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Pre-Application Support Fund Round 2 Guidance Notes

Contents

Published: 17 January 2024

Version: 1.0

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Introduction

The NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund launched in September 2023 as part of the NIHR Academy’s expanded portfolio of career support for health and social care professionals. The scheme provides funding that individuals can use to help prepare a larger application for NIHR career development scheme. It is aimed at individuals that require additional support to submit a competitive application. Through providing additional funding, the Pre-Application Support Fund aims to enhance the opportunities available to those that otherwise would not have sufficient support to apply for NIHR career development funding.

Who Is The Award For?

The Pre-Application Support Fund is there to provide extra support to those who need it to enhance their chances of making a successful application to an NIHR career development scheme in the future.

Rather than part of a standard NIHR career pathway, the Pre-Application Support Fund is there for individuals who require additional support in order to prepare a competitive application. You will be required to explain why additional support is required to submit an application for NIHR career development funding and outline how the support requested will enable you to submit a competitive application.

The scheme is open to anyone that meets the eligibility criteria for the scheme, including all career stages supported by NIHR funding. We do particularly encourage applications from groups and professions underrepresented within NIHR.

Under-represented groups and professions

Through the scheme we aim to make a positive impact on groups and professions identified as underrepresented within NIHR. As a result, we particularly encourage applications from:

  • regulated healthcare professionals (nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, pharmacists and healthcare scientists)
  • social work and public health professionals
  • researchers in methodology
  • applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds
  • applicants who are disabled.

Accessibility and Reasonable Adjustments

We will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers in the application process. If you have any support, access or communication needs throughout the application process, please telephone 0113 8315 945 or contact the NIHR over email. If appointed, we will also work with you to identify adjustments to carry out the award.

Award Length

Funding can be requested for up to 12 months to develop an application for an NIHR career development scheme. Any support requested, including a contribution towards salary costs, should be completed during this time period.

Round and Start Dates

Awards must start on the first of the month. Available start dates for this round are:

  • 1 August 2024
  • 1 September 2024
  • 1 October 2024
  • 1 November 2024

If you are looking to start your award later than 1 November 2024, you should apply to the next round of the competition, opening in May 2024. The scheme will have three application rounds each year.

Eligibility Criteria

  • You will need to explain what additional support you need to prepare an application for NIHR career development funding.
  • Your proposed host must be an English HEI, NHS body, social care organisation or other provider of health and/or care services.
  • Your proposed application for an eligible NIHR career development scheme should be within NIHR’s remit. Eligible NIHR career development schemes are outlined below.
  • You will need to meet, or expect to meet at the time of application, the eligibility criteria for the NIHR career development scheme you would use the fund to apply for. If applying for a post-doctoral level award, you must hold a relevant PhD or MD, or have submitted your thesis for examination before your Pre-Application Support Fund start date.
  • You must not have submitted a Pre-Application Support Fund application in the previous submission window.
  • The Pre-Application Support Fund may not be held alongside another NIHR career development award. If you have recently had an NIHR award, clear justification will be required as to why further support from the Pre-Application Support Fund is needed.

Eligible NIHR Career Development Schemes

You can use the fund to prepare a future application for one of the following NIHR career development schemes.

Please note that there are schemes that already include support to prepare a further application for funding, and therefore a clear justification would be required to explain why you are not applying directly to those schemes. These schemes are the Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Award, the Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF), In-Practice Fellowship, Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award and the Pre-Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme (PLAF).

NIHR Fellowship Programme

  • Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
  • Doctoral Fellowship
  • Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Award
  • Advanced Fellowship
  • Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) and Advanced Fellowship (EME-AF)
  • Population Health Career Scientist Award (PHCSA)
  • Research Professorship

NIHR Global Health

Global Research Professorship

NIHR Integrated Pathways Programmes

  • Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF)
  • Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (DCAF)
  • Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (ACAF)
  • In-Practice Fellowship
  • Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award

NIHR Local Authority Academic Fellowship Programme

  • Pre-Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme (PLAF)
  • Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF)
  • Advanced Local Authority Fellowship (ALAF)
  • Clinical Academic Research Partnerships (CARP)

Scope of Funding

We recognise the need to adopt a flexible approach to meet your requirements. Funding can be requested for a period of up to 12 months from the award start date, with flexibility within that period for when funding is required. For example, you might want to protect one day every two weeks over a seven month period to prepare an application. It is up to you, your line manager and the Host Organisation (where you will be based) to agree the best fit for everyone and time required to prepare the application for NIHR career development funding.

All costs requested should be specific to preparing your future application for an NIHR career development scheme. A full justification for how requested costs will enable this should be provided.

Full Economic Costings (FEC) will not be covered by this award. Funding will be provided at 100%.

Funding may be requested under the following headings for the scheme. This is expected to be targeted to the requirements of you as an individual applicant and the specific NIHR career development scheme you will be preparing an application to.

Salary Costs

A contribution to the salary of the applicant to buy out the necessary time to prepare and submit a competitive application for an NIHR career development scheme. Please clearly state the length of time and whole time equivalent (WTE) that will be used to prepare an application.

Training and Development

Training and development costs up to £5,000 may be requested, providing access to necessary training resources that will benefit the planned application.

In addition:

  • Conference costs up to £1,000 may be requested. 
  • Application development support costs up to £3,000 may be requested, including Mentorship/Supervisory or Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) costs to prepare an application. For example, this could include contribution to supervisory support to provide expertise on the planned application or further costs associated with gaining necessary mentor/supervisory support.

Other Costs

We understand there may be additional support required to submit an application that extends beyond the categories outlined in the cost headings above. Where this is the case, costs can be requested here.

As an example, this could include support towards additional care costs (for you or any direct dependents) to provide time and opportunity to submit an application for NIHR career development funding.

It is expected the total value of other costs requested will not exceed £20,000. All costs requested should be additional costs directly associated with preparing an application for NIHR career development funding. A full justification will be required for requested costs. Please see the Detailed Budget section of these Guidance Notes for further information.

Assessment Criteria

Applications to the NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund scheme will be assessed on the following criteria:

  • a clear explanation as to why additional support is required to submit an application and why now is the right time for this support
  • a clearly articulated plan for how the funds will be used to enhance an application for an NIHR career development scheme
  • the likelihood that the requested support will enable the applicant to prepare a competitive application for NIHR career development funding and that this will further develop their career in research within the NIHR's remit
  • appropriateness of the proposed support and mentorship and the provision of a strong research environment (and for PAs, a strong practitioner academic environment).

Application Procedures and Selection Process

  • The NIHR Academy can advise on eligibility and remit enquiries, and answer queries you may have when completing the application form.
  • All documents must be submitted in English.
  • All applications will undergo an initial screen for eligibility and compatibility with the NIHR remit.
  • Following this, applications are reviewed by the Selection Committee in advance of a funding recommendation meeting at which the committee discuss the applications and make recommendations for funding to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
  • The recommendations of the Selection Committee will be considered by the Chief Scientific Adviser and the Director for the DHSC Science, Research and Evidence (SRE) Directorate
  • Once confirmed by DHSC, the funding decisions will then be communicated to you. You will be informed of the outcome by email when all required processes are complete
  • The selection process and subsequent management of Pre-Application Support Fund awards will be overseen by the NIHR.

Application Details and Competition Timetable

Your application must have been submitted by the deadline and the signatory must have approved your application by this time using the Academy Research Awards Management Information System (ARAMIS) online application system. All components of your application, including supporting documents for the Uploads section, must be submitted by the deadline.

Timetable

  • Competition opens for applications: 23 January 2024
  • Closing date for submission of online applications: 27 March 2024 by 1pm
  • Awards start on 1st of month: 1 August 2024 and 1 November 2024.

Registering, Completing and Submitting the Application

Registering

All applications must be completed and submitted via 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 regarding personal data and your CV. We collect and analyse information on the diversity of people who are awarded NIHR funding. You can help by sharing your own equality information with us when we ask for it.

We are committed to ensure your privacy is protected and will handle your data responsibly and adhere to the NIHR’s privacy policy as well as GDPR. More information on our approach to diversity is available from the NIHR.

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 (on the Manage my Details page) and apply for any open applications.

To start an application, you will need to go to the My Applications page and select New Application. You should then select the scheme 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 the available guidance text, including these Guidance Notes, as well as any online instructions thoroughly while 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 (see more detail on this below).

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 signatory has agreed to their role
  • the Head of Department has completed the Host Organisation Support Statement.

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.

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.

Required Participants (if applicable)

  • Research Support: Individual(s) providing Research Support (e.g. mentorship or supervisory support) must confirm that they have read the application and the guidance notes and are willing to support your application for NIHR career development funding 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 host and administer the award, at the stated costs, if made.

Participants must confirm their participation on your application before you will be able to press the submit button. They will have no further action to take in the submission process once you have submitted.

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. Please see the 'Application Submission Process Flow Diagram’ in Annex A further on in these Guidance Notes. The signatory approval will result in the application being submitted to the NIHR. All parties (applicant, participants and signatory) will be notified of this with an automated system generated email.

NIHR will not accept any applications unless fully approved by your signatory prior to the 1pm deadline.

Required Signatory:

• Head of Department or Senior Manager: You will be required to include the Head of Department from your host organisation. The Head of Department from the host organisation (in which this award will be based) 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 Head of Department will be required to complete questions in the ‘Training & Development and Research Support’ section of the Application Form.

Once the application is ready (see list of required steps under the ‘applicant’ heading above), you will be able to ‘Submit’ the application for final sign off by the signatories. At this point, the signatories 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 signatories have approved the final version. When the Head of Department or Senior Manager presses the approve button, the application will be submitted to NIHR.

Please note that all the steps described here need to take place before the deadline of 1:00 pm on the final day of the submission window, no exceptions will be made.

Should you require assistance in completing the online form, please contact the NIHR Academy at 0113 8315 945 or by emailing academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.

Completing the Application Guidance

Pre-Application Support Fund Scheme Introduction

This section provides an overview of the Pre-Application Support Fund Scheme, including relevant information.

Applicant Summary Information

Host Organisation

Please give details of the organisation who will be the contractor if the award is funded, and 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 finance reporting and provide a final finance report for the award. They may be required to provide ad hoc requests for financial information during the lifetime of the project
  • 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 the NIHR.

Proposed start date if grant awarded

Please select the date that you wish for the award to start from the drop down list. Awards must start on the first day of the month. Awards for this round may start between 1 August 2024 and 1 November 2024.

Grant Duration (Months)

Please state the requested award duration in months. The maximum duration of Pre-Application Support Fund awards is 12 months.

Applicant CV

Please note some of the responses to the questions are automatically pulled through from information entered in the Manage My Details page of your ARAMIS account.

The 'Publication Record' section of the form is automatically populated from publications added into the 'My Research Outputs' page of your ARAMIS account.

Applicants are advised to import publications into their ARAMIS account through EuroPubmed.

Please ensure that this section contains any information necessary to determine eligibility for the scheme (please refer to the eligibility criteria).

Degrees and Professional Qualifications

Please give the full details of any key qualifications completed and, where relevant, the details of any key qualifications you are currently undertaking.

This information can be edited in the Manage My Details page of your ARAMIS account.

Present and Previous Positions

Please give details of any relevant present and previous positions.

This information can be edited in the Manage My Details page of your ARAMIS account.

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 undertook research for 2.5 days a week and clinical 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.

Research Grants Held

There is no expectation that applicants will have previously held a research grant, depending on their career stage and opportunities available to date.

If you have obtained relevant grants in the last five years, please provide details of these here. This includes personal research training awards or fellowships, plus any additional previous grants relevant to this application. Please indicate clearly any co-applicants on previous grants obtained and provide brief details of the nature and full extent of your involvement (for example, project design, project management, day-to-day running, data collection, data analysis, writing papers for publication etc).

Include the registration number and name of registry and the DOI of the main related publication in the Role in Research Grant box for each entry. 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.

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

Publication Record

It is not a requirement to have previous publications to apply to the Pre-Application Support Fund scheme. We understand applicants may not yet have been involved in published research taking into account their career stage and opportunities available to date.

The publication record is automatically populated from the information added to the Research Outputs section of your ARAMIS account. To update, please Save and Close your application, return to the Home screen and select Research Outputs from the left-hand menu.

When publications have been added, the Lead Applicant name can be edited to show in bold within application forms using the Assign Grant Contacts option.

To ensure publications display correctly, with all of the required information, applicants are strongly advised to use the Import function and import their publications from Europe PubMed Central (PMC).

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. Depending on professional background and expertise, applicants are not necessarily expected to have an extensive list of publications.

Only publications relevant to your application should be included.

Relevant Prizes, Awards and other Academic Distinctions

Please provide details of any awards or distinctions that are relevant to your application including details of what the award was for. For example, travel bursaries for a conference, presentation prizes etc.

ORCiD

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 iD in your application. Without it, your application will not be validated and you will not be able to submit. For more information and to register go to the ORCID website.

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.

Do you have current /active professional registration?

If planning to apply for an ICA scheme, this should be with one of the ICA approved regulatory bodies.

Please describe your research career to date - 500 Word Limit

Please use this question to describe your research career to date, and how this makes you suitable for the NIHR career development scheme you would use the Pre-Application Support Fund to apply to. Please include details of:

  • Relevant skills and experience you have gained to date.
  • Your commitment to a career in research within the NIHR's remit.

Current and Previous NIHR Awards

In order to help track the progression of NIHR academy members please indicate whether you have previously held or currently hold another NIHR research training award.

Please note the Pre-Application Support Fund may not be held alongside another NIHR career development award. If you have recently had an NIHR award, clear justification will be required as to why further support from the Pre-Application Support Fund is needed.

Contextual Factors

Please use this question to detail any contextual factors you wish to make the Selection Committee aware of so that they may take them into consideration during the assessment of your application. Contextual factors may include:

  •  career breaks (for example parental leave or periods of illness)
  • reduced time spent undertaking research activities (including research outputs), related to a disability or to caring responsibilities. This may include physical or mental health related impairments, or conditions, which may have impacted upon your research career
  • opportunity to access career support; for example, mentorship, and prior research and training
  • impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your research career.

Please also use this section to detail any other factors that may have impacted you in considering or undertaking a research career not listed in the examples provided. The impact on your career to date will be specific to your particular circumstances and may contribute to your need for this award.

NIHR acknowledges that you may be reluctant, or uncomfortable disclosing relevant information that is sensitive, so please only share what you feel is pertinent for consideration of your application. 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).

Training and Development and Research Support

NIHR Career Development Scheme

The Pre-Application Support Fund should be used to prepare an application for an NIHR career development scheme. Please select the NIHR career development scheme you will use the Pre-Application Support Fund to apply to:

  • Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
  • Doctoral Fellowship
  • Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Award
  • Advanced Fellowship
  • Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) and Advanced Fellowship (EME-AF)
  • Population Health Career Scientist Award (PHCSA)
  • Research Professorship
  • Global Research Professorship
  • Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF)
  • Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (DCAF)
  • Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (ACAF)
  • In-Practice Fellowship
  • Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award
  • Pre-Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme (PLAF)
  • Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF)
  • Advanced Local Authority Fellowship (ALAF)
  • Clinical Academic Research Partnerships (CARP)

Please note that some of these schemes (Pre-Doctoral schemes and DSE) include support for writing a further application for funding, and therefore further justification in the Pre-Application Support Fund Support question below will be required if you are targeting one of these awards. See section in these Guidance Notes called Eligibility Criteria gives further information.

Planned Application for an NIHR Career Development Scheme - 800 Word Limit

Please use this section to provide an overview of your planned application for NIHR career development funding.
This should be tailored to the career development scheme you intend to apply to and cover:

  • the area of research that you are interested in developing your knowledge it
  • an outline of the research proposal (if appropriate)
  • the training and development plan and how this will support your career development
  • how patient and public involvement will be incorporated into the application for funding..

Additional support provided through the Pre-Application Support Fund - 800 Word Limit

Please outline how the additional support provided through the Pre-Application Support Fund will enable you to submit the planned application for an NIHR career development scheme.

Use this section to outline the following points:

  • why additional support is required to submit an application for NIHR career development funding
  • how the support requested will enable you to submit a competitive application for an NIHR career development scheme
  • why now is the right time to prepare an application for the selected scheme
  • why other NIHR funding opportunities available are not able to support this.

Research Support

Please enter the details of up to 4 individuals who will have oversight and give direction to your proposed application (if applicable).

The individuals you list here must also be added in the Participants and Signatories section of the application form. Although we acknowledge that formal supervision may not be appropriate for applicants, we believe that the application will benefit from research support or mentorship. The individuals who provide research support may or may not be based in your host organisation.

Research support is referred to in the literature as mentorship and there are numerous models to be found that could be employed. Clearly describe how the proposed arrangements will support your overall development and provide an initial assessment of the time that will be allocated to the research support process.

Collaborations - 500 Word Limit (h4)

Please outline any collaborations or support arrangements you will have in place, or intend to establish, to prepare an application for NIHR career development funding. This can include (but are not limited to) mentorship, supervisory arrangements, patient and public involvement, collaborations or relevant networks.

Details of collaborations or support arrangements can extend beyond research support participants included in the application.

Host Organisation Support Statement

The statement is completed by the host organisation Head of Department and should detail how the organisation is going to support the applicant to prepare their application for NIHR career development funding.

The Head of Department of the employing host organisation will be able to add the statement of support to the form once they have confirmed participation. Invitations to participate are sent by the applicant using the Participants and Signatories section of the application form.

The statement is completed by the Head of Department and should detail how the host organisation is going to support the applicant to successfully complete their planned application for an NIHR career development scheme.

This statement should be tailored specifically to the applicant, and include how the organisation intends to support the applicant to develop their research career in the longer-term.

Information should also be provided on the organisation’s track record of supporting researchers to prepare competitive applications for NIHR career development funding.

In addition, the statement should also describe the host organisation’s approach to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive research culture for all. The statement should provide evidence of how the organisation’s values support equality, diversity and inclusion as well as acknowledging the organisation’s responsibilities
with respect to 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.

Host Organisations are expected to comply with the relevant Principles and Obligations for clinical academic training and it is recommended Host Organisations read these documents, where relevant, before completing the statement of support.

For medics and dentists

For all other professions

NIHR expects that all commitments made to the applicant within this statement will be honoured for the lifetime of the award.

Detailed Budget

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

This section must be completed by the Applicant in conjunction with the Research Support Office or Finance Office at the host organisation.

General Information

  • The information entered in this section should provide an analysis of the total funds requested to prepare the planned application for NIHR career development funding and should be based on current prices. These costs will be used to assess value for money.
  • 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.
  • Costs must be provided at current prices. An adjustment for inflation will be made annually thereafter at rates set by DHSC. 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 award.
  • 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 award which is to be paid to another organisation.
  • All applications are expected to have appropriate NHS, 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 organisation

This award does not cover Full Economic Costs therefore all prices should be entered at, and will be paid at, 100% regardless of the type of organisation (NHS, HEI or Other).

If the Employing host organisation is a Higher Education Institution, please select the Other option when entering the Type of Cost to prevent costs being submitted at 80%.

Direct Costs

These are the costs that are specific to the Pre-Application Support Fund, which will be charged as the amount actually spent and can be supported by an audit record.

They can comprise:

I) Salary Costs. This section includes any contribution to salary costs for the applicant to buy out the necessary time to prepare an application. Salary figures should be calculated using the current annual costs, %WTE and number of months funding is requested for. These should all be clearly outlined within the justification section.

II) Travel, Subsistence and Dissemination costs. This section includes journey costs, subsistence and dissemination costs, including conference fees. Where applicable, you may include the travel and subsistence costs
relating to meetings with supervisors.

If a cost relates to travel, subsistence or fees for a conference please select Conference. Conference costs don’t need to be individually itemised for each conference. The justification box should detail the conferences the costs will cover.

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

There is a £1,000 limit on the amount that can be spent on conference related costs (including all related travel and subsistence as well as conference fees).

III) Training and Development. 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 should not be included here and should be included in the travel section of the form.

Details of mentorship/supervision or PPI costs up to £3,000 should be included here under Other.

IV) Other Costs. Additional support required to submit an application that extends beyond the other cost
headings available can be requested here. A clear justification and breakdown for how costs have been calculated should be provided. Costs must be provided at current prices.

It is expected the total value of other costs requested will not exceed £20,000. All support requested will need to be additional costs directly associated with preparing an application for an NIHR career development scheme.

Please note that open access fees cannot be requested.

Payments will be made to the contracted organisation only and the contracted organisation will be responsible for passing on any money due. All requested costs will be charged at the amount actually spent that can be supported by an audit record.

Uploads

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

  • Statement of Support (optional): you may provide a letter(s) from the research support participants set out in the ‘Training and Development/Research’ Support Section
  • Application Development Gantt Chart (optional): you may include a Gantt chart of your planned award to aid the selection committee members in understanding the timeline for preparing your application to an NIHR career development scheme.

When uploading a statement of support to your application form, please ensure that it is in Adobe PDF or Word DOC/ DOCX format. If you are looking to upload a gantt chart the following file types are allowed; doc, docx, pdf, xls, xlsx and .csv

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 be added.

Acknowledgement, 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 and commercial interest that could be perceived as a conflict of interest. Please check with your supervisor if unsure.

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.

Validation Summary

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.

Additional Supporting Information

NIHR Privacy Policy

Our purpose for collecting information is to communicate with you about your application and ave 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), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The contracting agent for the NIHR Academy is 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 and NIHR respect the privacy of individuals who share their data and process it in a manner that meets the requirements of GDPR. The DHSC Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email.

The NIHR privacy policy includes further information, such as 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.

Equal Opportunities 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. By answering these Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information questions, you will help us to better understand the different groups of people that apply to us for funding and their experiences of the funding process: 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.

The NIHR is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, as outlined in our Research Inclusion Strategy 2022-2027. We want everyone to realise their full potential and make a positive contribution. We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and communities. We are committed to having leadership and teams that are made up of diverse skills and experiences. To find out more, visit our equality, diversity and inclusion page.

We will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers in the application process. If you have any support, access or communication needs throughout the application process, please contact us on 0113 8315 945 or on email. If appointed, we will also work with you to identify adjustments to carry out the role.

Public Involvement

The NIHR expects the active involvement of patients/service users, carers and the public in the research and activities it supports. NIHR recognises that the nature and extent of active involvement is likely to vary depending on context. The term involvement refers to an active partnership between patients/service users, carers and members of the public and researchers in the research process.

Further information and resources about funding research can be found on the NIHR website. This includes:

The James Lind Alliance also has a step-by-step guide on involvement in research identification and priority setting.

Contractual Arrangements

Financial support under an NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund award is subject to a contract between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the host organisation.

Once funding for a Pre-Application Support Fund award has been discussed and agreed, NIHR will confirm the financial arrangements with the host organisation. NIHR will provide the host organisation with a contract setting out the details of these arrangements.

Government procurement transparency regulations require publication of details of all contracts made with the DHSC on their Website. Confidential information including research proposals, detailed finance information, bank details, and departmental staff names (other than the award holder’s name) will be removed from the published versions.

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 via email.

Existing Data Sources

The UK Data Service provides a unified point of access to an extensive range of high quality social and economic data, including UK census data, government funded surveys, longitudinal studies, international macro-data, qualitative data and business micro-data.

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.

NIHR Research Support Service

From 1st October 2023, the Research Design Service will be replaced by the new Research Support Service (RSS). The RSS will be based on best match to research need or specialism rather than location.

The NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) 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 RSS also assists prospective applicants to understand the scope of the NIHR’s various funding streams and to develop patient and public involvement (PPI) strategies. This includes involvement of service users, carers and/or practitioners in social care. The RSS may be able to support applicants with small grants to work up PPI plans with, for example, patient/service user groups.

Further information regarding support that the RSS can provide and contact information for each office can be found on the NIHR website.

James Lind Alliance

The James Lind Alliance (JLA) is an NIHR funded non-profit making initiative, bringing patients, carers, and healthcare professionals together in Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs).

PSPs identify and prioritise unanswered questions or evidence uncertainties to form an agreed ‘Top 10’ list of research questions in an area of health or social care. The aim of this is to make sure that researchers and funders are aware of the issues that matter most to the people who need to use the research in their everyday lives. Top 10s have been agreed in over 160 areas and all of those priority research questions are published on the JLA website.

JLA PSPs provide a useful resource to prospective applicants for NIHR funding.

Freedom of Information Act

The NIHR manages the NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund Scheme (2023) on behalf of the DHSC. As such the findings of researchers funded by the programme are incorporated into the Department of Health and Social Care Freedom of Information Publication Scheme.

Guidance and Advice

Please read these Guidance Notes carefully. If you require any further information, advice or guidance please contact the NIHR Infrastructure and Capacity Building Structures Team, please call 0113 8315 945 or contact the NIHR on email.

Annex A

Application Submission Process Flow Diagram

Outlined above are the steps for submitting an application. The applicant starts the application and adds participant and signatory details. The participants and signatories can then log in and confirm their participation and signatories can complete the sections of the form as directed. The applicant can continue entering data and completes all relevant sections of the form (step 3).

The applicant then presses the ‘Submit’ button. Once the applicant submits, signatories will receive automated emails to approve the application. However, automated out of office replies to these emails will not be relayed to the applicant.

Once all signatories have approved the application, it is automatically submitted to NIHR for consideration. Rejection of the application by any individual at this stage will return the application to step 3.