Call for research project development workshops deadline to apply 27 Feb 2026

BACD-Castang Foundation Strategic Research Programme

Call for 2026 research project development workshops 

The British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD) is a specialty group of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. BACD has funding from the Castang Foundation for a research programme to increase neurodisability research capacity, enhanced collaboration and opportunities for interdisciplinary research, and major funding applications and awards. The BACD-Castang strategic research programme is undertaken and overseen by the BACD Strategic Research Group (SRG).

One key BACD-Castang programme activity is to fund face-to-face/hybrid research workshops that address key areas of opportunity in childhood neurodisability research. The BACD SRG is pleased to announce an opportunity to apply to run workshops in 2026 to address some of the following childhood neurodisability priority research areas with a specific focus on interventions, and improving health services:

Pain; Sleep; Risk feeding; Gut dystonia; Transition to adult services; Parent wellbeing; Translational research opportunities arising from basic science

Applications
Applicants should complete the form below and submit their applications to [email protected] by 1700 February 27th 2026. Applicants will be notified about whether they have been successful in early March 2026.

Applicants can apply for up to £2500 workshop funding; workshops that are co-funded/resourced by host organisations or host charities are permitted, but not co-funding by another research funder. Workshops should be designed to be collaborative and include appropriate stakeholders. Representation from multidisciplinary team professionals, people with research expertise (including at least one Early Career Researcher) and parent/carers or young people is a requirement.

Budget and terms of the award
Funding can be used for: pre booked standard class travel, cost of one-night accommodation per person, parent carer and/or young person involvement, and subsistence costs (up to £30pp per day). Meeting room costs and staff salaries are not eligible for funding. Funds will be held by BACD to whom claims should be submitted within one month of the workshop being completed.

Workshop timescale
Each workshop should be completed between March 2026 and 18th July 2026. Each workshop will be attended by one or two BACD SRG members with expertise in that research area (at SRG cost if they are not already attending).

Outputs timescale
A co-produced two-page summary of the conclusions from the research workshop should be submitted to BACD within two months of the workshop.

The expectation is that each workshop will lead to at least one major funding application within 12 months as a result of the workshop conclusions. If requested, the SRG will provide guidance to the workshop team on NIHR or other funder engagement regarding the research topic – for example, creation of a PICO that may lead to a commissioned research call or an investigator led application.