Driving regional research

Wessex Experimental Medicine Network (WEMN) expands the world-class work of the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre right across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Dorset.

The network mirrors the Centre’s current research themes or evolving new areas of experimental medicine expertise. The current themes are:

• Nutrition, Lifestyle and Metabolism
• Respiratory and Allergy
• Data, Health and Society
• Microbiology, Immunology and Infection
• Perioperative and Critical Care

Underpinning these themes is the urgent need to improve health and quality-of-life by enhancing our bodily resilience to:

• Disease
• Injury
• Ageing

Partnership working is critical to our success and the network is supported by Wessex Health Partners. By working together, the strategic alliance ensures experimental medicine activity rolls out across ten NHS organisations, four universities and Health Innovation Wessex, vastly opening up access to experimental medicine for researchers and patients alike.

With the help of Wessex Health Partners, we are working closely with NHS Dorset and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight to ensure our extended work focuses on local health needs and transforms services and treatments at ground level.

We have developed a funding call to support new collaborations which focus their activities on experimental medicine , with a view to attracting further external funding into the region.

We are keen to open up access to our BRC to help with the development of skills and careers across the region. We are also offering shared learning through our weekly BRC Science Forum and we will be running network events including workshops, symposia or forums.

For more information please email WEMN@uhs.nhs.uk.

Wessex Health Partners / Wessex Experimental Medicine Network - Funding Call - Now Open

A total sum of £200k is available to pump-prime activities which accelerate the impact of the Wessex Health Partners strategic alliance. A further £50k is available to support activities aligned with the aims and themes of the Wessex Experimental Medicine Network.

Staff at the University of Southampton can watch this webinar to find out more about this funding call. Staff at University Hospital Southampton can access the webinar recording on staffnet.

This funding call is to pump-prime activities which will lead to larger external funding applications. The aim is to accelerate our ambition to drive improvements in health and social care through research, innovation and training, for the benefit of our local communities and beyond.

As collaboration is at the heart of what we do, all applications should be:

Led by one of our founding partners

AND

Involve forming new pan-Wessex collaborations with one or more WHP founding partners

Further eligibility criteria and more detailed guidance is provided in the application form.

It is expected most awards will be for less than £5,000. Awards of more than £5,000 may be granted with a guide to the upper limit for a single award being £20,000. The larger the award the more compelling the justification will need to be.

Closing date: 31st October 2024

Application process

UHS employees: You will need support and sign off from UHS R&D. Please send your draft to researchgrants@uhs.nhs.uk by Friday 4th October.
UoS employees: Submit through funding@soton.ac.uk.

Download the application form