Applications are invited for the second round of funding available through a £500,000 accident prevention scholarship scheme.

The RoSPA/BNFL Scholarship Scheme provides funding for safety-related research that will produce defined, practical and influential outcomes to help save lives and prevent injuries.

Grants of up to £20,000 per project per year are available. The closing date for applications for the 2010 round of funding is April 2.

Applications are invited for projects addressing any of the following themes: road safety: to improve standards of driving behaviour (particularly young drivers, older drivers, speeding, fatigue-related accidents, or motorcycle safety); home safety: to reduce home accidents (particularly data collection/analysis, poverty and deprivation, or child safety); work safety: to raise standards of health and safety management (particularly in relation to small firms, accident investigation, director leadership, workforce involvement, or costing accidents); water and leisure safety: to reduce injuries in water and leisure activities (particularly safety in outdoor education); safety education: to enhance risk understanding and awareness (particularly risk awareness in preparation for work); and general safety: to increase public awareness of safety and accident prevention (particularly safety and risk literacy among key decision makers and communicators).

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents established the scholarship scheme after BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels) donated £500,000 to fund research that would have a significant impact on improving safety in the UK and around the world.

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: “Accidents remain a huge problem, not just in the UK but also overseas, devastating lives and costing everyone. We are therefore privileged to run a scholarship scheme to fund pioneering research which will translate into lives saved and injuries reduced. We received a wide range of strong applications during the first round of funding and are looking forward to the same diversity and quality this time around.”

In 2009, funding went to three projects researching the scale and impact of child injuries in Nepal (PhD student, University of the West of England), the threat posed by cold water immersion (University of Portsmouth) and the effectiveness of a learner-driver coaching programme (Staffordshire County Council and Keele University).
The RoSPA/BNFL Scholarship Scheme is believed to be one of the biggest accident-prevention scholarships ever funded. It is envisaged that it will run for 10 years, with up to three projects awarded grants annually. The researcher who produces the best work each year will receive a further cash prize as an added incentive for excellence.
For more information, email Roger Bibbings at rbibbings@rospa.com or call him on 0121 248 2095. Further details at: www.rospa.com/occupationalsafety/occupational_health/bnfl_rospa_scholarship.htm

RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries.

Any donation, large or small, will help us to achieve our mission. Please click on www.rospa.com/donate

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents: Registered Charity No. 207823 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England No. 231435. RoSPA Enterprises Limited (REL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. REL is a company registered in England and Wales