Scottish Government Commitment to Fund MND PhDs Becomes a Reality

As a result of MND Scotland campaigning, it includes a commitment to fund 3 PhD research studentships into Motor Neurone Disease (MND). Yesterday the Chief Scientist Office made this commitment a reality by inviting applications from Scottish Universities interested in running these programmes.

MND Scotland produced its Manifesto for People Affected by MND at the end of last year, in consultation with those affected by the illness. The charity sent the manifesto to the main political parties asking them to consider it in their own manifesto development for the May 2016 elections.

One of the key asks within the manifesto was to prioritise research into MND and MND Scotland called on parties to fund 3 MND research PhD studentships. In April 2016 the Scottish National Party (SNP) committed to making this funding available, and now the Scottish Government is acting on its commitment.

The Chief Scientist Office has said funding will be made available for 3 PhD’s, with the maximum available in the region of £72,000 per 3 year studentship. The deadline for submissions from universities is 5pm on Friday 14th October.