Rnid

Registered charity 207720 · since 1962rnid.org.uk·International·Updated 31 October 2026

At a glance

£1.5M

Annual giving, year to 31 March 2025

From filed accounts

Open to applications

Fixed application deadlines · unsolicited applications welcome

Key takeaways

RNID's grants fund research into understanding, diagnosing, preventing and treating hearing loss and tinnitus, with its research focus on restoring hearing, silencing tinnitus and preventing hearing loss, so a charity without a research project in one of these areas is unlikely to fit.
Only universities, non-profit research institutes and technology-led small businesses are eligible, with small and medium enterprises also eligible for translational projects, and research in mainland China cannot be funded because of the Chinese Overseas Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) Law.
The Discovery Research Grant is up to £225,000 in total and no more than £75,000 in any one year, and the Translational Research Grant is up to £300,000 in total and no more than £100,000 in any one year, though the charity does not state a grant range.
Discovery applicants submit an open preliminary application by the deadline for the call and, if invited, a full application that needs approval from an authorised representative at their institution, while translational applications must include clear descriptions of supporting preliminary data and defined experimental plans; the charity encourages anyone unsure about stage or eligibility to contact its research team before applying.
Expert review judges how clearly the question is framed, its feasibility and its benefit to people with hearing loss or tinnitus, and awards also depend on the research strategy and the available budget, so proposals should explain the potential benefit and, for translational work, the commercial potential.

Overview

RNID is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 207720).

RNID is a charity that makes life fully inclusive for deaf people and those with hearing loss or tinnitus, campaigning for an inclusive society, connecting people to practical advice and pioneering new treatments. It funds research through grant schemes that support discovery and translational research and build research capacity. The charity says it has supported over £31 million of research and 472 projects around the world.

What they fund

Priority Areas

RNID funds research to understand, diagnose, prevent and treat hearing loss and tinnitus, including the discovery and development of new treatments. Its research focus is restoring hearing, silencing tinnitus and preventing hearing loss; it also supports research on hearing devices and links between hearing loss and dementia. Funding supports discovery and translational research and builds research capacity through grant schemes. Universities, non-profit research institutes and technology-led small businesses are eligible, while translational projects can also be undertaken by small and medium enterprises. Eligible applicants may be based worldwide, subject to scheme-specific geographic and organisational restrictions. Proposals are assessed by expert review, and awards reflect the research strategy and available budget. RNID also occasionally funds social and technical research to provide evidence for campaigning and policy development.

Themes

Restoring hearing
Silencing tinnitus
Preventing hearing loss

Geographic Focus

Worldwide. Not funded: Mainland China.

What they don't fund

Translational Research Grant only:
- basic research into the causes and underpinning biology of hearing loss and tinnitus
- the development of devices or software
- the optimisation of current clinical protocols
- health service studies
- identification/validation of methods or outcomes not aligned to a specific therapeutic

How to apply

For the Discovery Research Grant, applicants submit an open preliminary application; those invited to progress submit a full application.

Deadlines: Preliminary applications must meet the deadline stated for the call.

Who can apply:

Discovery Research Grant: Applicants may be from any university or research institute based anywhere in the world. RNID cannot fund research in mainland China because of the Chinese Overseas Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) Law
Translational Research Grant: Applicants may be from any university or research institute or small/medium enterprise based anywhere in the world. RNID cannot fund research in mainland China because of the Chinese Overseas Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) Law

What to send:

Translational Research Grant: All applications need to be supported by and contain clear descriptions of the preliminary data supporting the proposed approach.
Discovery Research Grant: As part of the full application process, you are required to obtain approval to submit from an authorised representative at your institution.

Application success factors

What the charity says:

Reviewers assess how clearly the research question is framed and how closely it fits the scheme’s aims.
Projects are assessed for feasibility and design, including their likelihood of answering the research question.
Research outcomes should offer potential benefit and relevance to people with hearing loss or tinnitus.
Translational proposals should include defined experimental plans supported by relevant preliminary or proof-of-concept data.
Proposals should explain the therapeutic’s commercial potential and how the work could attract follow-on funding.
Applicants unsure about the proposal’s stage or eligibility are strongly encouraged to contact the research team for advice before applying.
Award decisions take account of expert advice, relevance to the research strategy and the available budget.

Where they fund

Where it says it funds

International

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to Rnid.

Alzheimer’s Research UKFixed deadlinesGave £28.6M Meningitis Research FoundationFixed deadlines Spinal ResearchFixed deadlinesGave £3.9M Ulverscroft FoundationFixed deadlinesGave £807k ImraNo public process The C P Charitable TrustNo public processGave £401k Sir Halley Stewart TrustInvitation onlyGave £1.1M The Institution of Structural EngineersRolling Medical Research UKMixed deadlinesGave £5.2M Myotubular TrustFixed deadlinesGave £249k

Five years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 March 2021	£34,500,000	£36,008,000	£1,281,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2021
year to 31 March 2022	£23,165,000	£21,889,000	£1,320,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2022
year to 31 March 2023	£14,517,000	£13,795,000	£1,321,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2023
year to 31 March 2024	£15,252,000	£11,935,000	£1,370,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2024
year to 31 March 2025	£14,239,000	£13,000,000	£1,540,000	Accounts for year to 31 March 2025

Income vs grants paid

IncomeGrants paid

Total value each financial year

YE 2021

£1.3M grants

YE 2022

£1.3M grants

YE 2023

£1.3M grants

YE 2024

£1.4M grants

YE 2025

£1.5M grants

Grants paid stayed within income across the 5 years shown.

Grants paid, year to 31 March 2021; year to 31 March 2022; year to 31 March 2023; year to 31 March 2024: grants to institutions, as reported on the charity register (Part B).
Grants paid, year to 31 March 2025: the accounts do not say whether this is grants awarded or paid.

Figures from the charity’s filed accounts and its register entry. The document icon links to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission register, where its filed accounts can be found.