POGP Research Grants including the Dr Jo Laycock Memorial Research Grant
POGP wants to support and encourage early career researchers, and members actively engaging with research projects. The progression of research and evidence-based teaching underpins our vision, and we want to strengthen and develop pelvic health physiotherapy.
A total annual fund of £15,000 is available to support between one and three projects, one of these is awarded in memory of Dr Jo Laycock, and the project outlined in this application should pertain to the field of continence.
Dr Jo Laycock was one of the first physiotherapists to gain a PhD in pelvic health physiotherapy in 1991. She recognised from the start that patient-centred care was important, and that research was essential to build the evidence base and supporting science for future generations of patients and professionals. Throughout her professional life, she balanced the essentials of good practice: teaching and learning from others; listening to patients; and gathering evidence. The PERFECT scale that she devised remains the most widely used measure of pelvic floor muscle function in research and clinical practice.
Jo received many honours over the course of her lifetime, including a CSP Fellowship, an OBE and an ICS Lifetime Achievement award in 2011. This research grant honours the memory of a long-standing and highly valued POGP member, and leader in the field of pelvic health physiotherapy. It is intended to continue to drive new knowledge and excellence in patient care in her name.
Criteria for application
- The research grant applicant must be a physiotherapist, member of the POGP, registered in the UK with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), or equivalent for international applicants, and in good standing.
- The research must be related to pelvic health physiotherapy.
To Apply
Application closing date: 15 December 2025, 23:59
Before submitting an application, please read carefully the guidance notes document included below. Once you have completed the application form and the summary of planned research document, please send them, along with the supporting documents listed in the application form, to info@thepogp.co.uk.
Guidance notes for POGP research grant application
SOP for POGP research grants process
Marking scheme information
Application form for POGP research grant
Summary of planned research document
Previous successful projects
2025
- Determining the Reliability and Diagnostic Accuracy, and Using the SimLevator™ Device in Interprofessional Education for Assessing Internal Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength and Tone
- Flare-ups and chronic pelvic pain: cross-sectional questionnaire- exploring what helps and mechanism of change
- Systematic development of a physiotherapy intervention for endometriosis-associated pain
2023
- Does pelvic floor dysfunction affect running mechanics?
- High-quality pelvic health physiotherapy services within regional Complex Mesh Centres: An E-Delphi consensus study
- Lower urinary tract symptoms in transmasculine patients undergoing metoidioplasty and their acceptability of pelvic floor muscle training assessed by a Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapist
Other funding
For other POGP bursaries and awards, please got to the bursaries and awards page.
Testimonials
“I am very grateful to have been a recipient of the POGP Research Grant in 2023. The grant supported the research component of my Advanced Clinical Practice MSc at Brunel University where I led an E-Delphi consensus study for my dissertation. This was my first piece of independent research and confirmed my aspirations to work as a clinical academic. I am now embarking on an NIHR Pre-Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship. Thank you POGP!”
Virginia Rivers Bulkeley, Research Grant Winner 2023 and POGP Member