Interested parties are being requested to submit an initial concept document which will be assessed against the governing bodies' research priorities by members of the World Rugby Scientific Committee.

The concept phase will be followed by a more in-depth, project plan assessment, while if applicable a project might require an ethics approval process.

The announcement follows World Rugby outlining its priority research areas for 2015 to 2016, which include four areas of concussion research and community rugby injury audits.

However, they state that the invitation to submit a full project plan does not guarantee a successful funding application, while they reserve the right to fund a study in its entirety or only part.

Research into concussion has been made a priority by World Rugby following several high profile incidents ©Getty Images



"Our number-one priority is player we welfare and every decision that we make in this critical area is evidence-based, backed up with research and expert advice," said Mark Harrington, World Rugby's head of technical services.

"We are looking to universities and medical bodies to come forward with proposals of potential research projects in these priority areas.

"These bodies will play a large role in driving forward the player welfare agenda and ultimately informing areas of enhancement."

In addition to the research projects, World Rugby have stated they are working on creating a central research database that will collect global studies and outline reporting standards, in an effort to create consistency across projects and enabling the game to act upon research.

The closing date of submissions of initial concept documents is due to be April 17.

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