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ACAF Round 2 (2022) Applicant Guidance Notes

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Published: 28 November 2022

Version: 1.0

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Applicant Guidance Notes

HEE/NIHR ICA Programme

Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowships

Round 2

2022

Introduction

These Applicant Guidance Notes are published to accompany the HEE/NIHR ICA Programme Round 2 ACAF Competition.

HEE: Health Education England
NIHR: National Institute for Health and Care Research
ICA Programme: Integrated Clinical and Practitioner Academic Programme
ACAF: Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship.

The ACAF scheme supports post-doctoral researchers to develop their academic career whilst developing their health or care career. The scheme is open to post-doctoral researchers from the health and care professions (excluding doctors and dentists) who are committed to a clinical academic or practitioner academic career.

The ACAF scheme provides salaried time to undertake both a funded research project and a funded programme of academic training and development. Between 20% and 40% of the award time must also be dedicated to Professional Practice Development, which will be funded through the Fellowship.
This document provides full details of the ACAF scheme, describes the means by which applications for the ACAF Round 2 competition should be submitted, and details how they will be assessed. Applicants must ensure they have read this guidance before submitting an application. Applicants are advised to refer to this guidance when completing each section of the application form.

Clinical Academics and Practitioner Academics

The term “Practitioner Academic” is used in these Applicant Guidance Notes (and in the application form) to encompass both those developing a clinical academic career (a career combining the development of a research career and continued development of a clinical career) and those eligible individuals developing a career combining research and other practice or policy roles.
The terms “Practice”, “Practitioner” and “Professional Practice” are used in these Applicant Guidance Notes (and in the application form) to mean the undertaking of a role or activity that contributes to the maintenance of an applicant’s registration with one of the ICA Programme eligible regulatory bodies' (listed below).


The NIHR Remit for Personal Awards

Research supported through an ACAF must be within the following NIHR Remit:

  1. The overall remit of the NIHR is early translational (experimental medicine), clinical and applied health research, and social care research.
  2. A clear and plausible path to patient /service user, carer or public benefit must be demonstrable.
  3. NIHR does not support basic research or work involving animals or their tissue.
  4. Iftheworkinvolvesbiomarkers:
    • research that tests whether application of new knowledge can improve treatment or patient outcomes, and has obvious direct potential benefit, is within remit; this might include application of known biomarkers, or other prognostic factors, to refine and test novel therapeutic strategies
    • research that aims only to elucidate mechanisms underpinning disease, or identify risk factors for disease or prognosis (including search for biomarkers) is out of remit.
  5. The NIHR is also prepared to support high quality Educational Research (defined broadly as education for health and care providers) and methodological research. It is expected that the research will have the potential to have practical application and the potential impact on patients/service users, carers and the public must be made clear.

NIHR Themed Calls

Sustainability themed call

NIHR has issued a cross-programme call for research into the evaluation of interventions or services to support the delivery of a more sustainable UK health and care system, including mitigating the effects of climate change on health and care delivery: Delivering a sustainable health and care system – themed call information.
Applications that fall under this theme will not be prioritised or favoured over those that do not.

The HEE/NIHR ICA Programme

The ICA Programme, managed by the NIHR and funded by HEE, provides research training awards for registered health and care professions (excluding doctors and dentists) who wish to develop practitioner academic careers; combining continued practice and professional development with research and research leadership.

The ICA Programme comprises five schemes, tailored to support the practitioner academic leaders of the future:

  • HEE Internship Scheme/ HEE Bridging scheme
  • HEE/NIHR Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF) Scheme
  • HEE/NIHR Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (DCAF) Scheme
  • HEE/NIHR Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (ACAF) Scheme

Health and care professionals (excluding doctors and dentists) wishing to apply to the HEE/NIHR ICA Programme schemes must hold registration with one of the following regulatory bodies or have plans in place to hold the required registration by the proposed award start date.

HEE/NIHR ICA Programme Eligible Regulatory Bodies

Academy for Healthcare Science
General Chiropractic Council
General Dental Council
General Medical Council
General Optical Council
General Osteopathic Council
General Pharmaceutical Council
Health and Care Professions Council
Nursing and Midwifery Council
Social Work England
UK Public Health Register

The ICA Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (ACAF) Scheme

The ACAF scheme provides salaried time to undertake both a funded research project and a funded programme of academic training and development. Between 20% and 40% of the award time must also be dedicated to Professional Practice Development, which will be funded through the Fellowship.

Applicants for an ACAF can be at any stage of their post-doctoral research career prior to being awarded a Chair:

  • recently completed or soon to be awarded a PhD but haven’t yet established themselves as an independent researcher;
  • starting to establish themselves as an independent researcher, or who are already established as an independent researcher but are not yet recognised as an international leader in their field;
  • seeking to re-establish their research career following a significant career break;
  • seeking to re-establish their research career following time back in clinical practice


Eligibility Requirements for the ACAF Scheme

  • Applicants must hold registration with one of the HEE/NIHR ICA Programme Eligible Regulatory Bodies listed in this document by the proposed award start date.
  • Applicants must be proposing substantive employment for the hours and duration of the Fellowship with the proposed Host Organisation, which must be an English health and/or care provider that is providing publicly funded or third sector funded services, or a recognised English Higher Education Institution.
  • Applicants must have a relevant PhD (research doctorate) or have submitted their thesis by the application deadline.
    Applicants whose doctorate has not yet been awarded must have been awarded their doctorate and have provided official evidence of this to NIHR, by Friday 21st April 2023 (further details below)
    Candidates holding Professional Doctorates will be assessed for eligibility on an individual basis and must contact NIHR prior to starting an application (further details below).
  • Applicants must be proposing a programme of research that is within the NIHR Remit
  • Applicants must be proposing to spend between 20-40% of the award time undertaking professional practice development.Applicants must not already hold a Chair at the point of application.
  • Applicants who have submitted an unsuccessful application to a previous ICA ACAF, ICA CL or ICA SCL competition round can re-apply on one further occasion. It is not permissible, however, to apply to the same scheme within 12 months of making an initial application.
    Applicants that have applied unsuccessfully twice will normally not be able to re-apply for a period of 3 years. This is to take account of the fact that the applicant, in terms of both their CV and experience, will have hopefully developed significantly in this timeframe.
    Applications deemed fundable but which fall below the funding cut off will not be counted towards the maximum of 2 application attempts.

We would not normally expect award holders to receive more than 8 years of funding in total through the ICA ACAF and/or the NIHR Advanced Fellowship.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate, through both their previous research and professional practice experience, their commitment to a practitioner academic career and that they have the potential and are on a trajectory to develop as a practitioner academic leader in their field.

Competitive applicants will clearly evidence research output commensurate with previous experience and / or career stage and how the award would impact their practitioner academic leadership trajectory.

Award Structure

The structure of the ACAF is flexible to support individuals undertaking a wide range of research projects and at differing stages of their academic and practice careers:

Award Length: Between 2 and 5 years WTE
Part-time options: Between 50% and 100% WTE
Professional Practice development: Between 20% and 40% of award time

Professional Practice Development

ACAF applicants must be proposing to spend between 20-40% of the award time undertaking professional practice development.

Given the diversity of the research and practice areas that ACAF applicants may be developing their careers in, NIHR is flexible with regard to activities that can be supported through the professional practice development time. Any activities undertaken, however, should develop the award holder as a clinical academic or practitioner academic and the proposed activities must be detailed in the application as well as details of how the activities will develop them as a Practitioner Academic/ Clinical Academic.

If appropriate for the applicant, professional practice development can include professional practice training, which can be funded through the Fellowship’s Training and Development programme.

Applicants would not be expected to request a part-time award in order to continue to work in a clinical or practice role outside of the award time.
The professional practice commitments within the Fellowship must be to publicly funded or third sector funded health and/or care services.

Hosting Arrangements

Whilst all applicants will require the support of an English Higher Education Institute (HEI) and an English provider of health or care services, one organisation must be identified as the employing institution that will host the Fellowship – referred to as the ‘Host Organisation’. This may or may not be the applicant’s current employer.

If the Host Organisation is the HEI, the Partner Organisation must be the provider of health or care services.

If the Host Organisation is the provider of health or care services, the Partner Organisation must be the HEI.

HEI Supporting Organisation

The HEI supporting an ACAF must be a recognised Higher Education Institution (HEI) based in England.

Health or Care Services Organisation

The health or care services organisation supporting an ACAF can be an NHS body based in England or any other English provider of health and/or social care services that is providing publicly funded or third sector funded services (for example, a commissioned social enterprise or local authority).

Applicants may wish to take advice regarding which organisation to identify as the Host Organisation before making this decision, which needs to take into account individual circumstances.

Please note: It is not possible to remain employed by an organisation that is not named as the Host Organisation and be seconded to the proposed Host Organisation for the duration of the Fellowship.

Following completion of an ACAF, individuals will be expected to show evidence of:

  • Completion of the research proposed in the application, which should be within the NIHR Remit
  • Completion of the training and development programme proposed in the application
  • Increased research skills in existing and new areas
  • Increased professional experience and influence
  • Increased independence as a researcher
  • Publications arising from the research programme
  • Increased generic skills, for example, management and leadership skills
  • A step-change in their trajectory to becoming a practitioner academic leader in their field of research

Evidence of the above will be sought by the NIHR through annual and final report monitoring.

Further information for applicants not yet awarded a doctorate

Applicants who have submitted their thesis at the point of application, must have successfully obtained their doctorate, and provided official evidence of this (in the form of an official award confirmation letter from the awarding body) to the NIHR by 1pm on Friday 21st April 2023. We define an obtained doctorate as the following:

  • Thesis submitted
  • Viva attended (if applicable)
  • Corrections accepted
  • Confirmation letter from the awarding body (University etc.) that the doctorate has been awarded.

You do not need to wait for graduation.

If the appropriate notification is not received by NIHR prior to 21st April 2023, the applicant will automatically lose their eligibility and be withdrawn from the selection process.

Eligibility Criteria for Holders of Professional Doctorates

Candidates holding Professional Doctorates will be assessed for eligibility on an individual basis following receipt of information regarding their Professional doctorate from the awarding HEI.

Prospective applicants who hold a Professional Doctorate must contact NIHR before starting an application. For details regarding the information required, please contact academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.


Queries Regarding Eligibility for the ACAF Scheme

Prospective applicants to the ACAF who are unsure of their eligibility should contact the NIHR at academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk before embarking on the application process.


Start Dates

Available start dates for successful Round 1 applicants are:

  • 1st October 2023
  • 1st November 2023
  • 1st December 2023
  • 1st January 2024
  • 1st February 2024
  • 1st March 2024

Fellowships cannot be deferred without the consent of the NIHR.

Scope of Funding

An ACAF can fund:

  • the costs of an approved research project
  • the cost of an approved personal training and development programme, which includes professional development
  • the award holder’s salary costs for the Fellowship
  • The cost of approved shared and support staff

The costs that will be met by an award differ slightly depending on the type of Host Organisation that is chosen by the applicant. These costs are summarised in the table below.

Costs met for different Host Organisation Type

Direct Costs

 Proportion Funded in Higher Education InstitutionsProportion Funded in NHS and Other Organisations
Salary Costs 80% 100%
Travel, subsistence and Conference fees 80% (with the exception of conference related costs, which are paid at 100%) 100%
Equipment
Consumables
Patient and Public Involvement
Patent and Legal
Sub contracts
Other direct Costs
80% 100%
Training and Development
(but not any travel or subsistence which should appear in “Travel, subsistence and conference fees”)
100% 100%

Indirect Costs

 Proportion Funded in Higher Education InstitutionsProportion Funded in NHS and Other Organisations
HEI indirect costs 80% N/A
Commercial indirect costs N/A N/A
Other partner Organisation indirect costs N/A N/A

Assessment of Applications

Awards will be made following open competition. The selection process and subsequent administration of the Fellowship will be managed by NIHR.

Following the submission deadline, NIHR will check applications for completeness and eligibility, and distribute eligible applications to the members of the Selection Committee.

The Selection Committee assess all eligible applications using the Assessment Criteria detailed below.

Applications are assessed for a place on the ‘Shortlist’ for interview subject to external peer review. Applicants whose shortlisted status is confirmed following peer review are invited for interview.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by email when all required processes are complete. No indication will be given of outcome before that.

Feedback will be sent to all applicants after the funding decisions have been made.

The deadline for submission of applications to the Round 1 competition is Tuesday 15th November 2022 at 1pm.

By this deadline, the application must have been submitted (including all supporting documents) and approved by all the signatories. No additional supporting documents will be accepted after the deadline and signatories will not be able to approve an application once the deadline has passed. Please see ‘The Application Process’ below for further details.


Competition Timetable - the key dates in the selection process:

Competition Stage Key Date
Competition Opens  Thursday 15th September 2022
Competition Closes  Tuesday 15th November 2022
Deadline for submission of evidence that doctorate has been awarded
(ACAF applicants not awarded doctorate at time of submission only)
 21st April 2023
Interviews for shortlisted applicants  Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st June 2023
Start dates of awards 1st October 2023
1st November 2023
1st December 2023
1st January 2024
1st February 2024 or
1st March 2024


If applicants are successful in being awarded an NIHR or HEE/NIHR Research Training Award while simultaneously holding another NIHR or HEE/NIHR Research Training award, they will be asked to decide which award they would like to continue with and will be withdrawn from the other.


Application Outcomes

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application via email as soon as the funding decision is finalised. It can take up to 6 weeks following the interviews for application outcomes to be issued. Applicants are advised to take this into account when considering which start date to opt for.
Further guidance for submitting applications via the online application system is available below (“Completing the Application Form”). Applicants are advised to refer to this guidance when completing each section of the application form.

ACAF Assessment Criteria

Applications are assessed by the Selection Committee using the following criteria:

When assessing the applicant

  • The quality and relevance of the applicant’s research experience and achievements to the undertaking of the research described within the application
  • High quality outputs from previous research experience and training relative to career stage and background
  • The relevance of the applicant’s recent and overall professional experience to the development of a practitioner academic career in the proposed are
  • On a trajectory to become a future health/social care practitioner academic leader:
    • For doctoral and early career post-doctoral applicants or those seeking to re-establish their research career - evidence of commitment to a career as a practitioner academic
    • For more experienced post-doctoral applicants; evidence of independence or starting to establish independence as a researcher, including establishing collaborations and building research capacity.

When assessing the proposed research programme

  • The suitability of the proposed research programme to the level of award and scope of funding
  • The quality of the research design and its suitability to answer the research question being proposed
  • The potential of the project to benefit patients/service users, carers, the public or health and/or care services
  • The extent to which the involvement of patients/service users, carers and the public is appropriate and meaningful
  • The quality, scope and relevance of the review of existing evidence
  • The quality of the plain English summary
  • The capacity of the proposed project to serve as a vehicle for academic and professional development
  • The amount of support requested (both financial and duration of the Fellowship) is justified and evidence based

When assessing the proposed host site(s)

  • The extent to which the statement of support is tailored to the applicant and demonstrates a partnership of the Host and Partner Organisations to support the applicant's Practitioner Academic career development
  • Evidence of the host organisations’ commitment to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive research culture, including evidence of commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and research integrity
  • Evidence of the Host Organisations’ support and commitment to other early career researchers (ACAF only)
  • The track record of the academic department in the research area being proposed.

When assessing the training programme

  • The suitability of the proposed training to the needs of the project
  • The extent to which the proposed practice activities will support the development of the applicant as a practitioner academic
  • The extent to which the training and development plan will support the practitioner academic career aspirations of the applicant

When assessing the Fellowship Support

  • The suitability and experience of the proposed academic support team, and their appropriateness to the development of the applicant’s practitioner academic career
  • The suitability and experience of the proposed practice support team, and their appropriateness to the development of the applicant’s practitioner academic career

Evidence of research output commensurate with previous experience and/or career stage will be sought.

Finance

In addition to assessing the above, the Selection Committee will also take the appropriateness and value for money of the funds requested into consideration.

The NIHR strongly recommends that you remain mindful of these assessment criteria when developing your application.


The Application Process

All applications must be submitted via the ARAMIS Award Management System, (aramis.nihr.ac.uk).

Registering

Before an application can be started, prospective applicants are required to register on the online award management system (aramis.nihr.ac.uk). Applicants will be asked to supply a valid email address and to complete some basic information. Once this has been submitted, applicants will receive an email confirming their registration and a temporary password. Applicants should follow the instructions in the email to log on to the system.

Once signed into the system, applicants can update various details including their and apply for any open competitions.

Applications can be started via selecting ‘My Applications’ and ‘New Application’. The application form for the scheme of interest can then be selected from the list provided.

After answering all of the eligibility questions, applicants will be able to start completing the online form. Applicants must ensure they have read all of the available guidance text including this document as well as any online instructions thoroughly before completing the form.

Completing the Application Form

Applicants are required to complete all of the mandatory sections of the form and to enter under the ‘Participants and Signatories’ section the names and contact details of those individuals fulfilling Participant and Signatory roles (see below).

Once the applicant has completed their sections of the form and the Participants and Signatories have made their contributions, the applicant is required to ‘Submit’ the application to the Signatories for final sign off before the closing date.

Applicants can only ‘Submit’ an application for final sign off by the Signatories when:

  • All mandatory sections of the application form are complete
  • All Participants and Signatories have agreed to be a part of the application and have completed their relevant sections
  • Applicants have completed the declaration information.

It is highly recommended that applicants complete their application well in advance of the deadline to allow the Participants and Signatories enough time to complete the relevant sections and declarations. Participants and Signatories who are required to complete part of the application form can do so at any time once they have agreed to be part of the application.

Participants and Signatories

Applicants are required to supply the names and email addresses (if not already registered on the award management system) of the individuals who will be undertaking Participant and Signatory roles as part of the application. Participants and Signatories must agree to be part of the application before it is submitted.

Participants and Signatories are required to review the declaration for their role before confirming participation. By confirming participation, Participants and Signatories are acknowledging their involvement and input into an application and agree to be involved in it. Applicants must ensure that all Participants and Signatories are happy for their application to be submitted before submitting it on the online system.

Please note it is often the case that one or more of the Participants are also named as Signatories.

Required Participants

  • Research Support: Applicants are required to enter details of at least 1 (and up to 3) individuals who will provide research support (mentorship) during the Fellowship. The individual(s) acting as the applicant’s Research Support/ Mentor must confirm that they have read the application and the Applicant Guidance Notes and are willing to act as the applicant’s mentor for research and career development and agree to abide by the conditions under which an award may be granted.
  • Practice Support: Applicants are required to enter details of at least 1 (and up to 3) individuals who will provide professional practice Support/ Mentorship during the Fellowship. The individual(s) acting as the applicant’s Practice Support/ Mentor(s) must confirm that they have read the application and the Applicant Guidance Notes and are willing to provide professional and career development support to the applicant and agree to abide by the conditions under which an award may be granted.
  • Host Organisation Administrative Authority or Finance Officer: The Administrative Authority or Finance Officer for the Host Organisation must confirm that they will ensure the accuracy of the financial details of the application and that the Host Organisation is prepared to carry out this research at the stated costs and to administer the award if made. The detailed budget section of the application form will be editable by the finance participant once they have agreed participation.


Required Signatories

  • Heads of Department: Applicants are required to enter the details of the relevant Head of Departments at both the lead health/ care organisation and the lead academic organisations (the Host Organisation and the Partner Organisation). In agreeing to participate in this application, the Heads of Department of the Host Organisation and the Partner Organisation in which this award will be based are confirming that they support the application and that, if funded, the research and training will be supported and administrated in the named organisations and that the applicant for whom they are responsible will undertake the work.
    The Heads of Department are required to provide a joint statement of support via the ‘Training & Development and Research Support’ section of the application form, which will be accessible to them once they have confirmed participation.

    In addition to agreeing participation, Signatories are required to sign off the application following submission of the application before the closing date (see below).


Application Submission

Once the application is ready (see list of required steps above), applicants are able to submit the application for final signatory approval. Upon submission by the applicant, the individuals added in the signatory roles will be prompted to sign back into the system and approve the finalised application.

The application will not be complete until all of the required signatories have approved the final version of the form submitted by the applicant. Only when the last signatory presses the ‘Approve’ button will the completed application be submitted to the NIHR.

Annex A illustrates the submission process for the application form in the form of a flow diagram.

Please note all of the steps described here, including signatory approval of the submitted application, must take place before the deadline of 1:00pm on Tuesday 15th November 2022. No extensions will be given and no exceptions will be made to allow for completion of the form.

Should you require assistance in completing the online form, please contact the NIHR:

Tel: 0113 532 8444
Email: academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk

 

Annex A: Application Form Submission Flow Diagram

* Rejection of the application by any individual at Stage 6 will return the application to Stage 3
† Automated “Out of Office” replies to these emails will not be relayed to the applicant

Annex B: NIHR Remit frequently asked questions (FAQs)

The following FAQs are designed to help applicants decide whether the research they are proposing as part of a Fellowship or other research training application falls within the remit of the NIHR.

If you are proposing a programme of work as part of an application (particularly relevant for more senior awards), it may be that certain elements of the programme would be outside the remit of NIHR if considered in isolation. If this is the case it is important that you make clear in your application that the research overall fits within the remit of NIHR and also why any elements which could be considered out of remit are necessary to include. It is also important to note that any elements of the research which are considered out of remit will not be funded by NIHR should your application be successful. This includes any work involving animals or their tissue, which NIHR does not fund under any circumstances. Applications that include a programme of work where the majority of the work is out of remit but with a small study within NIHR remit added on, will not be considered.

If you have queries over whether the research you are proposing as part of a research training application falls within the NIHR remit, you are strongly advised to speak to a Senior Programme Manager for the award you are applying for before submitting an application.

Do you fund the evaluation of education and/or training schemes?

Yes. Proposed studies should be within the overall remit of the NIHR and outcomes measured should be health and/or social care related, or there should be good evidence for a link between the outcome measured and a health/ social care outcome.

Do you fund the development and/or evaluation of decision aids for patients?

The development or updating of a decision aid will be considered as part of a larger project or programme.

Do you fund the development of interventions, devices, technologies or services?

The development or adaptation of interventions can be considered as part of a larger project or programme of work. We will not fund standalone developmental studies.

Do you fund the development and/or evaluation of outcome measures, questionnaires or surveys (e.g. Patient Reported Experience/Outcome Measures)?

The development, adaptation or updating of outcome measures questionnaires or surveys can be considered as part of a larger project or programme of work.

Do you fund the development, evaluation and/or validation of models (e.g. risk factor models, health economic models etc.)?

Yes – we will consider funding the development of models where there is a case for service need or patient/public benefit. There should also be an evaluation or validation aspect to the study.

Do you fund research requiring observational/applied epidemiological methods?

We fund research according to the potential for patient/public benefit rather than according to specific methodologies. We therefore fund research using a wide range of study designs including observational and applied epidemiological methods. Any study that uses observational and applied epidemiological methods should be an evaluation of an intervention itself, or have a clear, credible and articulated trajectory to further research within NIHR remits. An applied epidemiological component can also be considered as part of a larger project or programme of work.

Do you fund research into workforce?

Yes. Proposed studies should be within the overall remit of the NIHR and should concern the impact on health and well-being, whether of patients, the public, or of the workforce itself.

Do you fund research into patient and public involvement in research?

Yes. Proposed studies would need to demonstrate the potential for practical application and make clear the potential impact on patients and/or the public.

How does NIHR define the early translational (experimental medicine) research that it is interested in funding?

NIHR is interested in funding translational research that involves investigation undertaken in humans which can show a trajectory to benefiting patients. Proposals must show a clear link to improving disease outcomes and/or improvements in health. This could include proof of concept studies in humans and phase 1 clinical trials. Research that is aimed only at furthering understanding of the underlying biology and physiology of disease, including research into disease mechanisms is not within remit.