Applied Clinical Research on Very Rare Diseases – call for proposals
The NIHR invites research proposals into interventions for Very Rare Diseases. For the purpose of this call, a very rare disease is one that affects less than 1 in 100,000 of the general population, particularly those whose specialist care is provided through centres funded by the National Specialised Commissioning Group (NSCG) and equivalent arrangements from April 2013. Research proposals exploring the organisation of super specialised services or their commissioning will be considered where these fit under the remit of the participating research programme.
The call will cover six NIHR research programmes:
Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme Closed 7 Jan 2013
Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme Closed 18 Feb 2013
Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme Closed 23 Jan 2013
Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme Closed 7 Feb 2013
Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme Closed 16 Jan 2013
Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) Programme Closed 19 Mar 2013
Research proposals that are multidisciplinary in nature are encouraged. Due to the rarity of the conditions, innovative study designs or approaches to recruitment are also encouraged. Applications for the UK arm of multinational trials either led from the UK or as a participating country will be considered.
Research proposals should relate to Very Rare Diseases, be within the remit of the participating programme and include patient views and experiences.
Please note that this call is specifically concerned with attracting applications for research into Very Rare Diseases as defined above. Applications for research on rare diseases according to the EU definition of 5 in 10,000 of the general population are welcome as part of the normal business of participating NIHR programmes.
Funding
The funding arrangements for this call are specified by each of the six participating NIHR programmes and details are available on the individual programme websites.
Opening and closing dates
Opening and closing dates vary depending on the participating programme. Please also note that the application process can vary between programmes. For some programmes a full application is required – a one stage process. Other programmes request that outline proposals are submitted; if applicants are successful, they are invited to complete a full application in a two stage process.
Very Rare Diseases specification document