Programme Grants for Applied Research - Research capacity building information for applicants

  • Published: 01 October 2024
  • Version: V4.0 - October 2024
  • 7 min read

Training and academic career development is a key priority for NIHR, shaping the researchers of the future and ensuring it has the right skill mix to work across clinical, practice and research sectors.

Given that PGfAR funds collaborative multidisciplinary programmes of research, bringing together expert health and care researchers and leading methodologists, they are ideally suited and possess great scope to make a significant contribution to applied health and care research capacity development. Research programmes have always provided the capability to foster the careers of co-applicants and competitively recruited research staff and this more informal form of career development will continue within our awards.

NIHR Academy

PGfAR now has a formal remit to build and support research careers that offers the opportunity to gain membership of NIHR Academy and access to the benefits that it brings.

Funding can now be included,  to build careers, supporting greater equity of opportunities for all. While the focus should be on developing  early career researchers, consideration should be given to all stages of the academic career pathway, from pre-doctoral to post-doctoral  (i.e., from internships to Masters to PhD to post-doctoral).

Applications that include research capacity development for methodological and under-represented disciplines are particularly encouraged.

This will be an ongoing opportunity, available to applicants in each round of the competition.

Eligibility

Individuals whose academic career development is being supported through NIHR PGfAR funding and are undertaking a formal training/career development through this award, which meets the following criteria will be  eligible for NIHR Academy membership:

  • Individuals must be competitively recruited.
  • A “Named Point of Contact for Training and Development (NPC)” must be appointed who will be the first point of contact for all NIHR Academy related communication and queries (for further information, see below and refer to the NPC welcome pack).
  • A formal training plan should be in place and the work should have a defined end point.
  • Receive at least 25% funding through the PGfAR award for salary/stipend over the lifetime of the individual’s post within the award.

Named points of contact

To support their NIHR Academy members, successful PGfAR awards will be expected to appoint a “Named Point of Contact for Training and Development (NPC)”, who will be the first point of contact for all NIHR Academy related communication and queries. They will work in partnership with NIHR Academy to share best practice and encourage excellence in career development and training. They take an active role in providing advice and support for academic development to ensure members can thrive as successful academics and future leaders, as well as sharing examples of best practice and development opportunities.

The NPC must be listed on the application form, and can be the Lead Applicant, or a Co-Applicant with relevant experience or an existing dedicated career lead from the contracting or collaborating institutions. The NPC should ideally be different from the Academic supervisor. More information about the role of the NPC can be found in the NPC welcome pack.

Benefits

Individuals undertaking formal academic capacity development within the research programme will be a member of the NIHR Academy and will benefit from:

  • Career development and support activities, such as mentorship and leadership
  • Eligibility to apply for some short term research training and academic career development awards
  • Networking and career development events that embed them within the NIHR family

Please refer to the guidance for stage 2 applications.

More broadly, it is important that:

  • Individuals should be embedded within a supportive host environment, with appropriate plans to support their research training and academic career development in place throughout the duration of their award. Training and support should be aligned with the principles and best practice outlined within the Researcher Development Concordat.
  • Individuals must be well supported as part of the positive research culture of the wider organisation with strong public involvement and engagement embedded within the research they undertake.
  • Timelines for recruitment should be detailed in the Gantt chart, together with which elements of the programme which will be dedicated to research capacity building.

Positions can start at any time of the year in accordance with the overall programme grant timeline, but should be completed within the project lifetime. We would expect that most positions will be fully funded through the PGfAR programme.

As a general rule, it is anticipated that 10% and 20% of the overall programme grant budget should be spent on capacity building within the grant, however each request will be reviewed on its merits.

  • Funds can be requested for studentship fees, salaries and full or partial formal training posts (including but not limited to MSc, MPhil, MRes, PhD, Post docs).
  • We encourage programmes to ring-fence a budget for each individual whose career development will be supported for training in technical research skills, personal development skills and conference attendance. Noting that the Researcher Development Concordat recommends an annual allowance of 10 days of training and development.
  • Please also include the direct salary costs for the time dedicated to capacity development within this award for the Named Point of Contact for their Training and Development.

Overview of application requirements

Stage 1

For membership of NIHR Academy

Please indicate within the ‘Project plan’ section (under the sub-heading ‘research capacity building’) if your proposal involves formal research capacity building plans. Include a short summary of your overall  approach for formally increasing research capacity within the programme; including through the provision of training which supports diverse career paths and promotes equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as which competitively recruited post(s) this will apply to. Please consider:

  • key stages within the academic career pathway (in particular current pinch points and where provision may be limited)
  • broadening out to a wide variety of groups, disciplines and professions; including methodologists and under-represented groups
  • relevant sectors and particular geographies/places where there may be a low research base and a need for building research capacity

Selection criteria

The committee will be assessing the quality and extent to which the proposals for increasing research capacity across the whole academic career pathway, including through the provision of training which supports diverse career paths and promotes equality, diversity and inclusion, have been considered and justified.

In addition, please consider:

  • The overall ‘estimation of research costs’, by considering research capacity building staff salary/stipend costs, time commitment, and as appropriate academic tuition fees. We encourage programmes to ring-fence a budget for each individual whose career development will be supported for training in technical research skills, personal and professional development skills and conference attendance.
  • Indicate who will be the “Named Point of Contact for Training and Development (NPC)”. The NPC will be the first point of contact for all NIHR Academy related communication and queries. The NPC has to be listed on the application form, and can be the Lead Applicant, a Co-Applicant with relevant experience, or an existing dedicated career lead from the contracting or collaborating institutions. The NPC should ideally be different from the Academic supervisor. More information about the role of the NPC can be found in the NPC welcome pack.

Please refer to the guidance for stage 1 applications for more details. 

Stage 2

Please note that you can still apply for embedded research capacity development as part of your programme at Stage 2, even if you have not indicated this in your Stage 1 application.

Please describe within the  ‘Detailed Research  Plan’ section (under the sub-heading ‘Research capacity building’) your approach and detailed plans for formal research capacity development within the programme. It is important you make clear:

  • The need and benefit for building research capacity within the programme. Please consider in particular:
    • the number and type of career development posts, and
    • the rationale behind choosing to support a particular career stage(s) and discipline/profession(s).
  • The plans in place to support the individual(s) research training and academic career development (e.g mentoring, skills development) so that they can forge a sustainable research career beyond their award and lifetime of the programme grant
  • What the individuals will  be doing and when: where possible, the parts of the programme used to support capacity building  should be clearly indicated in the Gantt chart?
  • How you will ensure that recruitment will occur using a competitive process, and that there is equitable engagement of methodological and under-represented disciplines and professions. In addition, the recruitment processes and the timelines for this should be specified
  • How inclusivity will be embedded in supporting diverse career paths and individuals research careers
  • Include a NPC and indicate who this person will be, as highlighted in Section 4.

Please ensure that your career capacity building is appropriately funded (see section 10: Detailed Budget).

Selection Criteria

The committee will be assessing the quality and extent to which the proposals for increasing research capacity across the whole academic career pathway, including through the provision of training which supports diverse career paths and promotes equality, diversity and inclusion, have been considered and justified.

Please refer to guidance for stage 2 applications.

Traditional, informal career capacity development embedded within your application.

Prior to our collaboration with the NIHR Academy, working within a PGfAR funded research team has fostered the careers of co-applicants and competitively recruited research staff.  This more informal form of career development will continue within our awards.

If plans for such capacity development are also to be included, they  should be also outlined in the research plan of the Stage 1 and Stage application (under the sub-heading ‘research capacity building’).

For Stage 2, it will be important to specify:

  • The need and benefit for building research capacity within the programme
  • The plans in place to support the individual(s) research training and career development (e.g mentoring, skills development)
  • What individuals will  be doing and if possible, the parts of the programme used to support capacity building  should be clearly indicated in the Gantt chart