Committees

Our committees help to ensure that research is high quality, robust and represents good value for money.

NIHR committees help decide which research projects to fund or prioritise.

We want our committees to have a broad range of perspectives, knowledge, skills and experience. Committee members include clinicians, academics, carers, patients and members of the public.

How NIHR committees work

NIHR research programmes award funding for research projects in health, public health and social care. Researchers apply to these programmes for funding for their research ideas.

Committees regularly meet to decide which research projects to prioritise, or recommend for funding.

What committees do

There are different types of committees depending on the role they need to play.

Prioritisation committees read topic documents and research briefs. They assess the documents and contribute to the development of research questions. Some prioritisation committees also review stage one research proposals.

Funding committees critically assess and prioritise research proposals for funding.

The time commitment for roles varies, but is around six to 12 days per year. Some committees meet for 1 day, 3 times a year, and others meet for 2 days, 3 times a year. There is also a short amount of preparation work.

Professional members

We seek qualified professional committee members including:

  • academics
  • subject experts
  • clinical staff
  • service managers
  • health, social care and public health practitioners

Public members

We seek public committee members including:

  • patients
  • carers
  • people who draw on social care support
  • members of the public

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