Funding surgical research

As a registered charity (no. 212808), the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) plays a vital role in supporting surgical research within the UK. Every year the College awards competitive research fellowship grants for specific projects that aim to advance surgical standards and improve patient care.

The College relies on voluntary donations from legacies, individuals, charitable trusts and companies to support its surgical research programme.

Future innovations in surgery will continue to be driven by research and we need further funding so that more surgical research can be supported which will extend the frontiers of surgery through clinical research and the development of new operative techniques.

Please take a few minutes to watch our short films and learn how patients are benefiting from surgical research.

Surgical research, the facts:

• In 2014-15, 4,700,000 hospital admissions resulted in surgical care in England.
• Less than 5% of government funding for health research is spent on surgical projects.
• 7 is the average number of surgical episodes we will experience in our lifetime.
• Approximately 90% of cancer patients have some type of surgery for diagnosis, initial treatment, or management of complications.
• Every minute 9 hospital admissions in England result in surgical care.
• Over 600 research fellowships awarded since 1993 as well as 90 pump priming grants to newly appointed consultant surgeons to continue their research.
• In the last 25 years the College, through the Research Fellowship Scheme, has committed more than £40 million to support over 750 individual trainee surgeons in the UK and abroad.
• The RCS awards 25-30 fellowships every year.

Donating to surgical research            

Please help the College support cutting-edge research projects dedicated to enhancing and saving lives by contacting us via fundraising@rcseng.ac.uk or call us on 020 7869 6273. 

The College is very grateful to all individuals, charitable trusts, companies, who have supported the surgical research programme. We would particularly like to acknowledge the following:

• Bjorn Saven
• Blonde McIndoe Research Foundation
• Linder Foundation
• Frances & Augustus Newman Foundation
• Freemasons Fund for Surgical Research
• George Drexler Foundation
• Mary Kinross Charitable Trust
• Masonic Charitable Foundation
• MPS Foundation
• Oxford Colon Cancer Trust
• Rosetrees Trust
• Shears Foundation