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Systems Engineering Innovation hubs for Multiple long-term Conditions (SEISMIC) – Development Phase – Guidance for Applicants

Contents

Published: 09 November 2022

Version: 2.0

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These are the guidance notes for applicants submitting an application via the REsearch Awards Lifecycle Management System (REALMS) for the Systems Engineering Innovation Hubs for Multiple long-term Conditions Development Stage.

The ‘Add New Ticket’ button towards the top of the screen can be used to raise a support ticket if you have any questions relating to the call or completion of the online application form.

Please regularly press the 'Save Draft' button, found towards the bottom of the screen to save your progress.

We would like to draw your attention to the 'Info still required' button at the bottom of the application page. We encourage you to click this well before submitting - it will bring up a list of all the sections that still need completing and any errors the system has detected (if any). These can then be corrected in good time before the submission date.

For Development Stage applications, please make best endeavours to complete all sections as appropriately as possible.

Summary information

Contracting organisation

Please give details of the organisation who will be the contractor if the project is funded. Please note that we expect the Contracting Lead Applicant's organisation (substantive employer) to act as the contractor. Your primary organisation will be shown by default. If this is not the contracting organisation, search for the correct contracting organisation by typing the name of the organisation in the search box. If the organisation you require does not appear in the search box, you can request to ‘Add New Contracting Organisation’. New organisations need to be approved by the REALMS team prior to submission of your application. Please contact us if this request is being made within two weeks of the call close date. Please also bear in mind that:

  • the Contracting Lead Applicant can be the systems engineering and mathematical sciences lead or the health and care research lead
  • thought must be given to the most appropriate institution to act as the contractor as part of the application process, as changes are unlikely to be agreed once a funding decision has been made.
  • the contractor is expected to respond to annual financial reconciliation exercises, provide the final financial reconciliation statement for the project and to provide ad hoc requests for financial information during the lifetime of the project - in the unlikely event that a request is made for the contractor to differ from the CI’s contracting (host) institution, the suggested contractor must be able to fulfil these expectations and to do so in the usual time frames
  • in the same way, the contractor is expected to respond to any queries relating to Intellectual Property, commercialisation and benefit realisation

If you have any queries, please contact nets-finance@nihr.ac.uk before submitting your application.

Research title (limit: 300 characters)

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

Research type

Select the appropriate research type. For this call please select ‘Primary Research’. 

Start month

The start date will be 1 July 2023 for all Development Awards. Please add July.

Note, this will be from the first of the month regardless of whether this is a working day or not.

Start year

The start date will be 1 July 2023 for all Development Awards. Please add 2023.

Research duration (months)

Ensure you include sufficient time to complete all aspects of the research including applications for regulatory approvals (where required) and the final report.

This will be 18 months for Development Awards. Please add 18 months.

End date

This field will automatically populate once you have saved the research duration information.

Total research costs

These figures are automatically populated from the detailed budget section.

Total National Health Service (NHS) support costs

These figures are automatically populated from detailed budget section. NHS support costs are the participant care costs which will not continue after the end of the study, and can usually be claimed in connection with NHS and non-NHS research.

Total NHS excess treatment costs

These figures are automatically populated from detailed budget section. NHS excess treatment costs are the additional costs or savings associated with the treatment of the participants during the research. The costs included are the additional costs compared with the current cost of standard care, which would continue to be incurred after the research, should the treatment become standard care in the future. Information is available on how to assess excess treatment costs.

Total non-NHS excess treatment costs

These figures are automatically populated from detailed budget section. Non-NHS excess treatment costs include costs incurred in delivering the treatment, or intervention, which would continue to be incurred after the trial, should the intervention become standard care. The costs included are the additional costs compared with the cost of current standard care. Please note that NIHR have no provision to cover non-NHS excess treatment costs, and it is the responsibility of the applicant to secure these costs if they are needed. Where applicable a letter from the provider of the treatment costs for the purposes of the study should be supplied.
These are similar to NHS excess treatment costs, but they mainly apply to Public Health and Social Care Research. They are unlikely to be applicable to HS&DR unless the intervention is being delivered outside the NHS (e.g. in school or by a local authority etc.). Further information is available with the AcoRD guidance on how to allocate the costs of your proposal to each of the above categories.

Research team

Please note, you should detail in this section the research team involved in this application. 

It is mandatory for all Hubs to have Joint Lead Applicants (Principal Investigators); 1 lead from the systems engineering, ICT or mathematical sciences community, and the second Joint Lead Applicant from the health and care research community. 

Contracting Lead Applicant

Please add details of the Lead Applicant whose employer, if the application is successful, will be the contractor for delivery of the Hub.

Please provide information on your name, main and other affiliated organisations and contact details will be automatically populated from your contact profile. Degrees and professional qualifications can be added to your contact profile. Update your contact profile to complete any missing mandatory information or make any updates here – you can do this via the ‘My Profile’ icon on your home page whilst in the application form by first clicking the ‘Update’ button alongside your details in the Research Team section and then clicking on the ‘Update Contact Profile’ button. Your contact profile will need to be validated prior to your application submission. 

ORCiD ID

Please note, Joint Lead Applicants/Co-applicants are required to obtain a free unique ORCiD ID number and update their REALMS user contact profile with this before you can submit your application - the requirement for an ORCiD ID is mandatory for all applicants except PPI Co-applicants. However, if a PPI Co-applicant has an ORCiD account and wishes to add this to their REALMS contact profile they can. By clicking the link ‘Create or connect your ORCiD ID’ within the ‘ORCiD’ section of your user contact profile you will be taken to the ORCiD website where you will need to register or sign in. Once logged in to ORCiD and following acceptance of terms and conditions, you will need to click on the ‘Continue to import your ORCID Data’ button which will update your profile with your ORCiD ID number and other associated data (e.g. publications and grants) which can be used to populate your application. 

If additional publications and grants need to be added to an application, and you would like these available to select for other applications, you will need to update your ORCiD account first and then click ‘Re-Import ORCiD Data’ on your REALMS ‘My Profile’.

Equality and diversity reporting system (EDRS)

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 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.

Research team

The research team section lists any applicants who have been added to this application. Note, the Joint Lead Applicant, Co-applicants and Administrative contacts are all required to be invited and accept their participation in the application. The ‘Update’ button can be used to access the Applicant Details Form for each applicant and update the details of each user's involvement in this application. Different types of applicants can be added (e.g. Co-applicant / Co-applicant PPI).

Once ORCiD accounts have been linked up, the Joint Lead Applicants and Co-applicants need to select which publications and grants are relevant for this application within the Applicant Details Form. This form can be found in the Action Items on each person’s home page once the Lead Applicant has added them. 

The Applicant Details Form for all applicants must be in 'Submitted' status in order to submit your application.

Research team – Lead Applicant ‘update’

Click the ‘Update’ button to the right of your Lead Applicant information to add the information regarding your role on the application.

Role (limit: 200 characters)

Specify applicant's role in research. Enter the role that you will be undertaking in the research e.g. co-ordination and project management, analysis, methodological input etc.

% Full-time equivalent (FTE) commitment

This refers to the percentage of your time that you will commit to this project.

Organisation

Select your primary organisation for the purpose of this application. Your main organisation and any other affiliated organisations that you have already added will be listed by default. Select your primary organisation for the purpose of this application. If the correct organisation is not listed, this can be added by using the ‘Update contact profile’ button towards the top of the page and adding a new organisation (to do this click on ‘Other Organisation’ in the left hand selection bar). Department – Select the primary department affiliated with.

Department (Limit: 100 characters)

Select your department for the purpose of this application

Application research background

Recent relevant publications

Provide details of a maximum of six of your most recent/relevant publications (in the last ten years) relevant to this application.

To add relevant publications, click on the ‘Open’ button and either select the relevant listed publications pulled in from your ORCiD record, and/or add any other new relevant publications. Once complete click ‘Save selected Publications’.

Research grants held

This should include research grants held (as a named applicant) currently or in the last five years – as well as any additional previous grants, relevant to this application. Please include who the grant is with and the amount of each grant.

To add relevant research grants, click on the ‘Open’ button and either select the relevant listed research grant pulled in from your ORCiD record, and/or add any other relevant research grants. Once complete click ‘Save selected Publications’.

For each manually added research grant entry you should state the registration number, name of registry and the DOI of the main related publication. 

Once all information has been entered and saved, click the ‘Complete’ button.

Non-contracting Joint Lead Applicant - mandatory

Select ‘Yes’ and use the envelope icon to add the second Joint Lead Applicant to your application and complete the necessary information. Please note this should be the Joint Lead Applicant, whose substantive employer will not be the contractor with DHSC. If both Joint Lead Applicants are from the same organisation/institution then it does matter which order the Joint Lead Applicants are added. Please note that the first listed Joint Lead Applicant will be required to invite the second Joint Lead Applicant and Co-applicants. Once complete, click the ‘Invite’ button. Once the Joint Lead Applicant has accepted their invitation they will appear in the 'Research Team' list, and their information can be edited as necessary. The Joint Lead Applicant will need to complete their publications and grants information. 

Co-applicants

Use the ‘Add / Edit Co-applicants’ button to add a Co-applicant(s) to your application and complete the necessary information. Once complete, click the ‘Invite’ button. Once a Co-applicant has accepted their invitation they will appear in the 'Research Team' list, and their information can be edited as necessary. Where appropriate Co-applicants will need to complete their publications and grants information.

Do not include collaborators, who should be mentioned (if necessary) in the 'Detailed Research Plan' (upload document).

Co-applicants are those individuals with responsibility for the day to day management and delivery of the project. Co-applicants are considered part of the project team and are expected to share responsibility for its successful delivery. Collaborators normally provide specific expertise on particular aspects of the project but do not share in the responsibility for the delivery of the project.

Patient and public involvement (PPI) Co-applicants

We encourage the inclusion of public co-applicants where appropriate. For further information please access the Public Co-Applicants in Research guidance.

Signatories

Please note that signatories are no longer a requirement at application submission. However, if your research proposal is recommended for funding, you will be required to add the relevant signatories shortly after receiving your funding recommendation outcome letter as part of the project start-up and contracting process (approximately 2-3 weeks after the funding assessment committee date).

Applicants must follow their host organisation's application review and sign off procedures before submitting an application. Failure to do this may result in any agreement to fund being withdrawn. 

Administrative contact details

This facility allows you to provide an alternative contact(s) who will also have access to the application but will not be able to submit it when complete. The Lead Applicant must submit the completed application and will still receive all emails automatically generated through the system.

If you wish to include an administrative contact, use the envelope icon below to enter the administrative contact's details, and invite them to participate in this application.

Application details

Scientific abstract (limit: 3,500 characters)

The scientific abstract should be a clear and concise scientific summary of the Detailed Research Partnership Plan/Methods, with a character limit of 3,500 characters (1 side of A4 maximum). laid out using the (relevant and appropriate) headings below:

  • research question
  • background
  • aims and objectives
  • methods
  • timelines for delivery
  • anticipated impact and dissemination

Plain English summary of research (limit: 3,500 characters)

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

If your application for funding is successful, the summary will be used on NIHR and other websites.

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

  • those carrying out the review (reviewers and funding committee members) to have a better understanding of your research partnership proposal
  • inform others about your research partnership such as members of the public, health and social care professionals, policy makers and the media
  • the research funders to publicise the research that they fund

If it is felt that your plain English summary is not clear and of a good quality, then you may be required to amend it prior to final funding approval. It is helpful to involve patients/carers/service users/practitioners and members of the public in developing a plain English summary. The plain English summary is not the same as a scientific abstract - please do not cut and paste this or other sections of your application form to create the plain English summary. Further guidance on writing a plain English summary is available on the NIHR website.

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

Patient and public involvement (PPI)

Please describe how patients/service users, carers and the public have been involved in developing this proposal (limit: 3,500 characters). You should describe who has been involved and why this is appropriate, what role(s) they have they played, and what influence or change has happened as result of their involvement.

Please describe the ways in which patients/service users, carers and the public will be actively involved throughout the proposed research, including any training and support provided (limit: 3,500 characters).

PPI approach, management and support

  • explain why your approach to patient and public involvement is appropriate for this proposal. In your description you will need to say who will be involved and why.
  • please use this opportunity to describe how you plan to manage and coordinate the patient and public involvement activities in your project
  • describe how you will support and enable patients/service users, carers, the public and members of relevant communities to contribute to your research (e.g. access, payments, training)
  • we would also encourage you to outline plans for the capturing, evaluating and reporting the impact of patient and public involvement activities

Patients, carers, service users and the public can be involved in every stage of a research project, from developing a proposal through to dissemination and evaluation You can find further resources to support the design of your PPI.

PPI lead

The role of the PPI lead can be undertaken by any of the Co-applicants within the research partnership team (or a named member of the team), who has the relevant skills, experience and authority to be accountable, represent, manage and embed patient and public involvement in all aspects of the research study/programme. This role should be a budgeted and resourced research team member. View examples of activities a PPI lead might undertake.

A summary of PPI activities

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

In rare cases where proposals do not involve patients/service users, carers and the public, clear justification must be provided (limit 3,500 characters). Complete/justify as necessary.

Management and governance

When competing this section, you will be required to answer:

  • Is Clinical Trials Authorisation required? - Select 'Yes'/'No' as appropriate
  • Does your project require ethics approval? - Select 'Yes'/'No' as appropriate
  • If yes, has ethics approval already been obtained? - Select 'Yes'/' No' as appropriate

Detailed budget

Organisations for budget

Use the ‘Add Organisations’ and ‘+’ button to select and add the organisations who will be responsible for budget items and add them to your application.

Application budget

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

The information entered in this section should provide an analysis of the total funds requested to undertake the research proposed and should be based on current prices. These costs will be used to assess value for money.

  • It is in the best interest to undertake a thorough, realistic and accurate costing. You must provide a clear and full justification for all costs including NHS costs. You must also ensure that you include all costs including those required to secure good research management.
  • Costs must be provided at current prices. We recognise that the current higher level of inflation is increasing costs in research. NIHR aims to ensure that the cost of research is properly recompensed, therefore we will fund appropriate, evidenced inflationary price increases, including pay deals, within contracts. Researchers should present evidence justifying any additional inflationary costs at contract close, with any pre-close pressures managed through normal contract management. Whilst allowances for incremental increases should be included on the form, nationally or locally agreed pay increases should be excluded.
  • Years should be calculated starting from the anticipated start date of the proposed research. For example, your research is expected to start on 01 July 2023 then its second year starts 01 July 2024.
  • When costs have been entered for year 1, it is possible to copy these costs to subsequent years, and they can then be edited if needed.
  • 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).
  • Payments are not able to made in advance of need and, if funded, your payments will be made in accordance with your application budget. Please therefore ensure that your planned costs are included in the budget year in which they are most likely to be incurred.
  • Appropriate sub-contracts must be put in place for any element of the research which is to be paid to another organisation.
  • NHS Support Costs, including costs for Social Care research are funded via Clinical Research Networks. Researchers should contact their local NHS R&D Department initially and, if they are unable to help directly or if there is no local NHS Research and Design Service (R&D) Department, contact the Local Clinical Research Network (LCRN) Senior Manager for advice on NHS Support Costs.
    Further details about LCRN contacts are available.
  • All applications are expected to have appropriate NHS, higher education institutions (HEIs), commercial and other partner organisation input into the finance section of the application form.
  • Please note that whilst the applicable percentages will be used to calculate the maximum grant payable, the programme reserves the right to award a grant for less than this maximum where it is considered appropriate.

Costs for un-named Co-applicants

If you need to provide costs for more than one unnamed individual it is important to name them as ‘TBA 1’, ‘TBA 2’ etc. not just ‘TBA’, otherwise their costs will not appear in the PDF version of the form.

Contributions and joint funding

Contributions from other organisations and proposals for joint funding with another organisation can be recorded as such in the ‘Contributions’ tab. If you are considering applying for a joint funding arrangement, please get in touch to discuss this.

Information on different types of organisations

Higher education institutions (HEIs)

Higher education institutions (HEIs) should determine the full economic cost (FEC) of their research using the transparent approach to costing (TRAC) methodology. For HEIs, up to 80% of FEC will be paid, provided that TRAC methodology has been used.

NHS bodies and other providers of NHS services in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

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

Other partner organisations

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

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

Direct costs

These are costs that are specific to the research, which will be charged as the amount actually spent and can be supported by an audit record. Details of these costs are detailed as follows. 

Posts and salaries

This section presents an overview of salary and associated on-costs for the applicant(s) contributing to the research partnership, including normal salary increments broken down individually.

Please include all members of staff working on the research partnership by clicking ‘add a new staff member’ salaries’ or editing a current one. If there are any applicant(s) whose costs are not being claimed, you should still include their details within this section, but do not include any actual costs. Where applicants are already in receipt of NIHR funding for any part of their salaries (e.g. NIHR Fellowships), these should not be additionally charged to the project. Where applicants are already receiving salaries funded by NIHR, these should be declared in the application by selecting ‘Yes’ in the ‘Other NIHR Salary’ drop-down list - please note that the NIHR will not fund more than 100% of an applicant’s time across multiple NIHR projects/awards and this fact will be checked prior to contracting. If you are unsure about this requirement or have any questions please contact the appropriate NIHR research funding programme.

The Apprenticeship Levy can be included in the salary costs where relevant.

The annual costs of each applicant contributing to the research partnership needs to be calculated by specifying the %FTE and number of months. Use current rates of pay and build in any known annual increments (again at current rates). You will not be able to claim for pay awards retrospectively once your research is underway.

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

Travel, subsistence and dissemination costs

This section includes journey costs, subsistence and dissemination costs, including conference fees. Where applicable, you will need to include the travel and subsistence costs of your Project Advisory Group, Steering Committee and/or Data Monitoring and Ethics Committee. Travel and subsistence costs relating to dissemination should also be included here, as should costs relating to overseas travel.

Journey costs - Enter the total cost of transport for all journeys for destination/purpose. If travel is by car, apply your institution’s mileage rates (however this should not exceed HMRC approved mileage allowance payments, which is 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter). Travel by the most economic means possible is encouraged. NIHR programmes do not usually fund first class travel.

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

Dissemination costs

  • Conferences - Where national or international conference costs are included, a statement naming the conference or purpose of travel and the benefit to the research must also be made; failure to adequately justify your attendance at a conference, will mean the programme will not fund this cost. For research of up to five years, the programme will usually fund up to a maximum of two individuals to attend one international conference attendance, or one individual to attend two international conferences. For research beyond five years, the programme will usually fund up to a maximum of two international conference attendances per five year or part of five-year research period.
  • Open Access Costs - Applicants should no longer include open access costs as part of their stage 2 application Detailed Budget Costs. 

From the 1 of June 2022 all eligible awards contracts issued across NIHR ProgrammesNIHR Personal Awards and NIHR Global Health Research Portfolio will have an Open Access Envelope allocated to them on top of the award value, which is ring-fenced for open access costs of peer reviewed research articles that arise directly from the research funded by the award in question. Please refer to Open Access Funding Guidance.

  • Other Dissemination Costs - Any large costs should be further detailed with a breakdown of constituent parts or a timescale profile of the costs. Meetings to share best practice, training events and events to disseminate research findings must be run at the lowest possible cost with minimal catering. ‘Conferences’ which are described as such are not eligible for funding.

Equipment

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

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

Items of equipment valued at £250 or more must be itemised separately; however, grouping same type equipment is permitted. Costs of computers are normally restricted to a maximum of £1,000 each to include VAT and any associated software. If the purchasing organisation is unable to reclaim/recover the VAT on any piece of equipment, then it should be included in the stated cost. A statement of justification must be included in the relevant ‘Justification of Costs’ section for any purchase above this limit.

Consumables

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

Patient and public involvement

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

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

For more information on budgeting for involvement, please read the NIHR Payments Guidance for researchers and professionals.

Other direct costs

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

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

Indirect costs/overheads

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

  • general office and basic laboratory consumables
  • premises costs
  • library services/learning resources
  • typing/secretarial
  • finance, personnel, public relations and departmental services
  • usage costs of major research facilities
  • central and distributed computing
  • charge out rates for shared equipment
  • cost of capital employed

NHS bodies or other providers of NHS services indirect costs

NHS indirect costs cannot be claimed through NIHR/DHSC programme funding. NHS Bodies or other providers of NHS services have been allocated NIHR Research Capability Funding (RCF) to contribute to the cost of hosting NIHR/DHSC-supported research. 

HEI indirect costs

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

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

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

Other Partner Organisation indirect costs

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

Other Partner Organisation indirect costs must be fully justified.

NHS support and treatment costs (incl. excess treatment costs/savings)

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

The committee/panel will take NHS support and treatment costs into account when considering the value for money of the research. It is important that you consider these costs and discuss them with the NHS bodies or providers of NHS services involved in order to avoid any delay in commencing the research partnership.

Please be aware that the research partnership award does not include NHS support and/or treatment Costs.

Please note that as part of the work to address the issues surrounding the way in which excess treatment costs are funded, new arrangements have now been implemented. To underpin the new arrangements, a cost attribution tool has been created by the Health Research Authority (HRA) in partnership with charity funders and research sponsors.

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

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

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

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

If a project is to be registered with the NIHR portfolio, a completed Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT) is required to be uploaded and submitted as part of the application submission. Please note most evidence synthesis projects will not be required to submit a SoECAT. 

More information on the Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT), guidance and a link to the tool can be found on the page Excess Treatment Costs.

NHS support costs

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

Excess Treatment Costs

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

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

Please note, if the patient care intervention under investigation incurs either a higher or lower cost compared to usual care, the excess cost needs to be entered as an 'Excess Treatment Cost'. The excess cost (or saving) is the difference between the total cost of treating the participants outside of the trial via usual care and the total cost of treating all participants during the trial. The value to be entered here should be taken from your completed Schedule of Events Costing Attribution Tool (SoECAT) and can be either a cost or a saving. Please enter savings as a negative value. 

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

Justification of costs (limit: 8,000 characters)

For the Development Award the budget should be up to a maximum of £200,000.

  • Please provide a breakdown of research costs associated with undertaking the research partnership and provide justification for the resources requested. This should include the following costs: staff costs, travel and subsistence, dissemination costs, equipment (including lease versus purchase costs), consumables, patient and public involvement (PPI) and any other direct costs. For help with estimating PPI costs please see the NIHR Payments Guidance for researchers and professionals.
  • When justifying staff costs you should also provide the % amount of time input of each member of staff and link this to the specific area/work package of the proposed study where this input will be taking place.
  • You should indicate here how this research partnership will potentially benefit the NHS and/ or public health. For example, where appropriate, describe the likely cost savings or benefits in terms of numbers of patients treated, treatment times, service users or carers supported etc.
  • You should describe the value for money of the conduct of the proposed research.
  • Please provide a breakdown of the NHS costs associated with undertaking the research partnership and provide justification for the resources required. If there are no NHS Support or Excess Treatment Costs associated with the research partnership, you must explain why you think this is the case.
  • Please provide a breakdown of any non-NHS intervention excess treatment costs and provide justification for the resources required. Non-NHS intervention excess treatment costs should include costs incurred in delivering the intervention which would continue to be incurred after the trial, should the intervention become standard care. Please note that NIHR have no provision to cover non-NHS intervention excess treatment costs, and it is the responsibility of the applicant to secure these costs if they are needed.

Uploads

Any additional, non-requested, documents will not be considered by the funding committee during its review. To upload a document click on the icon next to the relevant upload type. All required uploads must be added for you to be able to submit your application.

Only the following document types can be uploaded: .doc, .docx & .pdf. If you upload a Word document the system will create a PDF version of it and both versions will be displayed below. Any other document types will need to be converted to PDF format before uploading. If you wish to remove or replace any specific documents all versions of that document will need to be deleted

Attachment 1: detailed research plan

Mandatory for submission

It is mandatory to upload and submit a detailed research plan (DRP), which is a full account of the proposed project. 

Broadly, the detailed research plan should follow the following format:

  • use Arial font size 11
  • not exceed 6 A4 pages
  • have a header containing your allocated project reference number if known
  • have a footer showing your page numbers
  • be converted to a .PDF version before uploading it

Headings/guidance

Applicants should refer to the call specification document for assessment criteria and demonstrate in this section how they intend to meet the requirements of the call.

As this is the main part of your application which will be considered by the reviewing committee, you should ensure that the information is accurate, succinct and clearly laid out.

Applicants should demonstrate how they plan to build sustainable partnerships, and how these could lead to the development of hubs to improve services for people with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) and their carers. Proposed partnership activity and research should be described in full and should demonstrate meaningful PPI throughout the project. The following sections provide a guide for information you may wish to include.

Background and rationale
  • Provide the background and rationale for the MLTC to be studied and how the proposed work in the development phase could lead to a full-scale Innovation Hub.
Aims and objectives
  • What are the aims and objectives of the development phase of the Innovation Hub?
Describe your approach to developing an Innovation Hub
  • Clearly describe the vision and the proposed work to be undertaken in the development phase to enable a full-scale Innovation Hub to be applied for/established.
  • What will be your approach during the development phase to start to build the innovation Hub?
  • How will the vision and proposed work address what matters to people living with MLTC and their carers and have the potential to be transformative for patient benefit?
  • All NIHR research is required to contribute to reducing health inequalities, and this will be a success criterion for the Innovation Hubs applications. The development phase application should be mindful of this and outline how the development work undertaken during this phase will contribute to this.
Research team
  • Detail the research teams suitability to construct and lead a multidisciplinary team with the relevant expertise, partnership working capabilities and vision to apply for a full-scale Innovation Hub within 18 months.
  • Does the research team have the breadth of expertise, knowledge, track record and credibility in both health and care service relevant research, and in systems design and engineering-related methodologies and application to deliver on the development phase and to establish and lead a full Innovation Hub?
  • Is there access to a network of experts across the range of disciplines required to deliver the proposed research plan?
  • How will equality, diversity and inclusion be approached in the development of the research team and PPI activities?
Leadership and management
  • Detail the Lead Applicants suitability to lead the development of an interdisciplinary team to ensure impact during the development phase and the full innovation hub.
  • Detail appropriate governance structures to ensure delivery of the development phase and the production of a full Hub application.
  • Outline a clear set of appropriately resourced and feasible management arrangements.
Stakeholders and collaboration
  • Detail stakeholder engagement and influencing plans.
  • What collaborations and partnerships will the team look to enhance/create to ensure successful delivery?
  • How will stakeholders, including those from Integrated Care Systems, primary and acute care, community services and social care, be engaged and involved to understand the system and ensure buy-in and sustainability?
  • What experience does the team have for engaging and influencing stakeholders?
Patient and public involvement and engagement

The NIHR expects the active involvement of the public and other key stakeholders.

  • Please describe the public involvement strategy for the development phase and the future research activities of the Innovation Hub to embed patient and public involvement in the proposed programme from inception to dissemination so that the research addresses the questions that matter most to people with lived experience of MLTC.
  • Demonstrate how PPIE has informed or shaped the development phase application.
Barriers 
  • Consider the key risks to delivery/barriers for the Innovation Hub and how these could start to be addressed in the development phase.
Project timeline

Please give careful consideration to timelines for Hub Development Awards. These are standalone projects for a maximum of 18 months and applications for extensions beyond this will not be approved. 

Guidance for applicants on equality, diversity and inclusion for study participants

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

All NIHR applications are expected to include information about how this data will be collected. In addition applicants should demonstrate how these factors have been considered and addressed in their proposal, including steps taken to ensure the research sample is representative of the population the study is targeted at. Applicants need to explain who they are planning to recruit to ensure inclusivity of study participants and justify and explain any exclusions, for example by completing an Equality Impact Assessment. Costs associated with inclusivity, which may include, but are not limited to justified translation of research participant material into other relevant languages, would be expected and where appropriate should be included in the detailed budget section under ‘Other Direct Costs’. Additionally, applicants should demonstrate that all potential recruiting locations have been considered and the research is deliverable to those areas.

Please see the NIHR INCLUDE Guidance for more information about how to include under-served groups effectively: NIHR INCLUDE Guidance (General) and NIHR INCLUDE Guidance (COVID-19 specific)

The NIHR supports the Researcher Development Concordat which recognises the critical role of research and innovation in delivering the UK’s ambitious economic and industrial strategies, and aims to set the gold standard in researcher development and use it as a competitive advantage. NIHR research applicants should understand the concordat and consider this when completing their application. Helpful links: 

Applicants should demonstrate how these factors have been considered and addressed in their proposal, including steps taken to ensure the research sample is representative of the population the study is targeted at.

Attachment 2: references (maximum 3 pages of A4)

Mandatory for submission: List all references cited in the full project description, using either the Vancouver or Harvard referencing conventions, and include the DOI of the main related publication.

Attachment 3: flow diagram

Not mandatory for submission:  A diagram can be uploaded if this makes the proposed development phase activities clearer, consider a diagram that conveys the sequence and timing of activities and how they are linked.

Please ensure diagrams are large and clear enough for them to be projected as a slide at the funding committee meeting.

Letters of support: Letters of support are not required. 

Acknowledgements and conflicts

Potential conflicts

Please declare any conflicts or potential conflicts of interest that you or your Co-applicants may have in undertaking this research partnership, including any relevant, non-personal & commercial interest that could be perceived as a conflict of interest. If in doubt, you should err on the side of disclosure.

Agreement to terms and conditions

I have read and understood the terms on which I have been nominated as Lead Applicant for this proposal along with the associated documentation and accept this role. A list of terms and conditions can be found here.