Working With Us

MS Register Research Team

Apply to...

Conduct research on the data we already hold

Host a questionnaire on our web platform

Conduct recruitment to a Clinical trial


If you have an idea or a research question that could be answered by our participants or with anonymised data then you can start the application process here. All types of enquiry are welcome:

First complete the Expression of Interest form.

The Register team will then invite you to have a telephone/video call to discuss your enquiry. This is to ascertain if we have the data you need, or if it’s a questionnaire - what are the details of it. We also need to establish any methods for paying for your project and provide you an estimate of cost. If your project is likely to be something that can be considered, we will then tell you to proceed to the next stage and complete an 'application form'.

The success of the application will be based on your content, potential participant burden, impact and relevance to people with MS, MS Register capacity and your planned outputs. The process from initial discussion to deployment of data can take up to six months, depending on what is required.

All Application forms are reviewed by the MS Register Scientific Steering Committee (SSC). This committee consists of the following people:

  • Professor Alasdair Coles (Chair) - Neurologist
  • Professor Kimme Hyrich - Epidemiologist
  • Professor Colin Green- Health Economist
  • Professor Jan Hillert - Neurologist, Sweden
  • Dr Wallace Brownlee- Neurologist
  • Professor Melinda Magyari - Neurologist, Denmark
  • Dr Klaus Schmierer- Neurologist, Royal London

People with MS / MS Society Research Network members:

  • Mary Douglas
  • Allan Young
  • Chris Rafaluk

The committee's purpose is to review incoming requests from researchers and to ensure that they have relevant and interesting scientific questions. They also take a position on how the question is likely to be received amongst the Register audience and a measure of what your outputs are likely to be.

Objectives

  • To review collaboration requests to the MS Register based on their scientific merit and ability for the MS Register team to support the request.
  • To steer the scientific strategy through updating the Research Agenda yearly and prioritising collaborations based on the Research Agenda.
  • To steer and commission research based on the Research Agenda.

The SSC meets every three months to review applications, please see below for forthcoming meetings and application deadlines:

Deadline for applications Date of meeting
23rd November 2023 7th December 2023
22nd February 2024 7th March 2024
9th May 2024 23rd May 2024
29th August 2024 12th September 2024
21st November 2024 5th December 2024

The MS Register also has a bank of specific data that can be used for PHD projects. Please get in touch if you are a PHD student or a supervisor who would like to work with MS Register data.


Application Process

  • Completion of the Expression of Interest form
  • Phone/email discussion on likely work schedule times and likely cost based on initial talks and scoping document, if application was to be successful
  • Scientific Steering Committee Application form completed (a link to this will be sent to you after the initial phone call, you can request a PDF of the form for guidance by emailing contact@ukmsregister.org)
  • MS Register completes application review form and returns it to applicant
  • Applicant submits Scientific Steering Committee Application form and Review forms to Scientific Strategy Committee for review at a quarterly meeting
  • Decision communicated to applicant

Costs

The Register charges to cover the costs of accessing the existing data and also for the design, hosting and deployment of questionnaires. Please call the team for more information.

Here are links to some potential grant funders that could be contacted for research grants: MS Society Grants MS Trust Welcome Trust Grants UKRI The Health Foundation

Other Services

Data Hosting & Data Linkage

We can securely host datasets which are only accessible by you and your team. Our research platform also offers a data linkage service to allow you to work with more data.

Research Platform

Register Platform Consulation Services

We are pleased to offer any advice on setting up a Register and can even go further in offering platform design and hosting. Please call for more information.

Contact Us