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Ethicon Foundation Fund travel grants

Royal College of Surgeons of England

Further your training in your chosen surgical discipline with our Ethicon Foundation Fund. This grant supports your travel overseas for a period of 3–24 months to gain relevant surgical experience not normally available in your home country.

Career stage

In training, first year as consultant

Funding amount

Up to £1000 to support travel costs only.

Deadline 

31 October 2026 at 2pm.

Please note all our grants and fellowships are reviewed annually, so the information on this page may be subject to change before the next round opens.

Duration 

Normally for a period of between 3 to 12 months, although visits of up to 24 months may be considered.

About the grant

Our Ethicon Foundation Fund offers a travel grant, giving you the opportunity to travel overseas and obtain further experience in your surgical discipline. The visit should be an opportunity to obtain relevant surgical experience not normally available in your home country. We cannot support travel for the sole purpose of attending a scientific meeting.

The awards are for your travel costs only, and cover economy class travel up to the value of £1,000. The grants are not available to support the travel costs of a spouse, partner or companion. 

The Ethicon Foundation Fund travel grant is open to trainee grade fellows and members or first-year consultants.

Please note, the number of grants awarded depends on the standard of applications and available funding.

For consultants attending a short-term visit (up to three months) within Europe, please look at the Ethicon short-term clinical visit award.

What’s expected from grant holders

Ethicon Foundation Travel Grants are awarded on the understanding that you, your host centre and supervisor agree to the Terms and Conditions relating to the scheme and any amendments issued during the course of the award. You will be responsible for ensuring your position is confirmed.

Additionally, you will be expected to:

commence your project within the academic year of the award date;
only use your grant funding for the travel and purpose detailed in the application form;
be travelling to gain surgical experience not available in your home country;
have obtained prior approval for the visit from the appropriate training authority in the country of application if appropriate;
commence your travel by the date stated on your application, and within six months of the award;
notify us if there is any change of circumstance from those originally approved, or which prevent you from completing your overseas visit, at which point further advice will be provided;
advise us if you are awarded any additional funding to support the visit;
remain in good standing order with your RCS England membership fees throughout the tenure of the award.

You will be expected to provide a report about your visit for inclusion in our surgical research report within six weeks of your return.

What you’ll gain from the grant

This grant helps you as you gain specialty skills or experience that are not regularly available in your own country.

We offer up to £1,000 for travel, that can be used flexibly across 3-to-24-month period for the purpose described in your application form.

How to apply 

You can apply via the application form on our research funding portal. Select '2027 travel grants' from the list of available grants. 

Before you start  

The form has six sections. These cover your details, basic eligibility, organisation, and proposed research project.

You will also be asked to include details of any other active travel grant applications, including other RCS England travel grants, travel grants already awarded for this visit, salary or stipends to be paid during the period of the visit. 

If a salary is offered during any part of the duration of the fellowship, you must make this clear in the financial summary section of the application form.

You must produce confirmation/evidence of prospective approval from the General Medical Council (GMC) if you wish for the post to count towards the award of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

You will also be asked to upload to the portal:

letter of support from the head of the department or consultant under which you are currently working
a letter of support from another, independent referee 
a two-page CV

It is your responsibility to make sure every part of the application is complete and submitted by the deadline.

You can save your application and return to it at any time.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

The following ranking synthesizes RCS England's published program requirements and research objectives. It is not an official numerical scoring rubric.

1

★★★★★

Direct relevance to surgery and patient care — Critical

Address an important surgical problem, such as improving operative techniques, surgical outcomes, safety, recovery, diagnosis or the evidence base for clinical practice. The project should clearly advance surgical care.

Royal College of Surgeons

2

★★★★★

Scientific quality and originality — Critical

Establish a clear research question and explain what is new. Strong projects may evaluate a new surgical technique, investigate mechanisms of complications, or generate evidence that could change clinical practice.

3

★★★★★

Methodological rigor — Critical

Provide a robust experimental or clinical design, appropriate comparison groups, justified sample size, meaningful outcomes and a suitable statistical plan. Explain how bias and limitations will be addressed.

4

★★★★★

Feasibility and a well-defined research plan — Critical

Show that the project can be completed within the fellowship or grant period. Identify the resources, supervision, research facilities, milestones and contingency plans needed to deliver the proposed work.

5

★★★★☆

Applicant potential and surgical career development — Very high

Demonstrate commitment to a surgical career, relevant clinical or research experience, and the potential to develop into an independent surgical researcher. This is especially important for trainee research fellowships and early-career pump-priming awards.

Royal College of Surgeons

6

★★★★☆

Supervisor quality and institutional support — Very high

Identify a suitably experienced supervisor and show that the host university or NHS institution can provide the facilities, clinical access and technical assistance needed. Supervisor and departmental support forms part of the fellowship application process.

Royal College of Surgeons

7

★★★★☆

Clear clinical or translational impact — Very high

Explain how findings could improve patient outcomes, surgical safety, treatment pathways or operative practice. A credible route to clinical application is more persuasive than unsupported claims of immediate impact.

8

★★★★☆

Appropriate funding-mechanism fit — Very high

Tailor the project to the specific award. A one-year fellowship should support a focused research project; a pump-priming grant should help establish or advance an early-stage independent research programme; an elective grant should support an eligible surgical placement abroad.

Royal College of Surgeons

9

★★★☆☆

Potential for publication and further research — High

Identify expected outputs, such as publishable findings, presentations, a higher degree or preliminary evidence for future funding. Explain how the project could support the applicant's longer-term research trajectory.

10

★★★★☆

Eligibility, budget and compliance — Essential gate

Confirm College membership, surgical training or career-stage requirements, UK institutional employment, research location and the required supporting forms. Follow the applicable budget rules and submission deadline.

Royal College of Surgeons

Ranked summary table

Rank	Predictor	Importance
1	Surgical relevance and patient-care impact	Critical
2	Scientific quality and originality	Critical
3	Methodological rigor	Critical
4	Feasibility and project planning	Critical
5	Applicant potential and career development	Very high
6	Supervisor and institutional support	Very high
7	Clinical or translational impact	Very high
8	Funding-mechanism fit	Very high
9	Publication and future research potential	High
10	Eligibility and compliance	Essential gate

Specialties

Surgery

Eligibility Requirements

To apply for this grant, you must be travelling overseas for a period of between 3 and 24 months to gain surgical experience not regularly available in your home country. You must also:

be a surgical trainee or within the first year of appointment as consultant;
be a member or fellow of the College;
be sponsored by the head of the department where the research will be conducted, who can offer facilities and technical assistance for surgical experience in your chosen field;
plan to begin your travel within six months of the award date (February/March each year);
not have received an Ethicon Foundation Travel Grant or an Ethicon Foundation Fund Short-term Clinical visit grant from RCS England before.

You must apply for this grant prior to embarking on the visit, as we cannot make awards retrospectively.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Royal College of Surgeons of England

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 38-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE

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