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Funder Resource Pack for NIHR non-commercial partners

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Summary

By strengthening connections between research funding and research delivery we can help funders to get the best value for money and improve the delivery of research they fund.

We worked with funders to design our Funder Resource Pack for NIHR Non-commercial Partners. We held our first survey for feedback on this in 2020 and will work with funders to continuously develop it. The Pack includes advice for funders on the best way to engage with the NIHR Clinical Research Network and materials to help funders to quickly and easily signpost grant applicants and recipients to the NIHR Study Support Service. This service helps researchers plan, place and perform high quality research to time and target in both the NHS, and the wider health and social care environment, across England.

Accessing the service at the beginning of the research process will improve the deliverability of the research project. This will not only benefit research funders. It will also benefit the NHS, public health and social care systems leading to improved outcomes for patients and the public.

This resource is intended for use by NIHR non-commercial Partners only.

Find out how to become an NIHR non-commercial Partner.

Top tips for funders

We have compiled some 'top tips' to help you ensure that, as an NIHR non-commercial Partner, the studies you fund are supported by the full range of services offered through the NIHR Study Support Service. This includes access to NHS infrastructure for research, training and ISRCTN registration.

Our five top tips

  1. Encourage your researchers to engage with the NIHR Clinical Research Network as early as possible in the development of their study. The sooner they get in touch, the more they will benefit from our support. We will provide advice on eligibility for accessing the NIHR Study Support Service,  regulatory submissions, the attribution of costs for a study and exploration of potential recruitment pathways. Researchers should contact your Local Clinical Research Network team to access this support.

  2. Consider asking for a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT) as part of your funding application when you are providing grant funding to support a study that could apply for the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio. This will help you to:

    • get a full picture of the study activities and therefore resource implication, broken down by cost attribution in line with AcoRD guidance

    • understand what you should be supporting. As a SoECAT is authorised by an AcoRD Specialist, you can be confident of correct attribution of:

      • activities that are Research Costs (or Research Cost Part A if you are an AMRC member) are something you need to consider when reviewing an application for support

      • activities that are Study Support costs which will be supported by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (if the study is eligible for the NIHR CRN Portfolio)

      • any Excess Treatment Costs (the difference between standard of care and the treatments under study), which allows you to perform an impact assessment on the NHS/care provider.

        A SoECAT is not appropriate where you are providing funding to support: programme grants that will encompass a number of studies; infrastructure awards; fellowships; or anything where the grant is to be used for direct employment of a member of staff or purchase of an asset.

  3. Keep your NIHR Non-commercial Partner Self-declaration Form up to date to speed up eligibility decisions and gain faster access to our support. Keep us informed of changes to your funding procedures, for example new grant streams, to avoid delays by submitting an updated Self Declaration to us at: supportmystudy@nihr.ac.uk or go to our web page about NIHR Non-commercial Partners for further information. 

  4. Provide all the necessary information evidencing study funding within your award letter to speed up our eligibility decision and enable your researchers to gain faster access to our support:

    Full study title (and acronym if available) is required to match the research funding to the study’s application for our support:Clearly labelled award code is required to correctly link the research funding to the study on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio.

    Name of the investigator and/or institution who is the recipient of the award is required to ensure that the funding evidence provided is specific to the study requiring our support.

    Full name of the funding stream/call is required to quickly determine eligibility using our list of self-declared funding streams or calls.

    Amount and duration (start and end date) of the award is required to to easily identify whether the research costs provided cover the duration of the study.

    Contact details (email and phone number) on your award letter is required to address any queries regarding the funding of studies quickly and efficiently.

    Encourage your award recipients to include the award code and funding stream in their IRAS application. Alternatively, if the study is already on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio, they can update us via the Study Support Service helpdesk with an award letter so we can make sure the information is correct. Email: supportmystudy@nihr.ac.

  5. Contact our Study Support Service Helpdesk at email: supportmystudy@nihr.ac.uk if one of your studies on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio is struggling to deliver. We can provide site level data to support study-wide oversight and we will support you to produce an action plan to improve recruitment. Please quote the study’s CPMS ID or IRAS ID, if known. We will respond within three working days. Alternatively you can contact your Local Clinical Research Network.

Suggested text for funders

We've worked with funders to produce suggested text for inclusion:

Using this text will help you to promote the benefits of using our NIHR Study Support Service to researchers.  The wording has been crafted to:

  • Highlight your NIHR non-commercial Partner status to researchers.

  • Outline the benefits this partnership can offer researchers, including the support services we provide.

  • Encourage researchers to access the NIHR Study Support Service as  early as possible in the development of their study. This will help us to to support delivery of the studies you fund to meet their the agreed time lines and study recruitment targets.

Case studies describing our support

We have developed a range of case studies which describe the support we provide to researchers through our NIHR Study Support Service. Click on the links below to find out more.

Plan

Place

Perform

Further information and resources

NIHR website

Provides information on the support that we offer through our Study Support Service.

Eligibility for our support

To receive our support we need to confirm that your funding stream(s) meet the Department of Health and Social Care’s Eligibility Criteria.  View the NIHR Clinical Research Network  support eligibility criteria and find out how a study can apply to be considered for NIHR Clinical Research Network  support.

Study Support Service animation

This handy animation provides an overview of the NIHR Study Support Service.

Performance queries

If you have any queries regarding the performance of your funded studies that have been included on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio, please contact our Study Support Service Helpdesk.

Email: supportmystudy@nihr.ac.uk

Please quote the study’s CPMS ID or IRAS reference number, if known. We will respond within three working days.

We can also provide you with a report on all the studies that are/ have been funded by you that are/ have been included within the NIHR Portfolio.

Other enquiries

Please also contact the Helpdesk if you would like to know more about the study delivery support that is available through our Study Support Service.

We will notify you when a study that you fund is eligible for NIHR CRN support

If the funding that you awarded to a study is used to confirm the eligibility of a study to receive NIHR CRN support you will be included in the eligible decision email to the study team.

This will provide you with clear visibility of which studies have been offered access to NIHR CRN support, including the provision of support costs from the point the decision is made and communicated. This offers an opportunity to strengthen connections and contribute to effective study management.

We may contact you when supporting delivery of a study which you fund

To support successful study delivery to agreed timelines and the required recruitment target, we may proactively contact you directly to discuss studies that you fund where challenges to delivery have been identified through our infrastructure.

Performance queries

If you have any queries regarding the performance of your funded studies that have been included on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio, please contact our Study Support Service Helpdesk.

Please quote the study’s CPMS ID or IRAS reference number, if known. We will respond within three working days.

Other enquiries

Please also contact the Helpdesk if you would like to know more about the study delivery support that is available through our Study Support Service.

We may contact you when supporting delivery of a study which you fund

To support successful study delivery to agreed time lines and the required recruitment target, we may proactively contact you directly to discuss studies that you fund where challenges to delivery have been identified through our infrastructure.

Suggested text for funders