NIHR Senior Investigator Round 17 Guidance Notes

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 NIHR is committed to funding high quality applied health, public health and social care research that translates into improvements in outcomes for patients, people who need care and support services, carers and the public, and improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness and safety of the health and social care systems.

In line with NIHR’s areas of strategic focus outlined in Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter we are welcoming applicants from diverse professional backgrounds, including, but not limited to, those with an interest in social care and public health research, and from nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, pharmacists, healthcare scientists and methodologists.

NIHR Senior Investigators are among the most prominent and prestigious researchers funded by the NIHR and the most outstanding leaders of applied health and social care research within the NIHR community.

The NIHR is launching the 17th round of the Senior Investigator award, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care.

This document sets out the process for the open competition for NIHR investigators to apply for an NIHR Senior Investigator award. It describes the means by which applications for this scheme should be submitted, and details how they will be assessed. Applicants must ensure they have read this guidance before submitting an application and are advised to refer to this guidance when completing each section of the application form. Applications will be reviewed by selection committees which will make award recommendations to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

NIHR Senior Investigator Award

The NIHR Senior Investigator award is a personal award in recognition of support for NIHR and an outstanding contribution to applied health, public health or social care research.

As the NIHR’s most prominent and prestigious researchers, Senior Investigators are fundamental to the NIHR. They provide visible leadership and support the strategic priorities of the NIHR and are expected to contribute significantly to NIHR as senior leaders, and act as ambassadors and role models for the NIHR.

NIHR Senior Investigator awards are 4 years in duration. Award holders receive a discretionary award of £20,000 a year, payable to their employer or linked institution, which can be used to fund activities that support the applicant’s research (see the section Scope of Funding further on in these Guidance Notes for further details).

Senior Investigators may apply for a second award on completion of their first award and they can receive a maximum of two awards which may total no more than 8 years.

Senior Investigators also become members of the NIHR Academy, with an enhanced role in providing senior leadership and helping to develop research capability and capacity.

Expectations and Opportunities for NIHR Senior Investigators

NIHR Senior Investigators are expected to provide senior leadership and develop research capability and capacity through a range of activities as a member of the College of Senior Investigators. These activities include:

Senior Investigator Induction Meeting

As a condition of appointment, successful applicants are expected to join an in-person half-day NIHR Senior Investigators’ induction meeting for all new first term and successful second term Senior Investigators. The purpose of the meeting is to help Senior Investigators navigate their role, meet with fellow Senior Investigators, and discuss topical issues with DHSC and NIHR colleagues.

Senior Investigator/Research Professorship Meeting

Attend the annual, in-person meeting of NIHR Senior Investigator and NIHR Research Professorship award holders. This annual meeting brings together this leadership community with senior leaders from DHSC and NIHR for discussion and input into strategic developments and activities relevant to the national health and care research community.

Contribute significantly to NIHR as a senior leader

• Support NIHR Selection Committees which help decide which research and training activities to fund or prioritise, by undertaking peer review activities across a range of programmes. The expectation is that each Senior Investigator provides at least 2 reviews each year (subject to being invited to do so).
• Serve on NIHR Boards, Selection Committees and in other roles involved in the NIHR Infrastructure, with an expectation that each Senior Investigator sits on at least one committee during their tenure.
• Engage with and provide advice to the Chief Scientific Adviser, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Midwife for England, DHSC’s Chief Social Worker and the DHSC’s Science. Serve as part of the Research and Evidence Directorate, becoming involved in key activities and programmes.
• Provide leadership across NIHR’s research and systems, supporting the embedding of practices around research inclusion and fostering a positive research culture, which can include in Local Authorities and social care settings as well as NHS or health settings.
• Provide and promote strategic leadership within the NIHR at a regional and national level.

Lead in Training and Development of NIHR’s people

• Be an active member of the NIHR Academy.
• Maintain a strong track record in training and developing researchers and shaping the training agenda.
• Join the NIHR Academy Mentoring Programme to mentor early career members of the NIHR Academy, with an expectation of mentoring 1 person each year.
• Engage with and take part in activities run through the NIHR Leadership Programme.

Act as an ambassador for the NIHR in the wider system

• Act as ambassadors and advocates for NIHR, identifying and promoting NIHR activities.
• Work with stakeholders, including the NHS, public health and social care systems, to promote, support and deliver NIHR’s strategic aims and priorities.
• Be key communicators within and about the NIHR.

Demonstrate Research Excellence

Develop and maintain a track record of excellence in applied health, public health or social care research that is of benefit to patients, people who need care and support services, carers, the public or the health and social care systems.

Contribute to Growth

Play a leading role in NIHR’s contribution to the national growth agenda for example by:

• providing the research evidence that leads to better outcomes for the workforce, people who need care and support services, carers and the wider population;
  to help the NHS, public sector and social care providers and professionals to make efficient use of resources;
• engaging with the public health and social care sector, including Local Authorities, care providers and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to support a culture of research and evidence use to deliver societal benefits;
• creating a research, practice and professional environment that supports the nation’s international competitiveness, including research in underserved regions and communities with major health and/or care needs;
• attracting, developing and retaining a highly skilled multidisciplinary health and social care research workforce, or
• supporting collaborations with industry across relevant sectors (this might include the life sciences industry, commercial providers of health and/or care services or other relevant industries).

Integrate Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in Research

• Continue to integrate PPIE into research, provide leadership and support capacity development for PPIE.
• Champion and deliver diverse, inclusive and innovative PPIE models, positively impacting how the NIHR involves people and communities, people who need care and support services, carers, and those who have not previously had a voice in research. PPIE should be evident across the full spectrum of the research management process.
• Model and share best practice with senior leaders across the NIHR and the wider research community.

NIHR College of Senior Investigators Directory

The NIHR collaborates with those with Senior Investigator status as part of their Senior Investigator role. This entails being a member of the College of Senior Investigators, and an ambassador and advocate for NIHR. If awarded, the Senior Investigator details will be published on the Senior Investigator Directory, including a contact email address, research expertise and employing organisation.

Reporting via ResearchFish

As with other awards, the NIHR monitors the activities undertaken through a Senior Investigator award through the NIHR authorised web-based system, ResearchFish. ResearchFish collates information and analyses activities resulting from awards. Senior Investigators will receive requests for information annually over the course of the award and for 5 years following the completion of the award.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications are open to applied health and social care investigators who meet the eligibility criteria listed below.

We are particularly encouraging applications from researchers working in social care and public health as well as social care practitioners, nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• have made a substantial contribution to the NIHR with ongoing contribution planned
• have part or all their salary funded as a research cost from the NIHR
• have current, active and eligible NIHR funding at the time of application, which must extend beyond 30 June 2024
• be employed by an organisation based in England, and
• be undertaking high quality and internationally leading applied health, public health or social care research.

NIHR Research Professors reaching the end of their term are also eligible to apply, providing:

• their RP term ends before 1 April 2024
• they have current NIHR funding at the time of application which is independent of their NIHR RP award, and
• their current non-RP NIHR funding extends beyond 30 June 2024.

Eligible NIHR funding

NIHR funding which confers eligibility to apply for an NIHR Senior Investigator Award includes being named as a researcher (and have their salary funded as a research cost) on:

• an NIHR Infrastructure award;
• NIHR Projects, Programmes, Centres, Units and Schools;
• NIHR and Medical Research Council (MRC) Partnership Programmes;
• awards from NIHR joint funding, managed outside NIHR, and
• other NIHR contracts where the applicant is a Chief Investigator, Co-Chief Investigator, or Co-Applicant.

Where a senior leader's salary is being funded as a core cost or matched funding by an organisation in association with an NIHR Infrastructure award, please contact the NIHR to discuss potential eligibility.

A list of eligible research funding that confers NIHR Investigator status is provided in Annex 1, further on in these Guidance Notes.

Eligible Funding Confirmation Letter

Applicants in receipt of an award (or awards) from NIHR joint funding, or managed outside the NIHR, are also eligible to apply, and applicants are required to provide a letter confirming this funding from an individual with the relevant authority.

Individuals applying on the basis of their role or funding from an NIHR Infrastructure award will be cross-checked against an Infrastructure Investigator list (and associated research costs) submitted in the annual reports and applications. Additional evidence in the form of a letter confirming this funding from the relevant Infrastructure Director or equivalent is required.

Ineligible Funding

The NIHR Clinical Research Network does not fund research and is therefore not considered an eligible source of funding.

Eligibility will be checked by the NIHR and the DHSC. Individuals who do not meet the eligibility criteria will be notified and their applications withdrawn from the competition.

Full Time Equivalent Proportion

Applicants will need to indicate the Full Time Equivalent proportion of their salary that is funded as a research cost from the NIHR and state the relationship the applicant has to the eligible NIHR research funding award or infrastructure.

Applying for a Second Term

Senior Investigator appointments can be held for a maximum of two terms, equating to a maximum of eight years in total. Senior Investigators whose first term appointments expire on 31st March 2024 can submit a new application in order to hold sequential terms, where they remain eligible based on the Eligibility Criteria. Second applications should not be submitted before the final year of an NIHR Senior Investigators first term.

Applications for a second term will be considered against the same assessment process with those of new applicants. However, applicants applying for a second term will be assessed on the contribution made, and activities undertaken, in their role as NIHR Senior Investigator during their first term.

Assessment Criteria

Applications to the NIHR Senior Investigators award will be assessed against the following criteria:

Contribution to the NIHR

• Evidence of significant personal contribution to NIHR. This should be beyond what might be reasonably expected as part of their role in receipt of an NIHR award.
• Applications for a second-term must provide clear evidence of the contribution made and activities undertaken in the first term as a NIHR Senior Investigator in line with the stated expectations for NIHR Senior Investigators. An application for a second term which is similar to the first term application, without much evidence of additional NIHR contribution, is unlikely to be successful.

Patient, care users, carers and public involvement and engagement in research

Significant track record of effective PPIE in research including leadership and capacity development for PPIE.

Contribution to Growth

Applications must demonstrate a strong track record in NIHR's contribution to growth, which may include:

• supporting collaborations;
• building a research culture that supports growth;
• increasing the nation’s competitiveness;
• building workforce capacity, or
• providing the research evidence that contributes to improved outcomes for the workforce, people who need care and support services, carers, and the wider population.

Research Leadership

Applications must demonstrate:

• high impact of the leadership on applied health, public health and social care research, and
• leadership in the promotion of research inclusion and in creating an inclusive research culture.

Research Capacity Development

• Applications must demonstrate a strong track record in training, supporting and developing researchers at all levels, including evidence of helping to shape training at a regional and national levels.
• There must also be evidence of advancing opportunities for under-represented groups and persons with relevant protected characteristics including age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Engagement of health and social care commissioners and/or policy makers in research

Evidence of engagement with health and social care service commissioners or those that deliver/manage health and social care services and/or policymakers.

Relevance of the research portfolio that translates into improvements in outcomes for patients, people who need care and support services, carers and the public, and improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness and safety of the health and social care system.

Applications must demonstrate:

• an active research portfolio positively impacting the health and wellbeing of patients, people who need social care or support, carers and the public.
• high quality internationally leading research appropriate to the applicant’s research field.
• evidence of reductions in health and social care inequalities through research.

Start Dates

Successful applicants to the Round 17 (2023) competition will start their award on 1st April 2024.

Scope of Funding

Successful Senior Investigator applicants will receive a discretionary award of £20,000 a year payable to their employer or linked institution. This award will fund activities that support the applicant’s research.

Funding will be awarded for 4 years on the recommendation of the committee, starting on 1st April 2024. There may be on occasion an exception to this; for example, where a previous term of 3 or 5 years has been held.

Examples of award uses may include:

• travel costs
• conference costs
• activities to engage with local authority/social care stakeholders and partners
• personal development and team building
• books
• consumables and minor items of equipment (but not capital equipment)
• bridging funds to support research staff appointments whilst awaiting new research income
• providing additional support (such as clerical), including overtime payments.

These activities may be carried out by the Senior Investigator or by other individuals at the Senior Investigator’s discretion.

Research Capability Funding

Senior Investigator awards no longer attract Research Capability Funding (RCF) payments.

Application Procedure and Selection Process

NIHR Senior Investigators will be made following open competition. The selection process and subsequent administration of the award will be managed by the NIHR.

All applications to the Senior Investigator award must be made through the NIHR Academy Research Awards Management Information System (also called ARAMIS) and must be submitted by the published deadline. All documents must be submitted in English.

The deadline for the Round 17 (2023) Senior Investigators competition is 1pm on 23rd August 2023.

During the application window, the NIHR can advise on eligibility enquiries, as well as answer queries about completing the application form. Please call 0113 532 8410 or email academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.

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

Following the submission deadline, the NIHR will check applications for completeness and eligibility, and distribute eligible applications to the members of the NIHR Senior Investigator Award Selection Committee. The Committee is comprised of three subcommittees who ensure that applications are reviewed by experts in appropriate areas.

Each application will be assessed, using the Assessment Criteria detailed in these Guidance Notes, by five members of the appropriate subcommittee, including two PPIE members.

The Senior Investigators Selection Committee will meet to discuss applications and to make recommendations for funding. These funding recommendations will be considered by the Chief Scientific Adviser and the DHSC Science, Research and Evidence Directorate. Once confirmed, the funding decisions will then be communicated to applicants. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by email when all required processes are complete. No indication will be given of the outcome before that.

Timetable

The table below lists key dates in the selection process and award activities. Applicants are asked to keep the induction date available to attend the in-person meeting at the start of an award.

Milestone	Date
Competition opens	29th June 2023
Competition Closes	1pm 23rd August 2023
Funding Recommendation Meeting	December 2023
Applicants Notified	February 2024
Award Start Date	1st April 2024
Induction Meeting (in person)	May/June 2024
NIHR Senior Investigator/Research Professorship Meeting (in person)	October/November (annually)

Submitting the Application Form

Registering

All applications must be completed and submitted using 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 in the section called Signatory the names and contact details of the signatory who will sign off you application before submission.

Once all other parties have made their contribution, you will be required to submit the application to the signatory for final sign off before the closing date. Please note that you will need to read and be aware of the role of the signatory 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 signatory, when:

• all mandatory sections of the application form are complete, and
• and the signatory has agreed to their role.

Please note that 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.

Signatory

You are required to supply the name and email address (if not already registered on the ARAMIS application system) of the individual who will be signing off your application. Once their contact details have been entered, the signatory will be invited to log into the system and confirm their participation.

The signatory 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., the signatory 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 approval. The signatory must approve the application AFTER the applicant has selected the submit option but BEFORE the application submission deadline. The signatory approval will result in the application being submitted to the NIHR. All parties (applicant, participants and signatory) will be notified of this via an automated system generated email.

NIHR will not accept any applications unless fully approved by your signatory before the 1pm deadline. No exceptions will be made.

The required signatory you will be required to include must be a representative of the employing institution with financial authority.

Before submitting, please make sure you have fulfilled all the required steps lists in the Applicant section above). When you have done this, you will be able to submit the application for final sign off by the signatory. At this point, the signatory will be prompted to log back into the system and approve the finalised application. The application will not be submitted to the NIHR for consideration until all the required signatory has approved the final version. When the signatory presses the approve button, the application will be submitted to the NIHR.

Please note that all of the steps described here need to take place before the deadline of 1pm on 23rd August 2023. No exceptions will be made.

Should you require assistance in completing the online form, please contact the NIHR at 0113 532 8410 or by emailing academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk. 

Completing the application form

Eligibility

To be eligible, applicants must be paid part of their salary as a research cost from current active NIHR research or infrastructure funding.

The applicant must provide information on:

• the source;
• funding title (such as a BRC or project title);
• NIHR funding reference;
• whether their salary is funded as a research cost;
• the percentage FTE commitment, and
• their relationship to the qualifying funding.

If the qualifying funding does not have a title, please provide the job title instead.

If the qualifying funding does not have a reference number, please provide a place of work or name of NIHR Infrastructure along with a letter of support from the relevant scheme Director or equivalent. This will be required as a mandatory upload. 

Project Title

If your qualifying funding award does not have a project title, please provide your job title instead. An individual currently working at a site funded by one of the NIHR Infrastructure award is eligible to apply provided that part of their salary is paid directly by such NIHR Infrastructure award.

Project Reference

If your qualifying funding award does not have a reference number, please provide place of work or the name of the relevant NIHR Infrastructure award.

Applicant Details

All information regarding applicant details is auto-populated from the Manage my Details section of the application form within the applicant’s RMS Portal account. Please ensure these are up to date.

• Professional Background
  Applicants should select one category from the drop down list.
  
  
• Subcategory
  Dependent on the applicant's professional background further information may be required. For example, if Allied Health Professional is chosen for professional background, a further box with a drop down list will appear. Applicants should select the relevant sub-category for example occupational therapist, physiotherapist or radiographer etc.
  
  
• Research Fields
  Please select the two most appropriate fields from the drop-down lists below which you consider best demonstrate your excellence in applied health, social care and public health research. If your research is best defined by just one of the categories in this section, please select the same field in both drop-down boxes. If you select Other, please specify the category.

Case for Support 

Provide clear and comprehensive evidence supporting each criterion. All sections must be completed for the committee to be able to make an informed decision on the application. Applicants should include anything relevant to their application.

Contribution to the NIHR - 500 word limit

Please provide examples of your contribution to NIHR, concentrating on the past five years; including work on NIHR committees, events, training support, providing peer reviews; and any formal leadership roles in the NIHR. Formal leadership in the NIHR must be exhibited at national and regional levels. Applicants who hold a defined role within an NIHR award which contributes to their salary are requested to outline where their contribution has exceeded what might be reasonably expected for this role.

Please clearly articulate the contribution you make to the NIHR using the categories in Annex 2 below for guidance. The quality and quantity of contribution to the NIHR will be assessed by the committee. It is not appropriate to list NIHR funding awards or list roles undertaken. The contribution to the NIHR should exceed the expectations of their paid NIHR job role description. Applicants are encouraged to include examples of activities that impacted, brought significant changes, and added specific value in their contribution to NIHR.

Applications for a second-term: Please include a statement indicating this is an application for a second term. Provide clear evidence of the contribution made and activities undertaken in the role of NIHR Senior Investigator during the first term, and how this second term will build on these activities, in line with the stated expectations for NIHR Senior Investigators.

Patients, care users, carers and public involvement and engagement in research (PPIE) - 1000 word limit

The NIHR defines public involvement in research as research being carried out with or by members of the public, rather than to, about or for them.

Please refer to Briefing notes for researchers - public involvement in NHS, health and social care research for further information. You may wish to look at the UK standards for public involvement in research.

Where centre-level activities are provided, the applicant should describe the role they played in each example.

Examples could include but are not limited to:

• leading the dissemination of good PPIE practice in local institutions and structures and using evidence of PPIE impact nationally;
• championing the adoption of the UK standards for public involvement within their institutions and across NIHR structures;
• ensuring that research collaborations are championing research inclusion, offering opportunities for involvement to people who do not traditionally get involved in research or decision making;
• demonstrating how they have positively impacted research to support and advance equality of opportunities for people with relevant protected characteristics including age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, and
• supporting PPIE leads and early career researchers within their institutional research ecosystem and spheres of influence ensuring a commitment to research inclusion (this could be through mentoring and/or coaching).

Applicants must provide a minimum of one example of their contribution to PPIE activity in each of the following areas:

• How they integrate PPIE into their own research
• How they support capacity development for PPIE
• How they demonstrate leadership in PPIE.

A minimum of one example must be provided by the applicant for each of the above areas, describing the role they played in each example given. 

Contribution to Growth - 500 word limit

Please demonstrate your track record in playing a leading role in NIHR's Contribution to Growth. Specific examples of Contribution to Growth must be provided. Examples of appropriate activity could include (but are not limited to):

• providing the research evidence that leads to better outcomes for the workforce, people who need care and support services, carers, and the wider population; and
• to help the NHS, public sector and social care providers and professionals to make efficient use of resources;
• engaging with the public health and social care sector, including Local Authorities, care providers and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to support a culture of research and evidence use to deliver societal benefits;
• creating a research, practice and professional environment that supports the nation’s international competitiveness, including research in underserved regions and communities with major health needs;
• attracting, developing and retaining a highly skilled multidisciplinary health and social care research workforce; or
• supporting collaborations with industry across relevant sectors (this might include the life sciences industry, commercial providers of health and/or care services or other relevant industries).

Research leadership - 600 word limit

Please provide evidence of your leadership in applied health, public health and social care research and provide details of specific roles. Applicants must include information on their positive contribution to research inclusion within research, and how the applicant has proactively improved research culture.

Research Capacity Development - 500 words

An overview of the applicant’s track record in training and developing researchers must be provided. Applicants should provide evidence of their involvement in positively shaping training at a regional and national level. Applicants must provide the number of research students they have had direct supervisory responsibility for and how they have advanced opportunities for under-represented groups and persons with relevant protected characteristics including age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

Engagement of healthcare planners and/or policy makers in research - 500 word limit

Please provide evidence of how you have engaged with health and social care planners, providers and/or policy makers such as:

• Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs)
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Local Authorities
• Local Government Associations
• Health Education England
• NHS England
• NHS Improvement
• NICE
• UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England)
• Social Work England
• Social Care Providers
• Skills for Care
• Integrated Care Systems
• Integrated Care Boards, or
• DHSC.

Relevance of Research Portfolio - 750 word limit

Describe the relevance of research portfolio that translates into improvements in outcomes for patients, people who need care and support services, carers and the public, and to improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness and safety of the health and social care system.

Supporting evidence must be provided for the two most significant examples of impact, focusing on the past 5 years. Impact could include:

• influencing policy, guidelines, or service improvement;
• changes in service delivery, including service reconfiguration or service redesign, patient/service user care pathways, or patient/service user safety;
• improved patient/public/service user outcomes, social, wellbeing or clinical outcomes;
• reductions in health and social care inequalities through research, or
• economic impact, net health and care benefits, improvements to efficiencies in health and social care systems, boost to industry.

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. These fields are mandatory and if left blank will result in the application being withdrawn from the process.

The applicant will need to provide details of prizes, awards, honours they hold.

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 lecturer and undertook research for 2.5 days a week and clinical/practice work for 2.5 days a 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.

Research Funding Awards held

A list of research and NIHR infrastructure awards held and award income in the last 5 years should be included. The period for these research funding awards is 23/08/2018 to 23/08/2023. This should include:

• Research funding awards that have been active at any point in the last 5 years. Research funding income can start prior to or end after this 5-year period, and
• Research funding awards for which applicants are or were a Chief Investigator (CI), Principal Investigator (PI), Co-Chief Investigator (Co-CI) or Co-Applicant (Co-A.).

For the purposes of this competition, a CI is an individual who is responsible for the conduct of the whole research project. It is mandatory to list at least one active research funding award as a Chief Investigator, Co-CI Co-A. Should there be none, please state “No active research funding awards within the last 5 years” in the application form. Active NIHR funding is an essential eligibility criterion. Research Capability Funding is not considered active NIHR funding.

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

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 iD

The NIHR is an ORCID member and encourages all researchers to obtain this persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You must include an ORCID IDiD in your application. Without it, your application will not be validated and you will not be able to submit. Please go to the ORCID website in order to do this.

Publication Record

While information relating to publications contributes to the assessment of research excellence, it is only one of several factors considered. Journal Impact Factors will not be used as a measure for quality or impact of the publication.

Applicants are required to enter their top 10 publications from the past 10 years ranked from one being their most significant publication through to 10. The period for these publications is 23/08/2013 to 23/08/2023. These publications are those which the applicant considers to be their most influential. Publications outside the date range should not be included. The applicant must be a named author on the publication. Applicants can include publications in which they were part of a consortium. Please list publications in an appropriate and consistent format such as MLA Style (such as authors, title, journal, date and DOI link).

Citation Examples

• Halpin S, O'Connor R, Sivan M. Long COVID and chronic COVID syndromes. J Med Virol. 2021 Mar;93(3):1242-1243. doi: 10.1002/jmv.26587.
• Henderson L, Bain H, Allan E, Kennedy C. Integrated health and social care in the community: A critical integrative review of the experiences and well-being needs of service users and their families. Health Soc Care Community. 2020 Oct 15. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13179.

Please note that publications in press are not admissible. Cochrane Database Review papers are accepted, as are conference proceedings that have been published in regular volumes of peer reviewed journals, books, book chapters, government reports, white papers, and policy guidelines. If no exact date of publication is available, please enter ‘01’ for date and month.

Applicants are required to highlight three publications from the last 10 years that they consider their most significant, justify why these publications have the greatest impact and are of particular importance, and outline their degree of contribution.

Do not include abstracts, conference proceedings or articles in preparation. If relevant, details of these may be included in the Applicant Research Background section. Details of articles which are in press and have been accepted as final by the publisher may be included.

Highlighted Publications – 300 word limit

Please highlight three publications out of your top 10, that you consider your most significant, justify why these three publications had the greatest impact and were of particular importance, and outline your degree of contribution. These publications are not restricted to peer reviewed papers and can include other publications such as government reports, white papers, book chapters or online information.

Mitigating Factors - 500 word limit

DHSC and NIHR are committed to supporting researchers in diverse fields and with diverse career paths, including career breaks, and recognises there are circumstances which may impact on the applicant’s research outputs and/or career trajectory over their academic careers.

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

• career breaks due to parental leave, or periods of illness
• reduced time spent undertaking research due to a disability or caring responsibilities.
• any physical or mental difficulty that may have impacted your research career.
• situations that have a significant impact on your ability to undertake research
• reduced opportunities to career support such as mentorship, and limited opportunities to undertake prior research and training.

Please also use this section to detail any other factors that may have impacted your research outputs and/or research career trajectory 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 research 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 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.

Signatory

A signatory is required to be added to your application and, where applicable, to complete sections of it.

The applicant will need to assign a representative of the employing institution with financial authority to the application.

The applicant must complete the Declaration section of the application detailing the conflict of interest declaration.

By signing the application the representative of the employing institution with financial authority is confirming that the named institution is prepared to administer the award if made.

Declarations

Professional Conduct Self Declaration

It is expected that an award holder will abide by the rules, regulations, and codes of conduct of their professional regulatory body (or bodies) where applicable and with relevant guidance published by any organisation which has the authority to determine how research should be conducted.

The applicant is required to complete a declaration about whether they have a determinant or conditions imposed against them relating to their fitness to practice following an investigation by their employer, professional body, or regulator at the time of their application.

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.

Additional Supporting Information

Plagiarism in NIHR funding applications

NIHR expects all content within applications for funding to be original material of the applicant's own work, with the exception of sections that other participants are required to complete. Whilst we anticipate and expect that applicants will get help and advice from various sources when putting together an application, including on occasion input from those previously awarded funding, care must be taken to ensure this does not lead to plagiarism of either published work or other previous applications. If an allegation of plagiarism is raised against an application this will be investigated in accordance with the NIHR’s policy on plagiarism, a copy of which is available on request by emailing.

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 funding award. 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 Executive is part of the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The contracting agent for the NIHR Academy Executive is the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS 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 emailed.

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.

Freedom of Information Act

The NIHR manages the NIHR Fellowship Programme on behalf of the DHSC. As such, the findings of researchers funded by the programme are incorporated in to the Department of Health and Social Care Freedom of Information Publication Scheme.

Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information

The 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.

Guidance and Advice

Please read these Guidance Notes carefully. If you require any further information, advice or guidance please contact the NIHR.

Phone: 0113 532 8410

Email academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk 

Annex 1: Eligible Research Funding

This is a list of research funding that confers eligibility to apply to become an NIHR Senior Investigator.

Research funds from NIHR confer NIHR Investigator status on researchers who are employed by the NHS, Universities, social care, local authority or charities in England. NIHR Investigator status confers eligibility to apply to become a Senior Investigator. Please check with the NIHR if there is any uncertainty as to whether an applicant is eligible.

Relevant sources of research funds include the following:

• Artificial Intelligence for Multiple Long-Term Conditions (AIM)
• Biomedical Research Centres
• Clinical Research Facilities
• Clinical Trials Units
• Applied Research Collaborations
• Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme
• Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres
• Health Innovation Challenge Fund
• Health Protection Research Unit
• Health and Social Care Delivery Research (includes Service Delivery and Organisation and Health Service Research Programmes)
• Health Technology Assessment Programme
• Invention for Innovation Programme (includes Challenge Awards and Product Development Awards)
• Joint Global Health Trials
• Medtech and In Vitro Diagnostic Co-operatives
• MRC - NIHR Phenome Centre
• NIHR BioResource
• NIHR Blood and Transplant Research Units
• NIHR Centre for Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology
• NIHR Child Prosthetics Research Collaboration
• NIHR Global Health Research Groups
• NIHR Global Health Research Units
• NIHR Innovation Observatory
• NIHR Patient Safety Translational Research Centres
• NIHR Policy Research Programme
• NIHR Policy Research Programme Research Units
• NIHR Public Health Research Programme
• NIHR Research Design Service
• NIHR School for Primary Care Research
• NIHR School for Public Health Research
• NIHR School for Social Care Research
• Patient Research Cohorts Initiative
• Patient Safety Translational Research Collaboration
• Patient Safety Research Collaboration
• Programme Development Grants
• Programme Grants for Applied Research
• Research for Patient Benefit
• Research for Social Care
• Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation (RIGHT)
• Translational Research Collaborations
• UK Public Health Rapid Support Team
• Wellcome Trust – NIHR Joint Funding
• Research Design Service

Applicable funding schemes not directly managed by the NIHR

• Better Methods, Better Research (NIHR-MRC)

Please note that the Invention for Innovation Programme includes New and Emerging Applications of Technology, Health Technology Devices, Product Development Awards and the Challenge Awards.

Annex 2

Ways in which researchers can contribute to the NIHR

Roles	Comments
Directors and Leads	The contribution to the NIHR should exceed the expectations of their paid NIHR job role/description.
Programme Director	-
Directors of NIHR Infrastructure/Units/Research Design Service/Schools/Other NIHR Contracts (e.g. Technology Assessment Review teams, Directors of Evidence Review Centres for Programmes/INVOLVE/Global Health Research Units/Groups)	-
Deputy Directors/Associate Directors of NIHR Infrastructure/ Units/Research Design Services/Schools/Other NIHR Contracts (e.g. Technology Assessment Review teams, Directors of Evidence Review Centres for Programmes/ INVOLVE/NIHR Global Health Research Units /Groups)	-
Theme Leads of NIHR Infrastructure and Units/CRN	-
Infrastructure or GHR Academic Career Development Lead	-
Integrated Academic Career Development Lead - Training Leads	-
Infrastructure PPIE Lead	-
Committees and Boards	-
Member of NIHR Strategy Board	-
Academic Lead/Board Member for the NIHR Schools	-
Advisory Board Member of NIHR Infrastructure/Units/Research Design Service (RDS)	-
Committee Chair or Deputy Chair (All Programmes/NIHR Prioritisation Committee/Funding Boards/Personal Awards)	-
Committee Member	There are opportunities to join an NIHR committee.
Advisory Board member for NIHR strategy development	-
Peer reviewer	-
Working Groups	-
Chair of NIHR or DHSC Working Group/Policy Group/Steering Committee/Advisory Group	Excluding prioritisation and funding committees
Member of NIHR or DHSC Working Group/Policy Group/Steering Committee/Advisory Group	Excluding prioritisation and funding committees
INVOLVE Advisory Group Members and Associates	-
Clinical Research Network (CRN) Related Roles	-
Member of a CRN Specialty Group	-
CRN National Speciality Lead	-
CRN Regional Speciality Lead	-
CRN Division Lead	-
CRN Stratified Medicine Champions	-
Recruiting Participants to CRN Studies	-
Additional Training-Related Roles	-
Chair or Deputy Chair of Infrastructure Training Leads Forum	-
NIHR Training Advocate	-
NIHR Trainees - Reviewer	Development of scheme and honorary member of advisory committee
Supervisor of NIHR Funded Trainees	-
Mentor for the NIHR Academy Mentoring Scheme	-
Contributor to NIHR Infrastructure Training Camp	-
NIHR Communication and Dissemination	-
NIHR Spokesperson	-
Expert Commentator/Rater NIHR Dissemination Centre	-
NIHR Ambassador	-
Hosting/Chairing/delivering NIHR events	-
Other, please specify	-
Additional Roles	-
Editor of NIHR Journals Library Publications	-
Lead or Involvement in James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships	-
RDS Advisor	-
Please specify any other roles	-