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IOSH research fund

We commission a range of projects to establish evidence for health and safety policies and practice, as well as sponsoring organisations researching key issues.

About the fund:

We allocate research funds to specific projects in two ways:

Annual competition – call for proposals

Our annual competition is a two-stage process and may be linked to a particular theme which we set. However, applicants can submit a proposal as long as it supports the fund's overall purpose, A world of work that is safe, health and sustainable.

Sorry, the 2013 call for bids has now closed.  We issue an annual ‘call for bids’ statement, usually in mid January. Get an alert about our 2014 annual competition.

Research programme

Health and Safety in a changing world

Our five year research programme sets out to explore the landscape of occupational safety and health, its implications for developing solutions that provide effective protection for workers and their communities, and support economic success.

The programme has clearly defined research questions and over two funding rounds, we invited researchers to submit proposals that explore the following specific areas:

  • OSH knowledge and its management
  • Achieving the right balance in policy and practice
  • The management of OSH in networked systems of production or service delivery
  • Leadership and safety
  • Small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) and access to occupational health and safety expertise
  • The changing legitimacy of health and safety at work

Download the full programme brief for the first call (PDF 77.4KB) and second call (PDF 65.9KB). All the projects that form part of the 5-year Programme have been commissioned so there will be no further calls for proposals to the Research Programme.

Who can apply for funding? 

Researchers who have a proven track record in high quality research can apply for funding. Applicants don't need to have a background in occupational safety and health research but should be able to demonstrate how their experience will bring fresh thinking to the development of occupational safety and health policy and practice. They should also have the research and project management skills to lead a successful proposal to completion.

Read more about the research grants we've awarded.

We also sponsor and support other organisations doing research in occupational safety and health related areas:

  • The Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre (CWERC), which carries out research in health and safety, work and well-being and other related subjects.
  • The Affinity Health at Work research consortium. A collaboration between researchers and employer organisations, national institutions and interested individuals who support research in workplace wellbeing and employee engagement.