is due to end within 9 months of the call deadline. (See FAQs for what constitutes an external source of funding)
3. Be no higher than Researcher Grade 08S-11 or the equivalent clinical academic grade based on Total Employer Cost. Clinical academics should contact the Fund Manager before the deadline to confirm their eligibility
4. Have been continuously employed by the University of Oxford for at least two years before the end of their current contract 
5. Have submitted an external funding application by the Bridging Scheme round’s deadline for an award that will fund at least two years’ salary after the bridging period.

Additional notes on eligibility

• Periods of employment by a College of the University of Oxford will be accepted towards the two-year minimum period of continuous service in Eligibility Criterion 4 above. However current College employees are not eligible to apply for bridging.
• Current DPhil students looking for bridging salary to their first post-doctoral position are not eligible to apply. The fund is only open to current employees of the University.
• It is a PI’s responsibility to manage their grants and ensure that funding is in place to support their team. The Bridging Salary Scheme is intended to bridge short gaps in funding, particularly those arising due to unforeseen circumstances. It is not a replacement for good financial management of a PI’s grants portfolio.
• Depending on the demands on the scheme’s budget, MSD may refuse to fund multiple applications received from staff under the same Unit or Group Leader

Eligible costs

In Pilot Year 1 the demand for support from the scheme greatly outpaced the available budget. Departments are therefore asked to contribute 50% of the total cost of the employee’s salary for the bridging period as match funding, enabling more researchers to benefit from the scheme. Further information on how to present this contribution in the application is available on the How to Apply Page.

In exceptional circumstances the percentage of the departmental match funding to be committed may be reduced. To request a reduction, the department’s Head of Administration and Finance (HAF) or their delegate must contact research@medsci.ox.ac.uk on behalf of a potential applicant at least one week before the round’s deadline.

Where the bridging period is less than 6 months, or where the applicant works less than 1 FTE, the MSD Bridging Salary Scheme will fund the amount required to cover the bridging period based on the end and start dates of the applicant’s confirmed funding and the FTE in the applicant’s current contract.

If some or all of a bridging award is not required the unspent budget will be reclaimed to the fund and recycled for another award. Budget cannot be repurposed by the applicant. Non-staff costs are not eligible.