NIHR Research Professorships Round 13

Introduction

The vision of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.

The effective translation of research into practice remains a high priority. Research leadership gaps exist at two key stages in the innovation pathway; firstly, in translating new fundamental discoveries into improved treatments for patients/service users, and improvements in public health and care; and secondly, in evaluating promising ideas to drive into routine clinical and care practice.

In order to address this, the NIHR is making available a limited number of prestigious NIHR Research Professorships. The objective of these awards is to fund leaders in the early part of their careers to lead research and to strengthen health, public health and care research leadership at the highest academic levels.

Up to five NIHR Research Professorships will be available in this round.

Each award will consist of a package to support a professorship, including one doctoral and two post-doctoral appointments, research running costs, a travel fund, a leadership and development programme (including access to the NIHR Leadership Programme) - the opportunity to request a sabbatical and the basic salary costs of the individual (plus indirect costs, for the lead nominating body. 

NIHR Remit

All research funded by the NIHR as part of a training award managed by the NIHR must fall within the following remit:

1. The overall remit of the NIHR is early translational (experimental medicine), clinical and applied health research, and social care research.

2. NIHR does not support basic research or work involving animals or their tissue.

3. If the work involves biomarkers:

• 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 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.

Eligibility

NIHR Research Professorships

This scheme is open to all professions and all Higher Education Institutions (HEI'S) and NHS organisations, or other providers of health, public health and/or care services based in England only. These institutions are invited to nominate health, public health and adult social care researchers, and methodologists with an outstanding research record of clinical and applied health, and/or care research and its effective translation for improved health and care. 

The following conditions apply for nominations per HEI and NHS Institution (acting either as host or partner organisation) for the NIHR Research Professorships (please note that these nominations are separate to the NIHR Global Research Professorships):-

• Where two nominees are put forward for consideration for the NIHR Research Professorship, at least one of three must be female;
• Where only one nominee is put forward for consideration for the NIHR Research Professorship, this could be male or female.

The NIHR is committed to actively and openly supporting and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). As part of this commitment, from Round 12 of the NIHR Research Professorship scheme, we allow host institutions to nominate up to 3 individuals to the programme provided at least 1 applicant is from an ethnic minority group. This will be in addition to the requirement of ensuring that at least 1 applicant is female if more than 1 nomination is made as described above.

We welcome candidates with intersectional identities. For nominees with a disability, interviews will be accessible with options to take part virtually if required. For all nominees who are invited to interviews, we will ask you whether there are any adjustments that will be required for the interview process.

General

It is recommended that nominating organisations undergo an internal selection process to prioritise which candidates to take forward for nomination. If more than the permitted number of applications are submitted to the NIHR, the host institution will be instructed to inform us which applications will be put forward and the others will be removed from the process. This will also be applicable if there more than the specified number of applications in a round are received where a HEI is either the host or academic partner.

Competitive candidates will demonstrate a steep career trajectory over the last 5-10 years (taking in to account any relevant breaks in employment such as statutory leave), on course to becoming an outstanding research leader. They will currently be at an early career stage having spent no more than five years at their current level of seniority at the time of application (whether as a Professor, Reader, Senior Lecturer/Fellow, Clinician Scientist, Group Leader or similar). We will take in to account any relevant breaks in employment such as statutory leave, and will also consider personal circumstances that have impacted on career progression. If you have a query regarding your circumstances and the eligibility criteria, then please email contact the NIHR Academy on academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk

Nominees at/close to the Professorial level should be qualified for a Professorship within the coming few years, or recently have been appointed as a Professor (full Professor, not Associate or Assistant). They should not already be established leaders in their field, but be on an upward trajectory to become leaders after the period of the award.

NIHR Senior Investigators are not eligible to apply as they are considered to be already beyond the scope of this scheme.

Nominees should be working in the fields of experimental medicine, public health, health services research, social care research or methodological research. They should have a demonstrable record in effective translation of research into improved health, public health or adult social care.

Nominees who were unsuccessful in previous rounds of the NIHR Research Professorships will be eligible to be re-nominated by the institutional partnership, if they meet the criteria.

Applications would be particularly welcomed in this round from public health, social care and non-medical healthcare professions, and also from partnerships who have not previously or do not regularly nominate candidates.

We have previously received applications from some public health, social care and non-medically qualified healthcare professions; however these numbers have been small and we would like to see these increase. These include, but are not restricted to:

Health economists, medical statisticians, methodologists, epidemiologists, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals (speech & language therapists, occupational therapists etc.), dentists, health care scientists, social workers, social care staff, social scientists, non-medical public health practitioners, clinical psychologists, analytical chemists, anthropologists, pharmacists, research scientists, nutritionists, medical physicists, medical engineers, radiographers, bio-mechanical engineers, bio-statisticians and bio-informatics.

For those not directly involved in delivering clinical, public health or care services, you will need to demonstrate how you will link with clinical, public health or care practice colleagues in order to deliver your research for the benefit of patients, public health or adult social care users.

Scope of Funding

NIHR Research Professorships are personal awards and are not project or programme grants; therefore, extensions to the duration of awards to allow for completion of research and/or leadership and development are not permitted. This doesn't affect suspensions of awards to allow for periods of maternity, paternity, adoption or sickness leave for the lead applicant only.

NIHR Research Professorships are 5 year appointments.

From Round 13 onwards nominees may undertake the award on a part-time basis between 80% WTE and 100% WTE due to personal circumstances; this must be discussed with the NIHR before submission of the application. Part time working to enable further clinical sessions will not be considered.

The award will consist of the following:

• a package to support a professorship,
• three support posts,
• research running costs,
• a travel fund,
• access to the NIHR Leadership Programme,
• the opportunity to request a sabbatical,
• basic salary costs of the individual (plus indirect costs for the host organisation if applicable).

The full cost of a clinical trial will not be met by this award; nominees must seek grant funding from elsewhere to cover these costs.

Nominee

NIHR Research Professorships

The majority of NIHR Research Professors’ time will be spent on research; however a continuing link with service delivery will be an essential part of leading research translation, pulling through ideas into the clinical, public health or adult social care arena.

NIHR Research Professors will be funded to continue to spend up to 2 sessions per week delivering service directly or, if the nominee is not a health, public health or care professional, an equivalent time collaborating with others to facilitate service delivery.

The award will release the NIHR Research Professor from all local and regional administrative and managerial roles.

In the case of doctors, salary costs covered will exclude payments for any Clinical Excellence Awards, which if national, should continue to be funded centrally, and if local should be met by the NHS employer.

Support Posts

Typically, three support posts are available to accompany the Professorships.

• Post-Doctoral post (5 years)
  This post will be available for the full 5 year period of the Professorship and attracts a £3,000 contribution towards training and development, including conference costs. The post will be funded at 80%* if employed by a HEI as it attracts full economic costing. 

The acceptable maximum basic salary for this post is £54,741.

• Post-Doctoral post (3 years)
  This post is only available for 3 years within the 5 year period of the Professorship. NIHR will only fund the salary for this post (Basic + National Insurance + Superannuation); however this will be at 100%, as this post does not attract full economic costing. The post does not attract any project costs nor training and development costs from NIHR.

The acceptable maximum basic salary for this post is £54,741.

• Doctoral Post (3 years)
  This post is only available for 3 years within the 5 year period of the Professorship. NIHR will only fund the salary for this post (Basic + National Insurance + Superannuation); however this will be at 100%, as this post does not attract full economic costing. The post does not attract any project costs nor training and development costs from NIHR.
  PhD fees should also be included for this post; however these are capped at the UKRI rates, which are currently set at £4,596pa.

The acceptable maximum basic salary for this post is £40,100. 

All of the above posts, including any associated funding, will terminate with the end of the Professorship, therefore early recruitment is recommended. Should any of the appointments extend beyond the term of the Professorship, including for statutory reasons (maternity/paternity, adoption or sick leave), the nominating organisation will be expected to continue to provide ongoing support.

Project costs, travel and subsistence, training and development and equipment (e.g. laptops, software) costs may not be claimed for the two 3 year posts. Any travel and subsistence, and training and development costs for the 5 year post must be within the £3,000 limit. 

Leadership & Development

The award may also be used in part to meet the costs associated with continuing national and international research leadership and collaboration. As such, other opportunities for international collaboration, such as sabbaticals, may be considered as part of this award, provided that it is justified and relevant. NIHR will consider requests on a case by case basis.

Part of the proposed leadership and development will include mentorship. We believe that senior academic mentoring is vital to allow the development of the nominee as a research leader. In this context, the mentoring role will encompass providing the nominee with support throughout the Professorship in both their (the nominee’s) research endeavours and their overall career development. You will be required to name a minimum of 1 and maximum of 4 named mentors in the Leadership & Development and Research Support section of the application.

Nominating Institutions

Awards will be made to the lead organisation within the partnership as the employer.

Nominations are only eligible from partnerships that are working in partnership with NHS (or vice versa), or organisations/commissioners/providers of - public health and/or care services, based in England.

In most cases the lead (employing) organisation will be a HEI, with the application making clear the arrangements with partner organisation(s) which will enable the nominee to work with service providers to translate research into practice.

It is possible for the NHS organisations or commissioners/providers of, public health and/or care services to be the lead and employing organisation in partnership with a HEI. How this configuration will work must be made clear in the application and we would encourage any applicants to contact the NIHR to discuss this via academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk. The limit of the number of applications per HEI in each round is still in place regardless of whether the HEI will be the lead employing organisation or the partner organisation.

Nominating organisations must demonstrate in specific detail within their application a commitment to the ongoing employment of the nominee beyond the duration of the award. NIHR will require assurances from the nominating partnership that any existing funds freed up by the award will be recycled to increase research capacity for the Professorship.

In order to address this, host institutions will need answer the relevant questions in the Leadership & Development and Research Support section and clearly document out how the salary costs will be recycled and what additional support will be provided that will directly benefit the applicant. This will be used as part of the evaluation process and should the Selection Committee deem the support for the nominee to be insufficient, then it is highly unlikely that an award will be made.

By the end of the 5 years of the award, NIHR Research Professors will be expected to:

• Have established at least two major international collaborations;

• Have demonstrated leadership at a national level;

• Have been developed and protected by their institutions, including being relieved of administrative tasks at the local and regional level so that they can concentrate on their Professorship. 

Transfer to a new host institution

The award holder may request to transfer their NIHR Research Professorship to another English based institution; however it is not permissible to move within the first 12 months of the award term.

Award holders should contact the NIHR in the first instance when considering a move to another institution.

Clear justification for the transfer to the new host institution will be required.

Specifically, award holders may move for the following reasons:

• For research purposes;

• Where the host institution has been deemed not to have delivered the levels of support agreed, as outlined within the statement of support section of the application.

Permission to transfer the award will be required from the NIHR.

Such a move carries the expectation that the new proposed institution will make an ongoing commitment to the award holder and as such will be required to submit a new statement of support to the NIHR.

Eligible Research

NIHR supports early translational, clinical and applied health research, public health and care research. The proposal must have clear potential for benefiting patients, public health, and care users and carers. The research can involve: patients, the public, care users and/or carers; and/or their samples or data; populations; health technology assessment; or health services research.

Please note that NIHR Research Professorships do not support basic research or work involving animals or their tissue. Any applications involving these areas of work going forward will be deemed ineligible.

Application Procedure

Timetable

Applications must be submitted to the NIHR using the online application system by Thursday 1 December 2022 at 1.00pm.

All submissions via the online application system must be in English.

28 September 2022: Round 13 applications open
1 December 2022:Closing date for applications
December 2022 – February 2023: Assessment of eligible applications by Selection Committee
February 2023: Shortlisting for external peer review
March 2023 – May 2023: External peer review 
June 2023 (exact dates TBC): Interviews – venue TBC

Please note that all dates are subject to change. If interviews are face to face, costs of return travel from the applicant’s usual place of work to the interview by the most direct and economic route will normally be reimbursed.

Assessment of Applications and Outcome

Applications will be considered by a Selection Committee.

The NIHR will inform nominees as soon as possible after a final decision has been taken on their application following eligibility checks and shortlisting. 

Nominees who are interviewed will usually be notified of the decision as soon as possible after funding arrangements have been confirmed.

The Selection Committee’s recommendations will be considered by the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to inform funding decisions.

NIHR Research Professorships cannot be deferred other than for statutory reasons.

Research projects undertaken as part of a NIHR Research Professorship may be included on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio. The Research Design Service (RDS) supports NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio project research applications. 

Start Dates

Successful nominees will be expected to start their award on one of the following dates only:

• 1 October 2023;
• 1 November 2023; or
• 1 December 2023.

Assessment Criteria

All applications are assessed on the following criteria:

• Demonstration of the nominee’s current capabilities as a research leader;
• The outputs from and impact of research undertaken to date;
• The success of the nominee in securing funds for their research to date;
• Demonstration of a steep career trajectory to date over the last 5-10 years;
• The likelihood that the nominee will make a long-term contribution to research, capacity building and research leadership in their chosen field;
• The projected impact of the NIHR Research Professorship on the nominee’s career and future research trajectory;
• The quality of the proposed research programme and the likelihood of it securing future external funding;
• The suitability of the proposed partnership between the host and partner organisation for the development of the Research Professor;
• The commitment of the proposed host institution to support the nominee in the short, medium and long term and commitment of the provider to empowering promotion of translation at a local level;
• The strategic significance and value of the nominee and their research to the host institution at a local and national level;
• The appropriateness of resources claimed and whether the total funding requested represents good value for the use of public/NIHR funds.
• Evidence of the host organisation(s) 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.

Registering, Completing and Submitting the Application

Registering

Applications must be completed and submitted via ARAMIS, the online application system. 

Before you can start an application you will be required to register on the system. You will be asked to supply a valid email address and to complete some basic information. Once this has been submitted you will receive an email confirming your registration and a temporary password. You should follow the instructions in the email to log onto the system.

Once signed into the system you will be able to update various details including your CV (in ‘manage my details’) and apply for any open applications. To start an application you will need to go to ‘My Applications’ and select ‘New Application’. You should then select the level of fellowship you wish to apply for from the list provided.

After answering all the eligibility questions you will be able to start completing the online form. Please make sure you read all available guidance text including this document as well as any online instructions thoroughly whilst you are completing the form.

Completing and submitting the form

Applicant:

You will need to complete all of the mandatory sections of the form and enter under the ‘Participants and Signatories’ section the names and contact details of participants and signatories. Once all other parties have made their contribution, you will be required to ‘Submit’ the application to the signatories for final sign off before the closing date. Please note that you will need to read and be aware of the roles of participants and signatories as described in these guidance notes.

You will only be able to press the ‘Submit’ button, which will send the application for final sign off by the signatories when:

• all mandatory sections of the application form are complete;
• all participants have agreed to be part of your application;
• the signatories have agreed to their role;
• the nominating organisation and partner organisations have completed the Support Statement sections.

Please note; when completing the application form, you are advised to validate your application as you go. You will find a Validation Summary button in the left hand menu. This section will detail any points within your application that are either incomplete or incorrect. Failing to validate your answers may result in you being unable to submit your application by the required deadline.

Participants:

You are required to supply the names and email addresses (if not already registered on the ARAMIS application system) of the individuals who will be undertaking ‘participant’ roles as part of your application. Everyone named in this section will be acting as a ‘participant’ to your application and will need to agree to be part of this application. Participants are required to review the declaration for the role before confirming participation as part of the one-click ‘confirm’ process.

By confirming participation, participants are acknowledging their involvement and input into this application and agree to be involved in it before it is submitted. You must ensure all participants are happy for your application to be submitted before submitting it on the online system. Details of the individuals who will be required to approve your application after submission (signatories) should be entered in the ‘Participants & Signatories' section. Please note it is often the case that one or more of the participants named in this section are also named in the "Participants and Signatories" section of the form.

Required Participants:

• Research Support: The individual(s) providing Research Support (mentorship) must confirm that they have read the application and the guidance notes and are willing to act as your mentor for research and career development 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 employing host 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.

Signatories:

You are required to supply the names and email addresses (if not already registered on the ARAMIS application system) of the individuals who will be ‘signing off’ your application. Once their contact details have been entered, the signatories will be invited to log into the system and confirm their participation. Details of what is required and expected of each of the roles can be found below.

Signatories will be required to agree to the role being asked of them in the application before the application is submitted by the applicant, and then approve the final version of the application after it has been submitted via the online system, i.e. all signatories must have agreed to participate and complete their sections before the applicant is able to press the SUBMIT button and send the application for signatory approvals. Signatories must approve the application after the applicant has selected the SUBMIT option but BEFORE the application submission deadline. Please see the 'Application Submission Process Flow Diagram’ for further information. The final signatory approval will result in the application being fully submitted to the NIHR. All parties (applicant, participants and signatories) will be notified of this via an automated system generated email.

Required Signatories

• Lead Signatory of Host Organisation: You will be required to include the Lead Signatory from your employing host organisation. They must confirm that they support this application and that, if funded, the research and training will be supported and administered in the named organisation and that the applicant for whom they are responsible will undertake this work. As such, the Lead Signatory will be required to complete questions in the ‘Leadership & Development and Research Support’ section of the application.
• Senior Representative of Main Partner Organisation: You will be required to include a representative from your main partner organisation. They must confirm that they support this application. They will be required to complete the section in the ‘Leadership & Development and Research Support’ section of the application that refers to support from the main partner organisation.

NIHR will not accept any applications unless fully approved by your signatories prior to the 1pm deadline, no exceptions will be made.

Application Submission Process - Flow Diagram 

Application Form Guidance

1. Application Summary Information

Host Organisation

Please give details of the organisation who will be the contractor if the award is funded. 

Please note that we expect the applicant’s proposed host organisation (substantive employer) to act as the contractor.

Please also bear in mind that:

• The contractor is expected to respond to annual financial reconciliation exercises, provide the final financial reconciliation statement for the award and to provide ad hoc requests for financial information during the lifetime of the award.

• In the same way, the contractor is expected to respond to any queries relating to Intellectual Property, commercialisation and benefit realisation.

If the name of your host organisation does not appear in the pre-populated list please email academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.

Partner Organisation

Please give details of the partner organisation who will be supporting this application.

Research Title

The programme title should state clearly and concisely the proposed research. Any abbreviations should be spelled out in full.

Research Type 

Select the appropriate research type. If you are not sure which category to select, choose the closest match to your project as this can be adjusted later. The NIHR Glossary includes definitions of these terms.

Proposed Start Date

Note this should be from 1st of the month regardless of whether this is a working day or not. Please be realistic about your possible start date taking account of the necessary contracting, and staff recruitment prior to starting your project. 

WTE of Award

Awards can only be undertaken with the WTE options given. 

2. Applicant CV

Please note some of the responses to these questions are automatically pulled through from information you have entered in the ’Manage My Details’ page. 

Degrees and Professional Qualifications

Please give the full details of any completed higher degree(s) and, where relevant, the full details of any higher degree(s) you are currently undertaking.

Present and previous positions

When entering details of your current and previous positions please indicate at what percentage (WTE) in each post you were undertaking research. For example, if you were a Clinical Lecturer and undertook research for 2.5 days a week and clinical or teaching/administrative work for 2.5 days per week; please enter 50% for that position. If you have worked part time at 60%, and undertook research for half of that time, please enter 30% for that position. This information is used to calculate your eligibility for schemes. 

Research grants held

Details of all grants obtained in the last five years should be provided, including personal research training awards or fellowships, plus any additional previous grants relevant to this application. Please indicate clearly any co-applicants and provide brief details of the nature and full extent of your involvement (e.g. project design, project management, day to day running, data collection, data analysis, writing papers for publication, etc.).

Please also include in the ‘Role in Research Grant’ box for each entry: registration number and name of registry and the DOI of the main related publication. Where the study is still ongoing or final results have not yet been published, please provide an estimated publication date. This is in line with the NIHR policy on clinical trial registration and disclosure of results.

These details relate to the nominee only. Information on the grants/awards held by the nominating institutions is no longer required.

Please note that your research grant record must be completed within the application form and not via the CV section on ARAMIS.

Publication Record

Please download and complete the word template from the NIHR Research Professorships webpage. Please do not list all publications in the ‘Manage My Details: Update CV’ section.

Peer Reviewed Publication Summary

Please provide details of the most significant 20 original, peer-reviewed publications that would be of relevance to this application from the last 5 years. Please list in date order, with the most recent first. No additional rows may be added to this table. If more than 20 publications are listed in this section, only the first 20 will be taken into account. The Selection Committee assesses each publication on its merits, particularly in relation to patient, service user, carer or public benefit. Different disciplines vary in the journals that they use and journal impact factors will only form a part of the assessment.

i. Publication – please state the publication title.
ii. Journal – please state the journal that the output was published in.
iii. Year – please state the year published.
iv. Current Journal Impact factor – given that these change, please list the most current Impact factor for the journal listed.
v. Number of Citations – please list the number of times that the publication has been cited.
vi. Source of Citation Information – please state where you obtained the citation information from for each publication, e.g. Scopus, Google Scholar etc.
vii. Number of authors – please list the total number of authors associated with the publication.
viii. Key Authorship Position – please state your authorship position for each publication, e.g. first, last or corresponding author.
ix. Interdisciplinary research – please choose either yes or no from the drop down list.
x. URL – please provide the web link to the journal (where available).

Other significant publications or outputs

Please provide details of any other significant publications, outputs or products that would be of relevance to this application, which provide evidence of influence and leadership in the nominee’s field. Items in this section should include the following headings (where appropriate):

• Books and/or book chapters;

• Papers in conference proceedings;

• Research reports to government departments, charities, the voluntary sector, professional bodies, industry or commerce;

• Monographs;

• Intellectual Property (patents, patent applications or other forms of IP);

• Other applied research outputs (new materials, software packages, images and devices, research derived from development, analysis and interpretation of bio-informatic databases, work published in non-print media, Cochrane reviews and NICE Guidelines).

Please complete the overall summary tables at the start of this section. Please state whether you have used Web of Science, Google Scholar or Scopus as the source of the information. Please do not use any other system.

Once completed, please upload onto the online application system. If you do not upload the publications document your application will be deemed to be incomplete and will not be processed. 

Relevant Prizes, Awards and other Academic Distinctions

Please provide details of any awards or distinctions that would be relevant to your application including details of what the award was for.

ORCiD

The NIHR is an ORCID member and encourages all researchers to obtain this persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. Lead applicants must include an ORCID iD in their application. Without it, your application will not be validated and you will not be able to submit. For more information and to register please see the ORCID website.

3. Applicant Research Background 

Professional background

Select the one option which best describes your professional group. This will determine the options that appear below for your professional background.

Please describe your research career to date - 1000 word limit

Please use this question to describe your research experience and career to date and how this makes you suitable for this award. The following items should be included, however please note that this is not an exhaustive list:

• Track record of research and its translation;

• Track record of driving collaboration and partnership in research’

• Contributions towards research leadership;

• Developing translational research capability;

• Track record in training researchers;

• Previous involvement of patients/service users, carers and public in research.

Please do not duplicate any information that will be included within the Detailed Research Plan section. Please do not include any web links, as they will be disregarded by the Selection Committee.

The option to upload one document for this section is only for the inclusion of charts, diagrams, tables and images that relate to the text in this section. Any other information/documents uploaded here will be removed. The document must be in either Word or PDF format.

Please do not leave this section blank on the online system in order to upload a document with text and images combined, as this will be removed and your application will be deemed incomplete.

Impact of Professorship

Please describe the impact this Professorship will have on your career, noting that this should provide you with a step change in your career trajectory. 

Has this application been previously submitted to this or any other funding body? - 500 word limit

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to indicate whether this or a similar application has previously been submitted to this or any other funding body. This must include any previous submissions for an NIHR research training award, even if the proposed research has changed. Please detail the title of any previous submission(s), the funding body and scheme, the outcome and the date this is due if a decision is pending. If the application was unsuccessful please indicate why and detail how this application differs from previous submission(s) and how any feedback received has been used to inform this application.

Mitigating Factors - 500 word limit

Please use this question to detail any career breaks mitigating factors you wish to make the Selection Committee aware of. NIHR wants to know about any circumstances so that they may take them into consideration during the assessment of your application. Mitigating factors may include:

• Career breaks due to parental leave, or periods of illness.

• Reduced time spent undertaking research due to a disability or caring responsibilities. This could include any physical or mental difficulty that may have impacted your research career. These are situations that have a significant impact on your ability to undertake research

• Reduced opportunities to career support e.g. mentorship, and limited opportunities to undertake prior research and training, for example due to high levels of administrative and teaching responsibilities.

Please also use this section to detail any other factors that may have impacted your research career not listed in the examples provided. The impact on your career to date will be specific to your particular circumstances but could include such impacts as limited opportunities to obtain grant funding, or fewer publications. In general terms, mitigating factors should be significant, and relevant.

NIHR acknowledges that you may be reluctant, or uncomfortable disclosing relevant information that is sensitive. However, you should bear in mind that that we are unable to take into account factors that you do not disclose. Please be assured that information provided by you is sensitive and will be treated confidentially and in line with General Data and Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Please also use this section to indicate any specific impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your application.

4. Plain English Summary of Research

The importance of a plain English summary - 600 word limit

A plain English summary is a clear explanation of your research.

Many reviewers use this summary to inform their review of your funding application. They include clinicians, practitioners and researchers who do not have specialist knowledge of your field as well as members of the public. If your application for funding is successful, the summary will be used on NIHR and other websites.

A good quality plain English summary providing an easy to read overview of your whole study will help:

• those carrying out the review (reviewers and board and Selection Committee members) to have a better understanding of your research proposal;

• inform others about your research such as members of the public, health and care professionals, policy makers and the media;

• the research funder to publicise the research that they fund.

If it is felt that your plain English summary is not clear and of a good quality then you may be required to amend it prior to final funding approval.

It is helpful to involve patients/service users, carers and members of the public in developing a plain English summary. 

Content

When writing your summary consider including the following information where appropriate:

• aim(s) of the research;

• background to the research;

• design and methods used;

• patient and public involvement;

• dissemination. 

The plain English summary is not the same as a scientific abstract - please do not cut and paste this or other sections of your application form to create the plain English summary.

Read our further guidance on writing in plain English

For further support and advice on writing a plain English summary, please contact your local Research Design Service (where applicable). 

5. Scientific Abstract - 500 word limit

The scientific abstract should be a clear and concise scientific summary of the Detailed Research Plan or Methods.

The following is a list of potential elements / headings that might be included depending on the design of the proposed research, the setting and programme being applied to, and whether it is for primary research or evidence synthesis. It will be for researchers to decide the appropriate elements to be included in the scientific abstract and could include elements outside this list. Applicants may find the guidance on the EQUATOR Network website useful.

• Research question

• Background

• Aims and objectives

• Methods

• Timelines for delivery

• Anticipated impact and dissemination

6. Detailed Research Plan - 5000 word limit

Using the headings (in the order presented) and guidance below, please use this section to clearly explain your proposed research. As this is the main part of your application detailing your proposal which will be considered by the Selection Committee you should ensure that the information is accurate, succinct and clearly laid out.

The NIHR expects appropriate and relevant involvement of patients, service users, carers and the public and other key stakeholders in the research it supports. It is essential to set out your plans to involve patients/service users, carers and the public in this application. Your patient and public involvement plans will be assessed by the Selection Committee including patient and public members.

Information and resources to assist you can be found on the NIHR website (a detailed definition of patient and public involvement in research, briefing notes for researchers on how to involve patients/service users, carers and the public and payment guidance for researchers and professionals).

In this section it is important that you identify all stakeholders who are relevant to your research proposal. For each stakeholder group you need to be clear about how they benefit from your proposed research and, where appropriate, how they have been involved in the development of the application, as well as the plans for their involvement in the proposed research.

Guidance for applicants on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for study participants:

Every person eligible to take part in research should be offered the same opportunity of taking part in that research regardless of:

• Age

• Disability

• Gender reassignment

• Marriage and civil partnership

• Pregnancy and maternity

• Ethnicity - link (for example) to the toolkit for increasing participation of BAME groups in health and care research.

• Religion or belief

• Sex

• Sexual orientation

• Geographical location

• Socioeconomic status

• Access to health or social care

Applicants should demonstrate how these factors have been considered and addressed in their proposal, including steps taken to ensure the research sample is representative of the population the study is targeted at. Applicants need to explain who they are planning to recruit to ensure inclusivity of study participants and justify and explain any exclusions, for example by completing an Equality Impact Assessment. Additionally, applicants should demonstrate that all potential recruiting locations have been considered and the research is deliverable to those areas.

There is information on how NIHR is promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in research on the link below:

• NIHR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

In this section, you are required to provide details of your future research and translational plans over the 5 year time period. Please include a case for how an NIHR Research Professorship would enable you to make a significantly increased contribution towards translation into practice and developing translational research capability.

Please note that NIHR Research Professorships are aimed at those undertaking translational research and do not support basic research or work involving animals or their tissue. Any applications involving these areas of work going forward will be deemed ineligible.

Please do not replicate any information that has already been included within this application form.

Contribution to, or collaboration with, service

NIHR Research Professors will be funded to spend up to 2 sessions per week delivering service directly, or in the case of health researchers and methodologists, an equivalent time collaborating with others to support service delivery. Please state how you will make this contribution towards service, or for non-health professionals, how you will collaborate with service.

The nominee should make clear how support for service delivery will be maintained alongside the research commitment.

Please detail the projected impact that the Professorship will have on your career and research trajectory. Please note that by the end of the 5 years of the award, NIHR Research Professors will be expected to:

• Have established at least 2 major international collaborations;

• Have demonstrated leadership at a national level;

• Have been developed and protected by their institutions, including being relieved of administrative tasks at the local and regional level so that they can concentrate on their Professorship. 

Please do not include any web links in the application, as they will be disregarded by the Selection Committee.

The option to upload one document for this section is only for the inclusion of charts, diagrams, tables and images that relate to the text in this section. Any other information/documents uploaded here will be removed. The document must be in either Word or PDF format.

Please do not leave this section blank on the online system in order to upload a document with text and images combined, as this will be removed and your application will be deemed incomplete.

The research programme should have clear patient benefit within the lifetime of, or shortly after the completion of, the award. All implementation plans need to be clearly defined and a Gantt chart setting out what will be achieved and when should be included within the uploaded document for this section.

If including a feasibility study, it has been deemed appropriate by the Selection Committee to expect the nominee to undertake and complete this within the duration of the 5 years of the award (ideally within 1 year) and then move the research forward.

1. What is the problem being addressed?

Provide a clear explanation of the health or care problem to be addressed, the impact on patients/servicer users, carers as well as health and care services, and how this research would fill a demonstrable evidence gap.

2. Why is this research important in terms of improving the health and/or wellbeing of the public and/or to patients/service users, cares and health and care services?

It is essential that you clearly identify the health and care need your research meets or contributes to. Please outline the anticipated value or contribution the study will provide.

3. Review of existing evidence - How does the existing literature support this proposal?

Explain why this research is needed now, both in terms of time and relevance. We will only fund primary research where the proposed research is informed by a review of the existing evidence.

4. What is the research question / aims and objectives?

Please summarise the research question/key aims and objectives.

5. Project Plan

Provide an expert description of the project plan of investigation plus any additional points required to support statements made in the previous sections, and include any key references required to justify the points made (e.g. in the use of particular outcome measures or methods of analysis). You should include where applicable; study design, justification of sample size, selection and exclusion criteria, methods of data collection and analysis, and justification for your choice of methodology.

Summary of patients/service users/carers/public as research participants: The successful recruitment and retention of study participants is strategically important for the NIHR. If your proposed study involves patients/service users/carers/public as research participants please use the following bullet points to summarise their characteristics and what would be expected of them throughout the research project lifecycle. The potential burden on study participants can then be understood as well as whether or not the proposed strategies are practical, inclusive and feasible. Please also signpost to where further information on these points can be found in the detailed research plan and application.

Points to cover:

• Inclusion and exclusion criteria to help ensure that certain groups were not being excluded without justification

• Recruitment method and consent process to ensure it is practical and fair

• Type and content of participant information materials

• Overview of research methods to capture data from participants and their frequency e.g. questionnaires/tests/intervention/focus groups/ interviews

• Study participant support to consider how drop-out and issues of participation would be handled/helplines/ other access arrangements required

• Methods for sharing study progress and findings with study participants

• Payments, rewards and recognition for study participants.

Setting/context: Please describe the health or social care service setting or context in which the study will take place (such as the organisation or service type,).

6. Dissemination, Outputs and anticipated Impact

The purpose of this section is for the applicant to describe what the outputs of the research might be, how and who they will talk to and what impact there might be. NIHR understands that the impact of any research may take time to be realised and will likely involve other funders and institutions. In many cases it may be difficult to provide definitive answers or any guarantees. However, addressing the below questions will allow you to describe what you hope or expect the pathway to impact to be, what might prevent impact and who else might be involved.

• What do you intend to produce from your research? This could include but is not limited to: Conference presentation or other workshop events; Publications (academic or otherwise); Guidelines (clinical, service or otherwise); Other copyright (e.g. questionnaires, training aids, toolkits, manuals, software, etc.); New or improved design of medical devices or instrumentation; New or improved diagnostics; Trial data that could be used to support a CE mark, market authorisation or equivalent; Trial data that could be used to shape or influence a healthcare or social care market or government; Potential new drug or health/care intervention; Other. Please provide brief details of each of the anticipated outputs.

• How will you inform and engage patients/service user, carers, relevant health and care system and the wider population about your work? Describe your plans for disseminating this research. If you have not yet made plans, please outline at what stage in your project you intend to start formulating these.

• How will your outputs enter the health and care system or society as a whole? Describe how any new or improved outputs generate through the proposed research will be recognised, captured, managed and use directly in the health and care service or wider society. This might be through commercial exploitation or other non-commercial routes or means. If the output(s) from your research are likely to be commercial, describe the proposed route to market and by whom, or how you plan on developing this.

• What further funding or support will be required if this research is successful (e.g. from NIHR, other Government departments, charity or industry)? This should be linked to the responses in questions 2 and 3 above.

• What are the possible barriers for further research, development, adoption and implementation?

  • Will the proposed research use data, technology, materials or other inventions that are subject to any form of intellectual property protection (e.g. copyright, design rights, patents) or rights owned by another organisation(s)? If yes, provide brief details including how such third party IP will be accessed (e.g. collaboration agreement, drug supply agreement).

  • What are the key current and future barriers to uptake of any likely output or innovation directly in the health and care service, through commercial exploitation or other means, e.g. potential regulatory hurdles?

• What do you think the impact of your research will be and for whom? In describing the anticipated impact of the expected outputs on the health and care of patients/service users, carers, the public, and on health and care services, please consider; patient, service user or carer benefit; changes in the relevant health and care system service (including efficiency savings); commercial return (which could contribute to economic growth). Indicate the anticipated timescale for the benefits to reach patients/service users, carers, the public and services, providing a quantitative estimate of the scale of these potential benefits, if possible.

7. Project Management

Please outline the processes that will be put in place to ensure the research described will be well managed. This should complement your research timetable upload (see ‘Section 8. Uploads’ below).

8. Ethics

Please describe any ethical and/or regulatory issues your research project raises and how you intend to address these. Research requiring ethical approval must have the appropriate approvals in place before it can commence. If there are no plans to obtain ethical review, this must be clearly justified. (Note that work outlined in your application/protocol must adhere to the Research Governance Framework).

Further guidance on the approval process is available from the Health Research Authority (HRA). The MRC and the HRA have designed a tool to help you decide whether you need ethical approval which you can find on the HRA ethics page. However, if you are unsure whether your research requires ethical approval please contact the HRA directly and they will be able to advise.

9. Success Criteria

Please set out the measurements of success you intend to use and also the key risks to delivering this research and what contingencies you will put in place to deal with them. This section should identify appropriate actions that would reduce or eliminate each risk or its impact.

7. Patient and Public Involvement

Please describe how patients/service users, carers and the public have been involved in developing this proposal - 350 word limit

You should describe who has been involved and why this is appropriate, what role(s) they have they played and what influence or change has happened as result of their involvement.

Please describe the ways in which patients/service users, carers and the public will be actively involved the proposed research, including any training and support provided - 350 word limit

a) PPI approach, management and support

• Explain why your approach to patient and public involvement is appropriate for this proposal. In your description you will need to say who will be involved and why.
• Please use this opportunity to describe how you plan to manage and coordinate the patient and public involvement activities in your project.
• Describe how you will support and enable patients/service users, carers, the public and members of relevant communities to contribute to your research (e.g. access, payments, training).
• We would also encourage you to outline plans for the capturing, evaluating and reporting the impact of patient and public involvement activities.
• Patients, carers, service users and the public can be involved in every stage of a research project, from developing a proposal through to dissemination and evaluation. You can find further resources to support the design of your PPI.

b) A summary of PPI activities

Please provide a summary below of the proposed PPI activities embedded throughout the research project lifecycle. Please clearly signpost to other sections of the Detailed Research Plan where the PPI is described further in relation to the relevant project stage e.g. dissemination, intervention design, data collection, analysis.

NIHR has developed guidance both on how patients/service users, carers and members of the public can be involved and the processes, procedures and values necessary to support this involvement.

If it is considered not appropriate and meaningful to actively involve patients/service users, carers and the public in your proposed research, please justify why - 350 word limit

Complete/justify as necessary.

8. Leadership and Development and Research Support

Proposed leadership and development programme - 1000 word limit

The nominee will be expected to participate in a leadership and development programme to support personal and professional development as a research leader. Please detail your existing skills and outline a tailored development programme, which has been designed in conjunction with your nominating partnership organisations to address your future needs. Please provide a clear statement of how the host organisation and partner organisation will actively support and develop your leadership and development programme. A strong leadership and development programme will focus mainly on the skills required for progression as a research leader. Successful Research Professors will also be invited to participate in the NIHR Leaders Programme.

As this award may be used in part to build on existing national and international research leadership and collaborations, please include details of any sabbaticals that you may wish to undertake during the award, for consideration by the Selection Committee.

Please detail how you intend to develop research capacity in the next generation of researchers, including via your post-doctoral and doctoral appointments and the wider environment.

Please also state clearly where you expect to be on your career trajectory after the 5 years of the award and also what commitment the host organisation intends to make towards your future career.

Research support - 250 words per justification of mentor

Please state the name(s) and institution(s) of your mentors. You will also be required to justify your choice of mentor and how you intend to work with them. A minimum of 1 and a maximum of 4 entries are required on the form.

Although we acknowledge that formal supervision may not be appropriate for the level of award, we believe that senior academic mentoring is vital to allow the development of the nominee as a research leader. In this context, the mentoring role will encompass providing the nominee with support throughout the Professorship in both their (the nominee’s) research endeavours and their overall career development.

At least one of the proposed senior academic mentors should be based in the host institution. They should have a clear understanding of the research process, the demands that the chosen area of research are likely to place on the nominee, and their particular strengths and weaknesses. Nominees may also wish to choose another mentor from another institution either elsewhere in the UK or overseas.

Please state why these particular mentors have been chosen and what new perspective/developments they will bring. Clearly describe how the proposed mentorship will support your overall development and provide an initial assessment of the time that will be allocated to the mentoring process. 

Funding for research support is available for travel and subsistence only (for the nominee) and does not support any fees the individuals who provide research support may wish to charge the nominee.

Collaborations - 600 word limit

Explain what collaborations you intend to establish to support your research and, if applicable, your leadership and development programme. This may involve short visiting placements (e.g. an International Research Visit), or secondments in new (to the applicant) research environments, e.g. clinical trials units or NIHR Biomedical Research Centres/NIHR Applied Research Collaboratives.

The NIHR is particularly keen to enhance the cadre of researchers equipped to work at the university/relevant health and care system/industry interface, translating ideas into new treatments and products from which patients/service users and carers can benefit. Therefore, where appropriate, you should consider any industry collaborations you may wish to establish during the course of your award. You should include; the leadership and development the collaboration will provide; the facilities and expertise you will have access to; and how the collaboration will strengthen links between academia, industry and the relevant health and care system.

Please provide details of all existing and any future national and international collaborations that you are already part if or that you may wish to be involved in.

Host Organisation support statement - 3000 word limit

The following sections are required to be completed by the Lead Signatory of the host organisation:

Statement of support - 1000 word limit

The nominating host will need to include within this statement when they expect the nominee to be appointed as a Professor (full Professor, not Associate or Assistant) and, if already appointed at Professorial level, why they consider the nominee is still qualified for this award and how the award will change their potential to become a leader in the field.

The lead organisation must state how the interface with service will be managed to empower the nominee to promote translation, or how the partnership intends to collaborate with service/practice in the case of non-health professional nominees. Please note that NIHR Research Professors will be funded to continue to spend up to 2 sessions per week delivering service/practice directly, or in the case of non-clinical/practice researchers and methodologists, an equivalent time collaborating with service/practice.

Please state how the partnership intends to work together to support the nominee and support post appointments, including how they will be supported in terms of infrastructure in the short, medium and long term.

Please note that this statement of support will need to be individually tailored to each nominee that the partnership wishes to be considered for a NIHR Research Professorship, rather than a generic institutional statement. These statements are critically important and will be used by the Selection Committee to determine whether the support from the host environment for the nominee and the proposed research is suitable enough to allow the application to progress beyond the shortlisting stage of the process.

In addition, the statement should evidence of the host organisation(s) 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.

Statements may wish to refer to the principles and best practice outlined within relevant Charters and Concordats in these areas, such as the Researcher Development Concordat and Advance HE’s Equality Charters. It should be noted that being a signatory to Concordats or holding bronze/silver status from the Equality Charters isn’t a requirement of funding and evidence can be provided through other means.

The Statement of Support must also contain, but is not restricted to, information on the following two items:

Support for the nominee at an organisational level

Please provide a clear statement outlining the strategic significance and value of the nominee and their research to the host institution. The host organisation must also set out how it specifically intends to value and actively support the nominee at the organisational level both during and after completion of this award.

Support for the nominee at a national/international level

Please provide a clear statement outlining the strategic significance and value of the nominee and their research at a national/international level. The host organisation must also set out how it specifically intends to value and actively support the nominee at the national/international level both during and after completion of this award.

In addition, the host institution will be required to answer further questions clearly documenting how the salary costs will be recycled and what additional support will be provided. This will be used as part of the evaluation process and should the Selection Committee deem the support for the nominee to be insufficient, then it is highly unlikely that an award will be made.

For the recycling of the applicant's salary, please state how this will be used to directly support the nominee - 1000 word limit

Please state what additional support will be given to the nominee over the short, medium and long term - 1000 word limit

Finance Guidance

9. Detailed Budget 

Justification of costs

• Please provide a breakdown of research costs associated with undertaking the research and provide justification for the resources requested. This should include the following costs: staff costs, travel and subsistence, dissemination costs, equipment (including lease versus purchase costs), consumables, patient and public involvement (PPI) and any other direct costs. For help with estimating PPI costs please see payment guidance for researchers and professionals
• When justifying staff costs you should also provide the % amount of time input of each member of staff and link this to the specific area/work package of the proposed study where this input will be taking place.
• You should indicate here how this research will potentially benefit the NHS, social care, or public health. For example, where appropriate, describe the likely cost savings or benefits in terms of numbers of patients treated, treatment times, service users or carers supported etc.
• You should describe the value for money of the conduct of the proposed research.
• Please provide a breakdown of the NHS costs associated with undertaking the research and provide justification for the resources required. If there are no NHS Support or Excess Treatment Costs associated with the research you must explain why you think this is the case.
• Please provide a breakdown of any non-NHS intervention costs and provide justification for the resources required. Non-NHS intervention costs should include costs incurred in delivering the intervention which would continue to be incurred after the trial, should the intervention become standard care.
• NIHR Personal awards are not project or programme grants; therefore, extensions to the duration of awards to allow for completion of research and/or training and development are not permitted. This doesn't affect suspensions of awards to allow for periods of maternity, paternity, adoption or sickness leave.

Detailed Budget Breakdown

The finance section should provide a breakdown of costs associated with undertaking the research as described in the proposal. 

General information

• The information entered in this section should provide an analysis of the total funds requested to undertake the research proposed and should be based on current prices. These costs will be used to assess value for money.
• The average cost of a Research Professorship is between £1.7m to £1.8m. Costs may be slightly higher or lower than this depending upon the research being undertaken; however any project over £2m will need to be re-profiled to bring it under this figure.
• It is in the best interest to undertake a thorough, realistic and accurate costing. You must provide a clear and full justification for all costs including NHS costs.  You must also ensure that you include all costs including those required to secure good research management.
• Costs must be provided at current prices. An adjustment for inflation will be made annually thereafter at rates set by the Department of Health and Social Care. Whilst allowances for incremental increases should be included on the form, nationally or locally agreed pay increases should be excluded.
• Years should be calculated starting from the anticipated start date of the proposed research. For example, if your research is expected to start on 01 October 2023 then its second year starts 01 October 2024.
• Further itemisation of costs and methods of calculation may be requested to support the application at a later date.
• Payments will be made to the contracted organisation only and the contracted organisation will be responsible for passing on any money due to their partner organisation(s).
• Appropriate sub-contracts must be put in place for any element of the research which is to be paid to another organisation.
• NHS Support Costs, including costs for social care research are funded via Clinical Research Networks. Researchers should contact their local NHS R&D Department initially and, if they are unable to help directly or if there is no local NHS R&D Department, contact their Local Clinical Research Network.
• All applications are expected to have appropriate HEI, commercial and other partner organisation input into the finance section of the application form.
• There is no need to individually itemise costs where the total is below £1,000.

Information on different types of organisations

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

• Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) should determine the Full Economic Cost (FEC) of their research using the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) methodology. For HEIs, up to 80% of FEC will be paid, provided that TRAC methodology has been used.

NHS bodies and other providers of NHS services in England

• For applications where the contractor is an NHS body or provider of NHS services in England, up to 100% of direct costs will be paid.

• If you are a commercial organisation/consultancy, please fill in direct costs and commercial indirect costs. Indirect costs should be charged in proportion to the amount of research staff effort requested on the funding application form. Up to 100% of costs will be paid.

Other Partner Organisations

• If you are an other partner organisation (e.g. charity or NGO), please fill in direct costs and other partner organisations indirect costs. Indirect costs should be charged in proportion to the amount of research staff effort requested on the funding application form. Up to 100% of costs will be paid.

Direct costs

These are costs that are specific to the research, which will be charged as the amount actually spent and can be supported by an audit record. They should comprise:

I) Details of posts and salaries

This section presents an overview of salary costs for the applicant and other support/shared staff contributing to the research, including normal salary increments broken down individually. 

The Applicant

Please state the proposed salary point and scale at the start of the Professorship. Please note immediate promotion to a higher grade as a result of securing an award will not be funded. Please do not include any Clinical Excellence or Discretion/Merit awards or discretionary points. NIHR agrees to fund consultant salaries at a full-time rate equivalent to 10 Programmed Activities per week.

Support staff

Three support posts are available to accompany the Professorships.

• Post-Doctoral (5 years) – this is for one person at Post-Doctoral/NIHR Clinical Lecturer level. The acceptable maximum basic salary for this post will be £54,741. This post attracts Full Economic Costing if employed by a HEI and has a training allowance of £3,000. Any conferences, courses etc. must be included within this £3,000 limit.
• Post-Doctoral (3 years) – this is for one person at Post-Doctoral level. The acceptable maximum basic salary for this post will be £54,741. Under ‘Type of Cost’, please enter this post as ‘Other’, even if the post will be based in a HEI. This post does not attract Full Economic Costing and will therefore be paid at 100%. If you choose HEI, it will be returned at 80%, rather than the 100% required. There is no training allowance for this post.
• Doctoral Post (3 years) – this is for one person at Doctoral level. The acceptable maximum basic salary for this post will be £40,100. Under ‘Type of Cost’, please enter this post as ‘Other’, even if the post will be based in a HEI. This post does not attract Full Economic Costing and will therefore be paid at 100%. If you choose HEI, it will be returned at 80%, rather than the 100% required. There is no training allowance for this post. PhD fees for this post should be included within the Training and Development section.

Please do not exceed the maximum limits for these posts, as you will be asked to re-profile them if this occurs. All of the above posts, including any associated funding, will terminate with the end of the Professorship, therefore early recruitment is recommended. Should any of the appointments extend beyond the fixed 5 year term of the Professorship, including for statutory reasons (maternity/paternity, adoption or sick leave), the nominating organisation will be expected to continue to provide ongoing support.

Please include all members of staff working on the research by clicking ‘add staff details’ or editing a current one. Where applicants are already receiving salaries funded by NIHR, these should be declared in the application. Only these three posts should be entered as ‘Support Staff’. All proportions of time for other staff should be added as ‘Shared Staff’.

II) Salary costs

This section specifies the annual costs of the applicant and other staff contributing to the research. You should now allocate the individual staff member costs to each year of the research, allowing for increments. Use current rates of pay, and build in any known annual increments (again at current rates). You will not be able to claim for pay awards retrospectively, once your research is underway.

Please note the salary figures need to be calculated using the current annual costs, % WTE and number of months. If the research lasts for several years and an individual’s involvement varies over the course, it may be necessary to explain fully in the justification of costs section the % WTE and months per year for an individual staff member.

It is important to double check that the % WTE, total months and yearly costs information are consistent with the information presented in ‘Details of Posts and Salaries’ (‘Details of Posts and Salaries’ should show the full current staff costs independent of % WTE etc., whereas the yearly costs in ‘Salary Costs’ depend on % WTE etc.).

Please ensure that you check the ‘Type of Cost’ box which describes the employing organisation for a member of staff as this impacts on the level of funding provided. Staff employed by a Higher Education Institution (HEI) are funded at 80% of cost and staff employed by NHS, commercial or other partner organisation at up to 100% of cost.

Please note that this section also includes ‘Shared Staff Costs’ which is located under directly allocated costs in some other funders’ applications. These are costs of an institution’s research resources which can be charged to the research on the basis of estimated use, rather than actual costs. These may include: IT technicians, laboratory staff, and costs of pooled staff efforts. HEI indirect costs cannot be claimed on these shared costs. It is expected that no more than 20% of each individual’s time can be claimed as shared staff costs.

The NIHR reserves the right to question any costs deemed excessive, and will not fund:

i. Contributions for individuals providing research support (previously referred to as mentors), supervisors and/or other collaborators involved in the research
ii. Administrative or secretarial support
iii. Whole or significant percentages of support posts over and above those permitted by the scheme
iv. Technical or research support staff whose costs are funded through institutional indirect costs (HEIs only)

III) Travel, Subsistence and Dissemination costs

This section includes journey costs, subsistence and dissemination costs, including conference fees and open access publication costs. Where applicable, you will need to include the travel and subsistence costs of your Project Advisory Group, Steering Committee and/or Data Monitoring & Ethics Committee. Travel and subsistence costs relating to dissemination should also be included here, as should costs relating to overseas travel. Where applicable, you will need to include the travel and subsistence costs relating to meetings with individuals providing research support. Please note that mentors’ (including supervisors and individuals named as providing research support) expenses will not be funded.

If a cost relates to travel, subsistence or fees for a conference please select ‘conference’. Costs relating to conference attendance will be funded at up to 100% for all employing/host organisation types. Conference costs don’t need to be individually itemised for each conference. The justification box should detail the conferences the costs will cover.

• Journey Costs

Enter the total cost of transport for all journeys for destination/purpose. If travel is by car, apply your institution’s mileage rates (however this should not exceed HMRC approved mileage allowance payments, which is 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter).

Travel by the most economic means possible is encouraged. NIHR programmes do not usually fund first class travel.

• Subsistence

Subsistence covers accommodation (if necessary) and meals associated with the travel, excluding any alcoholic beverages. 

• Conference Fees

There is a limit on the amount that can be spent on conference related costs (including all related travel and subsistence as well as conference fees) depending on the level you are applying for.

Where national or international conference fees are included, a statement naming the conference or purpose of travel and the benefit to the Professorship must also be made; failure to adequately justify your attendance at a conference, will mean the programme will not fund this cost.

NIHR will fund a maximum of £15,000 for all conference-related costs for the NIHR Research Professor only.

Travel, subsistence and conference fees may not be claimed for the two 3 year Support Posts. For the 5 year Support Post, any travel, subsistence and conference costs must come from the £3,000 allowance.

• Dissemination costs (in addition to conference costs)
  • Open Access Costs: During the course of your project and throughout review and publishing phase you may choose to submit an article based on your research to an Open Access publication. See the NIHR website for details for how open access costs are now funded.
  • Other Dissemination Costs: Any large costs should be further detailed with a breakdown of constituent parts or a timescale profile of the costs. Meetings to share best practice, training events and events to disseminate research findings must be run at the lowest possible cost with minimal catering. ‘Conferences’ which are described as such are not eligible for funding.

IV) Equipment

Essential items of equipment plus maintenance and related costs not included as part of estates should be input in this section. These can be lease or purchase costs. The purchase cost of pieces of equipment, valued up to £5,000 excluding VAT, will be considered.

Pieces of equipment costing more than £5,000 to purchase will usually need to be leased. Where applicants are leasing equipment with a purchase price of more than £5,000, a comparison of leasing verses purchasing costs must be provided in the ‘Justification of Costs’ section. 

Items of equipment valued at £250 or more must be itemised separately; however grouping same type equipment is permitted. Costs of computers are normally restricted to a maximum of £1000 each excluding VAT and a statement of justification must be included, in the relevant ‘Justification of Costs’ section for any purchase above this limit. 

Equipment must exclude VAT, but if your organisation is unable to reclaim/recover the VAT on a piece of equipment, you should check the box ‘VAT cannot be reclaimed’.

You will need to seek expert advice from the organisation purchasing the equipment regarding its VAT status. If you check the ‘VAT cannot be reclaimed’ column, VAT at 20% will automatically be calculated into the overall cost of that item.

V) Consumables

This section includes non-reusable items specific to the research. Please itemise and describe the requirements fully (e.g. postage, stationery, photocopying). These items should be research specific, not just general office costs which should be covered by indirect costs.

VI) Patient and Public Involvement

Please itemise and describe fully the costs associated with Patient and Public Involvement. These are likely to include individual travel, out of pocket expenses, payment for time and any relevant training and support costs. Costs related to study participants should not be itemised here.

If voluntary, charity or community groups are supporting the research via activities such as facilitating contact with potential participants, hosting research activities or providing advice, an adequate budget must be included to compensate for their time and resources.

NIHR has developed payment-guidance notes for researchers.

VII) Other Direct Costs

These are costs, not identified elsewhere, that are specifically attributed to the research. For example, costs associated with the use of research facilities, external consultancy costs, computer licensing, recruitment and advertising costs. Please note that for organisations claiming indirect/overhead costs, costs such as recruitment of staff, and general training (e.g. in common IT packages) are costs that should be covered by the indirect costs element of the award being sought and should not appear in this section.

If external consultancy costs are included in this section they must be fully justified in the ‘Justification of Costs’ section. Please specify the hourly rate and the number of hours and note that consultants must not be people who are already employed by the applicant’s institution. If they are, any costs should be entered as direct costs in the ‘Details of Posts and Salaries’ and ‘Annual Costs of Posts’ sections.

Notes on CTU costs in Personal Training Awards

• Costs claimed should be for the additional support from the CTU for the necessary expertise that the applicant cannot provide themselves. For example, part time support from a trial manager, database manager, and statistician are all costs that could potentially be included.
• The level of support and input from the CTU will likely vary depending on the level of fellowship and experience of the applicant. For example, doctoral applicants will be expected to be undertaking the majority of the day-to-day tasks involved in running a trial, with oversight from a more senior member of CTU staff (though specialist input in database programming may be needed).
• For more senior post-doctoral awards it may be more appropriate for other members of staff to be undertaking some of the day-to-day tasks. This also very much depends on the experience and expertise of the applicant and the applicant’s training needs and should be agreed with the CTU before submitting an application. These costs should all be agreed with the CTU and budgeted for.
• Staff costs should be detailed under the ‘other direct costs’ section. Staff costs should include basic salary and on-costs for each member of staff involved and it should be made clear within the justification section what role each member of staff has within the context of the personal award application and the time they will spend on the award.
• Please note that because NIHR research training awards are personal awards and not project or programme grants we can’t fund whole or significant portions of posts other than that of the applicant themselves and their support staff member (where applicable).
• We would not normally expect the time commitment of any individual costed into the application other than the applicant or member of support staff to exceed 0.3 WTE. In total we wouldn’t normally expect the total WTE of all staff costed into the application to support clinical trial activities to exceed 1 WTE (excluding the applicant and support staff member) for more junior awards (doctoral and early post-doctoral level awards) and 2 WTEs for more senior awards (this includes any shared staff also costed into the application). The level of additional staff input will obviously depend on the type and scope of the trial and the experience of the applicant.
• Full justification should be provided for all staff costs requested. Overheads (estates and indirect costs) can be included for CTU staff costed into the application. The justification section should split out the overheads from the salary costs and overheads shouldn’t exceed 40% of the total CTU staff cost.
• Any costs must be realistic in order to deliver the trial but must also represent value for money. Applicants can also include non-staff costs for the CTU for example; randomisation service, and license fees for clinical data management software.

VIII) Training and Development

All costs in this section will be funded at up to 100%. Please itemise and describe fully the costs associated with training and development. Please provide estimates if exact costs are not available at the time of application. Any travel and subsistence associated with training and development including overseas research visits should not be included here and should be included in the travel section of the form.

• Leadership Training Programme, short course and workshops

These are costs relating to the applicant’s training programme.

• Support Post – Training & Development (5 year Post-Doctoral position only)

NIHR will make a maximum contribution of £3,000 in total (including any identified travel and subsistence) for the duration of this Professorship towards the cost of training and development for the member of staff in the 5 year support post.

Whilst training and development costs for these awards are restricted to the NIHR Research Professor and the five year Support Staff post, the NIHR welcomes any additional contributions from host partnerships to the training and development costs for all Support Staff.

• Overseas Research Visits

Please provide costs for any overseas research visits that the nominee wishes to undertake during the course of the award. The NIHR will consider overseas research visits on an individual basis and reserves the right to limit expenditure.

• Support post – PhD fees

Where relevant, NIHR will make an estimated maximum contribution of £4,596 per year, based on Research Council UK 2021 published PhD fees.

Indirect costs and overheads

HEI Indirect Costs

Total HEI indirect costs must be fully justified. HEIs are permitted to claim estate and other indirect costs. These costs are calculated on the basis of TRAC methodology. Proposals from other types of institutions/organisations should leave this section blank.

HEI indirect costs are based on the number of full-time equivalent research staff working on the research and the indirect/estates charges set by an institution. Please note HEI indirect costs cannot be claimed on shared staff costs. Where staff from more than one HEI are working on the research there may be different indirect/estates charges for each one. Please list each institution on a separate line.

The applicant(s) should consult their HEI Finance Departments for the appropriate figures to include in the estate charges and other indirect cost sections

Commercial/Other Partner Organisation Indirect Costs

Commercial/Other Partner Organisations can claim indirect costs which are the costs of resources used by the research that are shared by other activities. Please seek advice from your finance department about the appropriate cost for this section.

Total Commercial/Other Partner Organisation indirect costs must be fully justified.

I) Indirect Costs

Indirect costs will be charged in proportion to the amount of research staff effort requested on the award. Commercial/Other Partner Organisations should calculate them, using their own cost rates.

They comprise:

• General office and basic laboratory consumables

• Premises costs

• Library services/learning resources

• Typing/secretarial

• Finance, personnel, public relations and departmental services

• Usage costs of major research facilities

• Central and distributed computing

• Charge out rates for shared equipment

• Cost of capital employed

NHS support and treatment costs (incl. Excess Treatment Costs/Savings) 

The finance section includes a section that asks researchers to provide an estimate of the patient care costs associated with the research (if applicable). An explanation of why these costs are being incurred and the basis on which the estimations have been made should be fully detailed under the relevant ‘Justification of Costs’ section.

The Selection Committee will take NHS Support and Treatment Costs into account when considering the value for money of the research. It is important that you consider these costs and discuss them with the NHS bodies or providers of NHS services involved in order to avoid any delay in commencing the research

Please be aware that the research award does NOT include NHS Support and/or Treatment Costs. 

To underpin the new arrangements, a cost attribution tool has been created by the Health Research Authority (HRA) in partnership with charity funders and research sponsors. This tool provides a standardised approach across England, ensuring that the attribution of study activities complies with the Department of Health and Social Care Guidance on Attributing the Costs of Health and Social Care Research and Development (AcoRD). As part of their funding applications, researchers are required to complete this new tool, known as a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT) for clinical research, which has been developed from the current HRA Schedule of Events. This tool is designed to capture the different costs associated with clinical research and attribute them accordingly. The totals for excess treatment costs and NHS support costs calculated by using the SoECAT can be entered directly into the application form.

Researchers and/ or their study teams and Research Sponsor/ Lead NHS Provider (e.g. R&D office/ Clinical Trial Unit) are supported by AcoRD Specialists in the Local CRN to verify the accuracy of the SoECAT.

Under the new arrangements, sign off via the LCRN AcoRD Specialist is required to confirm the study attribution complies with the Department of Health and Social Care AcoRD guidance. This early attribution support will underpin the excess treatment cost management process by providing formal sign off, supporting the role of the research sponsor and lead R&D office or Clinical Trial Unit. Completion of the Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool will be required for studies eligible for the NIHR portfolio and the support this provides, which will include access to excess treatment cost payments under the new arrangements. This ETC value, alongside recruitment activity in the NIHR Central Portfolio Management System, will then be utilised to inform the payments to NHS providers.

A completed Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT) is now required to be uploaded and submitted as part of the application submission for all applications. The SoECAT must be signed off by an AcoRD Specialist even where there are no excess treatment costs.

More information can be found on the NIHR website Excess Treatment Costs page.

Non-NHS intervention costs include costs incurred in delivering the intervention which would continue to be incurred after the trial, should the intervention become standard care. The figure that should be entered here is the difference between the cost of the intervention and the cost of current standard care. Please note that NIHR have no provision to cover non-NHS intervention costs, and it is the responsibility of the applicant to secure these costs if they are needed. Where applicable a letter from the provider of the intervention costs for the purposes of the study should be supplied.

These are similar to excess treatment costs, but they mainly apply to Public Health and Social Care Research

Please note: Social care studies are eligible for Clinical Research Network (CRN) support, it does not just apply to NHS based research, and researchers should speak to the CRN and include support costs where relevant. For the purposes of social care studies ‘treatment costs’ should be interpreted as ‘intervention costs’ and should be included in the proposal when needed. Further guidance on support and ‘treatment’ costs can be found on the NIHR website.

These are the additional patient care costs associated with the research, which would end once the R&D activity in question has stopped, even if the patient care service involved continues to be provided. These might cover items such as extra patient tests, extra in-patient days and extra nursing attention. Applicants should contact their local NHS R&D Department initially and, if they are unable to help directly or if there is no local NHS R&D Department, contact their Local Clinical Research Network (LCRN) for advice on NHS Support Costs.

Please read the NHS guidance on the funding of excess treatment costs prior to completing your application.

These are the patient care costs that would continue to be incurred if the patient care service in question continued to be provided after the R&D activity has stopped. In determining NHS Treatment costs you must assume that the patient care service being assessed will continue even though there may be no plans for it to do so. Where patient care is being provided which differs from the normal, standard, treatment for that condition (either an experimental treatment or a service in a different location from where it would normally be given), the difference between the total Treatment Costs and the costs of the “usual standard care" (if any) constitutes Excess Treatment Cost/Saving, but is nonetheless part of the Treatment Cost, not an NHS Support or Research Cost. These costs should be determined in conjunction with your NHS body or provider of NHS services and their commissioners.

Please note if the patient care intervention under investigation is in addition to usual care there is no need to complete the ‘Usual Treatment Costs’ section however this will need to be justified in the relevant ‘Justification of Costs’ section. If the patient care intervention under investigation either wholly or partially replaces usual care, the ‘Usual Treatment Costs’ section must be completed.

For further information, please see Attributing the costs of health and social care research and development (AcoRD)

Summary of costs

• NIHR programmes currently fund HEIs at a maximum of 80% of full economic cost.

• Please note that whilst these percentages will be used to calculate the maximum grant payable, the programme reserves the right to award a grant for less than this maximum where it is considered appropriate.

10. Management and Governance

Please complete the check boxes as appropriate.

11. Uploads

To support your research plan you are able to upload the following documents in the ‘uploads’ section of the form:

• References: One A4 page listing all references cited in the application.

• Figures/Tables: Up to two A4 pages of figures/tables may be included to supplement your research plan.

• Research Timetable: One A4 page detailing specific milestones and deliverables (Gantt Chart).

• CTU Letter of Support: Where you are working with a CTU please include a supporting letter.

• Publications Summary: Please use the Round 4 form downloaded from the NIHR website to include all relevant publications information.

A completed Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT) is now required to be uploaded and submitted as part of the application submission for all applications. Further details are in the NHS Support and treatment costs section.

13. Management and Governance

Please complete the check boxes as appropriate.

14. Participants and Signatories

A number of participants and signatories are required to be added to your application and, where applicable, to complete sections of it. Details of the required individuals are provided on the online application form along with details of how they should added. The flow diagram in page 10 goes through the actions required of participants, signatories and the applicant.

15. Acknowledge, review and submit

Conflict checks 

Please declare any conflicts or potential conflicts of interest that you may have in undertaking this research, including any relevant, non-personal & commercial interest that could be perceived as a conflict of interest.

Agreement to terms and conditions 

Please click the check box to confirm you agree to the Terms and Conditions of submission as detailed on the application form.

Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information

NIHR is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in research and asks applicants to provide Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information (age, sex, ethnicity and race, and disability). By answering these Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information questions, you will help us to better understand the different groups of people that we fund and their experiences of being funded – particularly the groups protected by UK equality legislation. Although it is mandatory to answer these questions, it is possible to select “prefer not to say” as a response. However, the more information you provide, the more effective our monitoring will be. This information will not be used to make decisions about funding

Checklist of information to include when submitting a NIHR research application

Applicants should use list below to check that they have included the necessary information prior to submitting their application.

• A good quality Plain English Summary;
• A clear explanation of the problem being addressed;
• A clear demonstration of the need and importance of the research;
• A review of existing literature (primary research);
• A clear research question aim(s) and objectives;
• A clear project plan summarising the study design and methods;
• Appropriate and relevant involvement of patients/services users, carers and the public;
• A clear, appropriate and relevant plan for dissemination;
• A single A4 page of references (document upload);
• All mandatory additional information has been uploaded to the online application system. 

Additional Supporting Information

NIHR Privacy Policy

Our purpose for collecting information is to communicate with you about your application and have the necessary information to evaluate you for a grant. The data we collect here is collected in the public interest. Information provided here may be subject to Freedom of Information requests. 

The NIHR Academy is part of the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), NIHR. The contracting agent for the NIHR Academy is the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust (LTHT). The DHSC is the Data Controller and LTHT is the Data Processor under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) EC 2016/679. DHSC NIHR respects the privacy of individuals who share their data and processes it in a manner that meets the requirements of GDPR. The DHSC Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at: data_protection@dh.gsi.gov.uk.

The NIHR privacy policy includes further information including ways we may use your data, our contact details and details on your individual rights regarding how your data is used. Your data may be shared across the NIHR, including with other coordinating centres, to allow the application to be managed and for statistical analysis, and with external grant reviewers as part of the process for managing the allocation of a grant. Information collected from you will not be shared outside the EEA without your consent.

This notice is under constant review and will be updated and / or revised based on that review as appropriate. 

Global Talent visa

Advanced Fellowship award holders requiring a visa to work in the UK are eligible to apply for a Global Talent visa under the fast-track process of endorsement. Other visa categories are available.

The Global Talent visa is designed for people who are recognised as leaders and potential leaders in their field. People who are awarded an NIHR Advanced Fellowships meet the criteria for the ‘exceptional promise’ category for potential research leaders.

Should you wish to apply for this visa, you should select the ‘Fast Track consideration’ option on the Home Office endorsement application form and use your award letter as evidence of your Advanced Fellowship. It is recommended that you arrange your visa in plenty of time before the start date of your award.

Further details can be found at GOV.UK and The Royal Society.

International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN)

All primary research studies need to be assigned an ISRCTN. Please note that the remit of this database has been widened to include all primary research projects, even those that are not randomised controlled trials.There is no registration fee for NIHR funded trials.

Requirements for systematic reviews to be registered with PROSPERO

Applicants undertaking systematic reviews should note the commitment of NIHR to publication in the database. PROSPERO was developed by the NIHR’s Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), and is the first online facility to register systematic reviews for research about health and social care from all around the world. Access is completely free and open to the public. PROSPERO registration is a condition of NIHR funding for eligible systematic reviews.

UK Biobank

UK Biobank is a major national health resource, and a registered charity in its own right, with the aim of improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses – including cancer, heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, eye disorders, depression and forms of dementia. UK Biobank recruited 500,000 people aged between 40-69 years in 2006-2010 from across the country to take part in this project. They have undergone measures, provided blood, urine and saliva samples for future analysis as well as detailed information about themselves. The health of members of this large cohort will be followed over the coming years and the participants have consented to be approached about health research.

Applicants are encouraged to consider whether Biobank may be able to provide suitable data for their study. We do not want to discourage establishment of new collections of participants and their data where this is necessary to address the research questions under consideration, our aim is to avoid applications for funding to set up Biobank-like cohorts where the use of Biobank would prevent wasteful duplication of Biobank-like activities.

NIHR Carbon Reduction Guidelines

Researchers applying for NIHR funding are asked to consider the carbon footprint of their research and take steps to reduce carbon emissions where appropriate. Advice on how to do this can be obtained from the NIHR Carbon Reduction Guidelines.

Transparency Agenda

In line with the government’s transparency agenda, any contract resulting from this tender may be published in its entirety to the general public.

Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) support

Applicants thinking of including a clinical trial, feasibility or pilot study as part of their application, or are undertaking a research and/or training related to clinical trials are encouraged to consider working with a CTU where appropriate. Further guidance for and applicants is available in the NIHR Clinical Trials Guide for Trainees. This includes guidance on how to go about approaching a suitable CTU to support your application.

MRC Complex Intervention Guidance

Where appropriate applicants are encouraged to read the MRC complex interventions guidance.

NIHR Research Design Service 

The NIHR Research Design Service (RDS) supports prospective applicants to make high quality applications for research funding from the NIHR and from other national research funders. Assistance is primarily focused around refinement of research questions, research design and methodological support. Complementing the advice applicants receive from supervisors and/or mentors. The RDS also assists prospective applicants to understand the scope of the NIHR’s various funding streams and to develop patient and public involvement (PPI) strategies. The RDS may be able to support applicants with small grants to work up PPI plans with, for example, patient and service user groups.

The RDS has regional offices and links with local networks. The Research Design Service page has further information regarding support that the RDS can provide and contact information for each regional office.

NIHR INVOLVE

INVOLVE is funded by the NIHR, to support active public involvement in NHS, public health and adult social care research.

As a national advisory group, its role is to bring together expertise, insight and experience in the field of public involvement in research, with the aim of advancing it as an essential part of the process by which research is identified, prioritised, designed, conducted and disseminated.

INVOLVE can support prospective applicants and existing awardees to incorporate effective patient and public involvement into their work. Support includes; help with calculating appropriate costs for involving patients/service users, carers and the public, help with developing potential strategies for involvement, case studies of involvement activities including the impact they have had, and help with writing plain English summaries.

Full details of the support INVOLVE can provide and contact information is available via the INVOLVE website.

CRN support

The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) supports researchers and the life sciences industry in planning, setting up and delivering high quality research to the agreed timelines and study recruitment target, for the benefit of the NHS and its patients, and the social care system and people supported by it, in England.

In partnership with your local R&D office, we encourage you to involve your local CRN team in discussions as early as possible when planning your study to fully benefit from the support the NIHR CRN offers as outlined in their Study Support Service.

Ethics and Regulatory Approvals

Guidance on the application process for ethical and other approvals can be found on the HRA website. Please note that if your study is led from England and involves the NHS in England you should apply for HRA approval.

If you are using patient or service user information from an existing database, you should check whether those individuals have given their consent for their data to be included in that database for research purposes, or if not whether the database is exempt under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006. Where exemptions are not already in place, approval to use confidential patient information without consent must be requested from the HRA who make decisions with advice from the Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG).

NOTE: NIHR is interested in taking advantage of the growing utility of routine data (such as HES, GP records etc.), and would like investigators, where appropriate, to ask study participants to consent to long term follow up (e.g. beyond the outcomes to be collected in the funded trial) using routinely collected data, and appropriate linkage to allow this data to be best used.