• World Rugby committed to evidence-based injury-prevention
• Since 2015 World Rugby-funded research projects have driven player welfare advances
• Submission process now open for research projects with the potential to benefit player welfare at all levels
• Applications should be submitted via World Rugby’s research funding portal: worldrugby.fluxx.io

World Rugby has launched the submission process for its annual player welfare research funding programme.

Research is at the heart of World Rugby’s evidence-based injury-prevention strategy and more than £400,000 has been committed to independent research since 2015, advancing the understanding and approach in key areas, including:

• The impact of concussion on subsequent injury risk in professional rugby players
• The physical demands of match-play across various ages, playing levels, and tiers
• Injury surveillance in community adult and youth rugby
• Sources of off-season psychological and physical recovery in professional rugby players
• Implementation effectiveness of a concussion management pathway in community rugby

Following a recommendation by World Rugby’s Medicine, Science, and Research Group, the 2020 funding programme will focus on three areas:

• Injury trends and prevention
• Anti-doping trends
• Playing surfaces

The call for submissions follows the dedicated player welfare symposium in France, which brought together global experts for a highly-productive analysis of current player welfare research and trends.

For a projects to be considered, applicants should make sure they closely follow World Rugby’s Research Funding General Principles and Priorities (found here) and should clearly demonstrate how the outcomes of their project can be actioned to advance player welfare.

World Rugby is open to considering proposals that are not strictly aligned with the priorities identified above, but they must demonstrate the potential for tangible benefits for the sport.

All proposals must be submitted through World Rugby’s dedicated research funding portal: worldrugby.fluxx.io. The portal will remain open for submissions from 22 April until 7 June 2019, with all submitted applications receiving a response by 28 June 2019.

More information about the application process can be found here.