NIHR James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships rolling call

  • Published: 11 August 2022
  • Version: V1.3 - August 2022
  • 2 min read

Call for research studies addressing James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnerships' (PSPs) research priorities

The JLA Priority Setting Partnerships facilitate patients, carers and clinicians to work collaboratively to identify research priorities in particular areas of health and care. Their aim is to ensure that health research funders are aware of the issues that are important to the people who need to use the research in their daily lives.

The NIHR research programmes – Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME), Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR), Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and Public Health Research (PHR) – fund research across the National Health Service (NHS), public health and social care to meet the needs of those who plan, provide and receive care and services. The programmes recognise the importance of the research priorities identified by the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships, and are interested in receiving high-quality applications which address them. The NIHR are looking to receive applications for research studies addressing JLA PSPs' research priorities, rather than to conduct a PSP itself.

Proposals must be within the remit of one of the participating NIHR research programmes and the primary outcome measure must be health related. Applicants should note that:

  • Proposals should reference which JLA PSP and which research priority is being addressed.
  • A clear rationale and justification should be given for how the proposed research contributes towards addressing the research priority.
  • Applicants should clearly state how their proposed research addresses a current evidence gap and how the research adds value to the existing NIHR research portfolio.
  • The importance of the proposed research should be justified, including how the work supports aspirations to reduce health inequalities and improve health outcomes.
  • Applicants must demonstrate that the proposed methodology is appropriate and robust, with consideration given to methodological limitations.
  • Applications should be co-produced, demonstrating an equal partnership with service commissioners, providers and service users in order to provide evidence and actionable findings of utility to decision-makers and service users. Applicants may wish to consult the NIHR guidance on co-producing a research project.
  • Patient and public involvement must be included within the application and study design to ensure the research is relevant and appropriate to patients and the public.

How to apply and supporting information

Proposals must be within the remit of at least one of the following participating NIHR Programmes. However, applications which span the remit of one or more programme are welcome.

Deadline for proposals

Application forms will be available from participating programmes’ webpages. Please note that open and close dates vary and completed forms must be submitted by the date specified on the relevant programme's webpage.

This call represents an ongoing area of interest for the NIHR. This opportunity will be advertised as a rolling call with cut-off dates per year when applications will be considered by the relevant NIHR programme's decision making committees.

For support developing applications, applicants are also encouraged to contact their local NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) (this was previously supported by the Research Design Service) or equivalent in the first instance.

Contact information

General questions about the call and programme remits should be addressed to your local RSS or equivalent in the first instance, or further guidance may be obtained by sending a short summary (maximum of one A4 page) of the research proposal in a structured format (including rationale, research question, proposed methodology and outcome/evaluation methods) to the programme you intend to apply to: