How to Apply for Grants in Healthcare

Course Overview and Description

Course Overview

This high-impact course provides a comprehensive roadmap for navigating the healthcare funding landscape from clinical trials to public health interventions, biomedical innovation, and digital health. Designed for learners with aspirations to drive change in healthcare, this course merges global best practices with practical grant writing skills, drawing insights from leading institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Oxford University, MIT, and world-renowned funders like the NIH, Wellcome Trust, UKRI, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and WHO.

 

Participants will learn to strategically align proposals with health system needs, global health priorities, and innovation frameworks. The course goes beyond writing techniques to cultivate a mindset of strategic foresight, ethics, and real-world problem solving ideal for professionals, researchers, clinicians, and innovators.

 

This course is academically informed by the published work and leadership of:

  • Atul Gawande (Harvard, WHO) – Innovation and scale in global health delivery
  • Devi Sridhar (University of Edinburgh, WHO Advisor) – Public health funding in global emergencies
  • Dame Sally Davies (UK CMO, Trinity College Cambridge) – Translating science into national health strategy
  • Soumya Swaminathan (Former WHO Chief Scientist) – Global clinical trial infrastructure and funding
  • Jeremy Farrar (Wellcome Trust, WHO) – Health equity and pandemic grantmaking
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Grant strategy for health innovation and vaccine access
  • NIH/NIAID, ERC, UKRI, and EU Horizon Health – Top-tier funding mechanisms, application rubrics, and review insights

 

The individuals and organisations listed are referenced solely to highlight the groundbreaking scientific advances that inspire and shape the academic vision of the Oxford Academy of Excellence. While there is no formal affiliation, our curriculum is designed with the same level of ambition, rigour, and global relevance, reflecting the pioneering standards set by these world-leading researchers and institutions.

 

Course Description

This course provides hands-on training in identifying, writing, and submitting high-quality healthcare grant proposals for local and global contexts. Core components include:

  • Navigating the funding ecosystem: understanding funder missions and health priorities
  • Types of healthcare grants: clinical research, public health, tech innovation, AI in medicine, capacity-building
  • Components of a strong proposal: need statement, innovation, evidence base, methods, budget, sustainability
  • Regulatory, legal, and ethical frameworks (IRB, GDPR, WHO ethics, data governance)
  • Global health equity: how to centre underserved communities and align with the SDGs
  • Impact forecasting: logic models, KPIs, and theory of change in health proposals
  • Institutional readiness: partnerships, HR/staffing plans, and capacity narratives
  • Review process simulation: peer feedback, scoring rubrics, and grant panel strategy

 

Pitch preparation: preparing for panel interviews or funder Q&As

 

Funding Challenge

Participants will develop a mock or real grant application tailored to a selected funder (e.g., NIH, UKRI, Gates Foundation, WHO), incorporating:

  • Executive summary
  • Innovation and health outcomes logic
  • Budget justification
  • Equity and sustainability plan
  • Pitch deck or impact brief for global health investors or panels

 

Top projects may be shortlisted for continued mentorship, simulated submission, or collaborative funding opportunities.

 

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Identify strategic funding opportunities in healthcare research and innovation
  • Write a complete and persuasive healthcare grant proposal with real-world viability
  • Understand and address regulatory, legal, and ethical grant requirements
  • Analyse and integrate global health equity, inclusion, and sustainability into proposals
  • Develop logic models, evaluation plans, and resource frameworks for funded projects
  • Present proposals with confidence to funders, reviewers, and institutional leaders

Program Structure

At the Oxford Academy of Excellence, each programme is shaped by global educational excellence, combining academic depth with real-world relevance. Our model draws on world-leading pedagogical approaches and is continually informed by pioneering work from institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Oxford, and Stanford, as well as insights from global industry leaders and Nobel Prize-winning research.

 

This structure is designed to be cross-disciplinary, supporting students in fields ranging from health sciences and engineering to sustainability, policy, and innovation. Whether learners aspire to careers in science, technology, entrepreneurship, or public service, they are equipped with the skills, mindset, and knowledge to lead with impact.

 

1. Self-Paced Foundation Modules.

Programmes begin with flexible, high-quality learning modules that build a strong knowledge base. These include:

  • Faculty-led videos from global experts
  • Real-world multimedia cases and readings
  • Interactive quizzes and reflective tasks
  • This phase supports independent learning while building confidence in core concepts.
 

2. Live, Case-Based Mentorship Sessions

Learners engage in mentor-guided workshops focused on applied learning, featuring:

  • Cross-disciplinary case challenges
  • Group problem-solving and simulations
  • Feedback from expert facilitators, researchers, or professionals
    These sessions promote critical thinking, collaboration, and strategic communication.

 

3. Agile, Global-Relevance Curriculum

Every programme is regularly updated to reflect:

  • Breakthroughs in science, technology, and society
  • Input from academic reviewers, mentors, and students
  • Insights from global institutions and innovation ecosystems, including leaders from companies such as Genentech, DeepMind, Google Health, and policy networks like the WHO and the UN

This ensures that all learning remains relevant, future-proof, and adaptable to the changing needs of the world.

Teaching and Assessment Approach

At the Oxford Academy of Excellence, teaching is built on world-class educational design—drawing from the pedagogical practices of institutions such as Harvard, Oxford, and MIT, and guided by frameworks from UNESCO, QAA, and the World Economic Forum. Each course offers an immersive learning experience, led by global experts and shaped by the demands of real-world innovation.


Our teaching philosophy blends academic excellence with transformative, hands-on learning. Students are empowered to think critically and creatively, solve complex interdisciplinary challenges, communicate with clarity and empathy, collaborate across diverse sectors, and reflect on their development and impact.


Teaching methods include case-based masterclasses with leading academics and professionals, live interactive labs, ethical simulations, and leadership challenges. Personalised mentorship aligns with each student’s goals, while interdisciplinary projects are informed by real research and current industry trends.


Assessment is designed not only to evaluate learning but to transform thinking and practice. Students may be assessed through critical reflections, research reviews, practical prototypes, impact reports, peer feedback, oral defences, and innovation sprints. Final outputs often include a portfolio, publication, or policy brief, supported by tailored feedback from a globally recognised mentor.


This approach ensures that students complete their programme with a tangible outcome and a skillset aligned with the world’s most in-demand careers—ready to lead, create, and contribute across science, society, and beyond.

What Sets this Program Apart

Rooted in Global Best Practices and Health Impact Strategy

This course draws upon the proposal strategies and funding cultures of leading health institutions and agencies, including Harvard Medical School, Oxford University, MIT, the WHO, the Gates Foundation, and the NIH. Participants explore how global health innovators approach funding from vaccine access and pandemic response to AI-enabled diagnostics and health systems transformation. The curriculum is designed to reflect the same level of ambition and rigour seen in real-world funding calls, enabling learners to engage with the funding ecosystem as future contributors to global health innovation.

 

Proposal Writing with Purpose, Evidence, and Equity

Learners are supported to move beyond technical writing and into strategic health thinking. Each participant develops a funder-aligned proposal that addresses a current healthcare need whether in clinical research, public health, or digital health solutions. The course trains participants to centre equity, sustainability, and population-level impact in every proposal. Emphasis is placed on aligning logic models and innovation strategy with funder values and measurable outcomes.

 

Mentorship, Feedback, and Publication Pathways

Participants receive expert-led feedback throughout the proposal process from scope framing to ethics, budgeting, and impact articulation. In addition to completing a capstone-ready funding proposal, top student work may be selected for inclusion in a published academic-style volume or digital collection highlighting innovative thinking in healthcare funding. This provides early recognition of students’ leadership in grant writing, with optional pathways for continued mentorship and future submission development.

 

Future-Ready Skills for Global Research Careers

The course is designed for those preparing to lead in academia, health systems, global NGOs, or innovation-driven sectors. Students learn how to present proposals to review panels, participate in mock funder Q&As, and align their work with Sustainable Development Goals, digital health policy, and global capacity-building priorities. The experience equips learners with the tools to navigate health funding landscapes confidently and ethically while remaining focused on impact, access, and innovation.

 

Programme Highlights

• Develop and present a full healthcare grant proposal aligned with major global health priorities, innovation pathways, and funder expectations
• Receive personalised feedback from mentors experienced in international grant writing, peer review, and funding panel strategy
• Contribute as co-author or author to a professionally curated academic-style book on healthcare innovation and funding leadership
• Earn a Certificate of Grant writing Excellence and receive an academic reference supporting applications to research posts, fellowships, or global health roles

How to Apply for Grants in Healthcare

Register Now

If you wish to enroll in the course, please click the ‘Register Now’ button. Our team will reach out to you after reviewing your academic qualifications.

Fill the form below to get registered.