Research on Interventions for Global Health Transformation - Call 8 Stage 1 Guidance for Applicants

Published: 08 July 2024
Version: V1.0 July 2024
21 min read

Unintentional Injuries and Accidents, including Prevention, Management, and Health System Response, with a highlighted interest in the context of climate change and natural hazards

Submission deadline: 1pm UK time on 23 October 2024

Our Research on Interventions for Global Health Transformation (RIGHT) programme funds cutting-edge interdisciplinary applied health research in key areas in Official Development Assistance (ODA)-eligible countries where a strategic and targeted investment can result in a transformative impact.

Building on the NIHR Global Health Research (GHR) portfolio principles, the strategic aims of the RIGHT programme are to:

Deliver applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), typically through research in key thematic areas for the prevention of ill health and optimal disease management
Deliver research activities and outcomes through equitable partnerships among researchers and institutions involved in the research
Deliver research capacity strengthening through enhancing the ability and resources of individuals, institutions and/or systems to undertake, communicate and/or use high-quality research efficiently, effectively and sustainably
Promote interdisciplinary approaches to working (including, but not limited to: clinical medicine, public health, health economics, statistics, qualitative, and social sciences) to ensure that research objectives can be delivered
Generate new research knowledge and evidence on interventions to improve health outcomes of people in LMICs

Find out more about the research funded by the RIGHT programme.

Timeline

17 July 2024: Call open
6 August 2024: RIGHT Call 8 Briefing Webinar for Applicants
09 October 2024*: Deadline for the Research Management System (RMS) registration and remit enquiries
23 October 2024 at 1pm UK time: Deadline for receipt of RIGHT Call 8 Stage 1 applications and PPDA Call 8 via the online RMS
January 2025: Funding Committee reviews the applications and makes recommendations
February 2025: Applicants notified of Stage 1 and PPDA outcomes
26 February 2025: Stage 2 opens for successful Stage 1 applicants
14 May 2025 at 1pm UK time: Deadline for receipt of RIGHT Call 8 Stage 2 applications via the online RMS
September 2025: Funding Committee reviews the applications and makes recommendations
October 2025: Applicants notified of Stage 2 outcome
Expected contract start date: 01 April 2026

*We cannot guarantee that new RMS accounts (for Lead/Joint Lead or Co-applicants) will be verified and approved after 9 October 2024. We also cannot guarantee we will be able to answer all queries about the remit or content of applications for those submitted after 9 October 2024. If you have other queries about the application process, please do contact us after this time.

Background

Determining the theme for RIGHT Call 8

To determine the theme of RIGHT Call 8, the NIHR GHR Team used a quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify high-burden, under-financed research areas, and build an evidence base to identify an area where RIGHT could have the most significant impact. This analysis involved:

(i) A quantitative review of data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study

(ii) A quantitative review of Dimensions data (a linked research knowledge system that brings together grants, publications, citations, alternative metrics, clinical trials, patents and policy documents)

(ii) A qualitative review of research funder announcements, reports, strategies, and interviews relating to funding across 2020-2030

This analysis indicated unintentional injury and accident as a high burden, underfinanced research area. Further consultation with a wide range of stakeholders (including researchers, policymakers, community members, and people with lived experience) helped to narrow and determine the final scope of RIGHT Call 8 as detailed below.

Rationale

Injuries and accidents are a growing concern and account for 10% of all deaths in LMICs [1]. Unintentional injury is defined as death or bodily damage due to an injury that was unplanned or caused by external factors. The worldwide burden of unintentional injuries is disproportionately concentrated and increasing in LMICs. The 2019 Global Burden of Disease data estimates that the average rate of years of healthy life lost to disability or death from Unintentional Injuries and Accidents across all ODA-eligible countries was 2349.75 years per 100,000 population, the fourth highest of all causes. Of the 4.4 million injury-related deaths around the world each year, road traffic accidents, falls, drownings, and other unintentional injuries from natural disasters are the leading causes, taking the lives of 3.16 million people every year [2].

Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29 years. Strikingly, 92% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries, even though these countries only have approximately 60% of the world's vehicles [3]. The Global Burden of Disease study estimated road traffic injuries caused 73 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally in 2019 [4]. Tens of millions of people suffer from non-fatal injuries each year, which lead to emergency department and acute care visits, hospitalisations or treatment by general practitioners and often result in temporary or permanent disability and the need for long-term physical and mental health care and rehabilitation. Given current trends, the global burden of injuries is expected to continue to impede development and drain scarce resources [5].

In line with the results of our analysis and stakeholder consultations, and in consideration of the strategic aims of the RIGHT programme, this call will fund interdisciplinary applied health research to develop and evaluate interventions to strengthen and improve prevention, management, and response to unintentional injuries and accidents arising from any cause in LMICs. In this call, we are particularly interested in interventions relevant to unintentional injuries and accidents occurring in relation to climate change and natural hazards. This includes both unintentional injuries directly caused by climate change and/or natural hazards and those caused by behavioural changes resulting from climate change and/or natural hazards. Such contexts could include, but are not limited to, environmental exposure to heat due to climate change, burns due to wildfires, or drowning due to flash floods.

In 2020, RIGHT Call 4 was launched to address the global burden of unintentional injuries, and urgent and emergency care through targeted investment in high-quality, interdisciplinary applied health research to improve outcomes for patients in LMICs. This call sought research applications focussed on the prevention and management of unintentional injuries in LMICs, and on urgent and emergency care in response to unintentional injury.

Priorities and Focus of RIGHT Call 8

In order to achieve the aims outlined above, we are seeking interdisciplinary applied health research applications for RIGHT Call 8 that address the following areas:

Prevention and management of unintentional injuries and accidents in LMICs:

Development and evaluation of interventions to prevent and/or to improve outcomes from unintentional injuries and accidents.
Implementation research to assess the effectiveness of intervention strategies in LMIC settings and context-specific challenges. Applications consisting solely of implementation science are out of scope (see section ‘Key Criteria for Funding’ for details).
Applied research leading to better understanding of cultural attitudes, environmental factors, practices and behaviours influencing risks and interventions for injury and accident prevention.
Context-specific research on integrated preventative strategies and their evaluation with the potential to influence policy processes and ensure that interventions are based on evidence.
Research to build evidence and comprehensive data to understand challenges to the implementation of injury prevention and management measures and barriers to scaling up interventions that have shown to be effective.
Development and evaluation of interventions for ongoing post-injury management, including rehabilitation, wounds, and quality of life.
Health economics research to assess the economic and other impacts of unintentional injuries and accidents, and the cost-effectiveness of injury and accident prevention and management interventions.

Health system response to unintentional injuries and accidents in LMICs:

Development and evaluation of interventions to improve health system response to unintentional injuries or accidents. For the purpose of RIGHT Call 8, the health system response includes immediate post-injury or accident treatment at the scene, and access to urgent and emergency care at community, primary and secondary care levels.
Implementation research to improve access to and delivery of urgent and emergency care, community care and/or secondary care following unintentional injuries and accidents in low-resourced settings. Applications consisting solely of implementation science are out of scope (see section ‘Key Criteria for Funding’ for details).
Health economics research to assess investment to strengthen health systems (including emergency care, community care, primary care, and secondary care) in terms of sustainability and long-term uptake.
Related health policy and systems analysis can be included as part of a wider intervention development and evaluation programme.

RIGHT Call 8 is open to applications focused on unintentional injuries and accidents arising from any cause in ODA-eligible countries, but is especially interested in receiving applications relevant to climate change and natural hazards.

Eligibility

The NIHR Global Health Research portfolio supports high-quality applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people living in ODA-eligible countries.

To be eligible to receive NIHR Global Health Research RIGHT funding, your application must demonstrate how it meets ODA compliance criteria.

You will need to outline:

Which country or countries on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) list of ODA-eligible countries will directly benefit
How your application is relevant to the development challenges of those countries
How the outcomes will promote the health and welfare of people in a country or countries on the OECD DAC list

Where elements of your research are undertaken outside an ODA-eligible country, you must clearly state the reasons for this in your application. For example, you may need specialist expertise. If you know a country will be removed from the ODA-DAC list during the lifetime of your project, you will need to show how your research benefits ODA-eligible countries.

Further information can be found at:

The NIHR RIGHT Call 8 will support applications which:

demonstrate they address the remit (priorities and focus of RIGHT call 8), eligibility and key criteria for funding criteria
propose broad, multi-faceted programmes of applied health research that meet the aims of the call and are of primary and direct benefit to people and patients in ODA-eligible countries. This can include randomised-controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions with the potential to have a transformative effect on people in ODA-eligible countries, provided that they are part of a wider programme of work** to enable effective interventions to be adopted in national and/or global guidelines and practices. (**This could include, for example, formative research, research on acceptability, health economics or health system analysis.)
clearly meet locally or regionally identified needs within ODA-eligible countries in the area of unintentional injuries and accidents, which inform local and national plans for change
focus on interventions relevant to unintentional injuries and accidents occurring in relation to climate change and natural hazards. Where the proposed research concerns unintentional injuries and accidents in the context of climate change or natural hazards, applications should describe specific risks of natural hazards
target research areas that will lead to improved outcomes for the most vulnerable
evaluate adaptation of existing technologies and processes or promote the use of new technologies to prevent accidents and unintentional injuries and/or improve outcomes for patients experiencing unintentional injuries
develop and evaluate interventions for people experiencing accidents and unintentional injuries that can reduce differences in health outcomes brought about by socioeconomic inequalities
address issues of health equity by considering, but not limited to, sex, gender, age, ethnicity, geographical and socioeconomic barriers to improved health, access to healthcare and economic impact
identify the problems and outcomes that matter most to patients and carers and consider how they would like to see health systems responses configured to meet their needs
support and embed South-South, South-North and North-South bidirectional learning
include interdisciplinary applied research teams (e.g. clinical medicine, primary health care, occupational therapy, psychiatry, public health, health systems, epidemiology, health economics, statistics, geography and environmental science, data science, climatology, implementation science, qualitative research and social sciences). Experts should have relevant experience and/or demonstrable track record to ensure research is transferred into benefits for people in ODA-eligible countries. This can include teams who may want to build new research partnerships.
demonstrate equity and collaboration in programme leadership, decision-making, capacity strengthening, governance, appropriate distribution of funds, ethics processes, data ownership, and dissemination of findings.
Include relevant engagement with policymakers, communities, patients and the public, civil society organisations and charities over the lifetime of the programme.
include a trajectory for developing future leaders, where less experienced Investigators are fully supported and mentored by an experienced Joint Lead or Co-applicant to jointly lead the research programme or selected components
demonstrate a level of institutional commitment to support and facilitate the research partnership and provide appropriate administrative, technical and financial services

Additionally, we welcome applications that include elements of methodology research as part of a wider programme of work. Proposed projects must:

meet a clear methods gap
contribute to the aims of the call
have generalised applicability to improve health research methods in LMICs.

Methodology research proposals should not form a significant part of the overall research plans and must not exceed 5% of the overall award value.

The NIHR RIGHT Call 8 will not fund applications which:

do not meet the published call and eligibility criteria for RIGHT Call 8
do not clearly define a pathway to impact
include intentional injuries, such as self-harm, suicide, interpersonal violence, organised violence, homicide and injuries resulting from war
address health care system improvements or interventions for conditions which are unrelated to unintentional injuries
are not based on research priorities identified in LMIC partner countries
focus on climate change and/or natural hazard mitigation research
focus on interventions relating to the urban and built environment, including built infrastructure***. RIGHT funding cannot be used for capital investment in built infrastructure***.

***For the purpose of this call, NIHR uses the following definition of built infrastructure as set out in the Nature-based Infrastructure: How natural infrastructure solutions can address sustainable development challenges and the triple planetary crisis. Built infrastructure: also known as hard or grey infrastructure, refers to built infrastructure assets, networks, and facilities that provide or enable the delivery of infrastructure services. This includes the built assets of all infrastructure sectors, such as hospitals in the healthcare sector, roads and railways in the transport sector, and power stations in the energy sector.

consist of one of the following on its own, rather than as part of an integrated research and capacity strengthening programme which includes:
- randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of interventions
- descriptive epidemiological studies
- evidence synthesis
- plans for service evaluation in isolation, unless this will inform evidence-based development and improvement of these services
- replicating research already undertaken in High-Income Countries (HICs). Where your application includes replicating research already undertaken in HICs as part of a wider programme of work, you must provide clear justification. Research proposals should be clearly relevant to the ODA-eligible countries in which the research is being undertaken
- implementation science
- dissemination or public health messaging
primarily focus on:
- establishing new patient cohorts, biobanks or bio-sample collections, or data collection studies. Samples or data from existing biobanks and patient registries may be used
- observational research, secondary research, or health policy implementation
- focus on basic laboratory/discovery research or experimental medicine.
include research on infectious diseases, including vector-borne and zoonotic diseases

GHR RIGHT Leadership Model

Leadership models can be either:

LMIC lead: A Principal Investigator (Lead Applicant) employed by an LMIC Higher Education Institution (HEI) or Research Institute.
LMIC-LMIC Joint Leads: A Principal Investigator employed by an LMIC HEI or Research Institute (LMIC Joint Lead Applicant) to jointly lead with a Principal Investigator employed by an LMIC HEI or Research Institute (LMIC Joint Lead Applicant). In the case of LMIC-LMIC joint leads, your application must state which will be the contracting institution.
LMIC-UK Joint Leads: A Principal Investigator employed by an LMIC HEI or Research Institute (LMIC Joint Lead Applicant) to jointly lead with a Principal Investigator employed by a UK HEI or Research Institute (UK Joint Lead Applicant). In the case of LMIC-UK joint leads, your application must state which will be the contracting institution.

Where the contracting organisation is a UK institution with a UK Joint Lead Applicant, it is mandatory for an LMIC Joint Lead Applicant to be included on the application, with the expectation that the joint leadership/partnership is equitable.

Where the contracting organisation is an LMIC institution, a UK Joint Lead Applicant is not a mandatory requirement. LMIC Lead Applicants may propose joint leadership with a Principal Investigator from another eligible LMIC or UK institution or lead the application without a Joint Lead Applicant.

The contracting institution must be a HEI or Research Institute. An eligible LMIC or UK Research Institute is defined as a not-for-profit research organisation with:

a demonstrable track record in obtaining funding for research through competitive processes, and delivering successful outcomes from this funding
a track record in building and strengthening research capacity including Masters, PhD, and other formal training
an ability to manage internationally competitive awards through research support functions to include finance, intellectual property (IP), and procurement
- this includes the capacity to transfer funds to partner organisations in different countries and, if relevant, knowledge of any national restrictions on transferring funds to other country partners
a capacity to track all expenditure, complete quarterly financial reports, manage virements between budget headings, and respond to audit requests

For organisations that have not previously been funded by NIHR Global Health Research funding, additional eligibility and due diligence checks may be undertaken in addition to standard NIHR eligibility and due diligence checks prior to contracting.

The contracting institution will sign the funding contract. We will disburse funding to the contracting institution only. The contracting institution will be responsible for the onward disbursement of funds to all collaborating institutions. This includes all named LMIC or UK Joint Lead institutions, as relevant. You should confirm that for your contracting organisation, this disbursement is within your national government rules on receipt of ODA funds. The contracting institution must also be responsible for ensuring due diligence and financial governance are completed across the partnership.

Depending on the nature of the partnership, you may involve other affiliated Co-applicants and collaborators/project partners, including service-level providers. There are no restrictions on the number of Co-applicants or Collaborators you can include in your application. You must, however, justify each of these roles, how these complement each other, and why they are necessary to effectively deliver the aims of the RIGHT awards. If your application includes high-income country Co-applicants or Collaborators outside the UK, you must justify their role and expertise. You should also explain why this cannot be performed by an LMIC Co-applicant or Collaborator. For more detailed information, see our Core Guidance: Structure of Team.

Under this call, an individual cannot be named as Lead/Joint Lead Applicant on more than one application. However, HEIs or Research Institutes may submit more than one application to this funding opportunity as Lead/Joint Lead, provided each application is distinct in its aims and objectives.

Our expectation is that if there are multiple applications from a single institution, at least 50% of the Lead Applicants should be women. You should justify where this is not possible and make plans to address this over the longer term. If you are from an Institution submitting multiple applications as Lead /Joint lead, you should consider:

our position on Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) - including, but not limited to, gender balance - at all levels of awards, including leadership, governance and delivery
the aims of the call

Existing NIHR GHR award holders are eligible to apply to this call, provided there is assurance they have sufficient plans in terms of time and resources available to them to deliver concurrent awards successfully.

If you are unsure of eligibility, please contact right@nihr.ac.uk.

Please read this document in conjunction with the Global Health Research Programmes - Core Guidance for Applicants.

Funding available

The amount requested and the length of the funding period should be fully justified according to the nature of the proposed research.

Through this funding opportunity, awards up to £5 million, ranging from £1-5 million over 3-5 years, are available for eligible applications. Applications in the lower part of this range are welcomed, provided smaller programmes will still address the aims of RIGHT Call 8.

Eligible costs for NIHR RIGHT calls include:

Research staff engaged in proposed research
Research support staff supporting proposed research
Travel, subsistence, meetings and conference registration
Equipment
Consumables
Community engagement and involvement
Equality, diversity and inclusion considerations
Dissemination, excluding open access publication costs
Risk management and assurance
Training and development including LMIC student fees/stipend
Other direct costs specific to the research
Other legitimate and reasonable indirect costs such as HR and finance (guidance varies according to type of organisation)

Please see the NIHR RIGHT Call 8 Finance Guidance for detailed information.

Proposal and Partnership Development Award

Proposal and Partnership Development Awards (PPDA) were established to support partnership development and the preparation of a RIGHT Stage 2 application. Applications that are successful at RIGHT Stage 1 and invited to submit a RIGHT Stage 2 application, are eligible for a PPDA, subject to review and approval. PPDA provides funding of up to £10,000 to:

Support applicants to work collaboratively with all study partners to develop stage 2 applications.
Enhance/initiate partnerships and Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) activities to strengthen the research proposal.
Initiate preparation of study governance documentation (i.e., due diligence and finance assurance policies).

To be considered for a PPDA, you must complete a separate PPDA application. Both the RIGHT Call 8 Stage 1 application and the PPDA application must be submitted via the Research Management System (RMS) by 23 October 2024 at 1pm UK time.

PPDA applications will be reviewed for those applicants that are successful at Stage 1. Applicants who are successful at Stage 1 will be notified of the outcome of their PPDA application at the same time as the RIGHT Call 8 Stage 1 application. Applicants who are unsuccessful at Stage 1 will not be eligible for PPDA.

Eligible costs for PPDA and the reimbursement process are described in full in the RIGHT Call 8 Finance guidance.

Please see the separate Proposal and Partnership Development Award Guidance for completing the PPDA application and further examples of what a PPDA can support.

Key Criteria for Funding

The NIHR RIGHT Call 8 is a two-stage competition. Stage 1 is a short-listing outline stage. Stage 2 is for successful applicants at Stage 1 to produce a full Stage 2 application.

We will assess your Stage 1 application to make sure it meets the eligibility and scope of the RIGHT Call 8. You will need to address key criteria 1 to 4 (below) at Stage 1. You should also briefly indicate the approach for meeting key criteria 5 to 8 (below). Ensure that you meet and embed all eligibility criteria throughout your proposal development.

Our Funding Committee assesses Stage 2 research proposals based on all key criteria 1 to 8. If you are successful at Stage 1, you should further develop your proposal and provide sufficient detail on meeting all key criteria at Stage 2.

At Stage 1, the key criteria assessed are:

Relevance of the proposed research: Your application should demonstrate that the proposed research:
- is based on a review of the local context/health systems and existing evidence
- fulfils a significant evidence gap and addresses the unmet needs and priorities in ODA-eligible countries and aligns fully with the scope of the RIGHT Call 8
Research quality and excellence: Your application should demonstrate:
- how your planned research is context-specific and driven by need
- how the research plan is clear and robust and includes clear research questions, objectives and sound design
- that the detailed methodology shows how the proposed research will address the questions and meet the objectives. You should include clear milestones, the identification and mitigation of possible risks, and ethical considerations
Strength and balance of the research team: Your application should demonstrate that:
- the research team has a range and depth of relevant expertise
- the research team can promote interdisciplinary approaches to working.
- there are appropriate mentoring arrangements where the lead applicant is a less-experienced researcher
- the proposed research plans establish equitable partnerships within and across research teams
Impact and sustainability: Your application should demonstrate:
- a clear and implementable strategy for pathways to impact, including research uptake and dissemination.
- the potential for outputs which improve practice, inform policy and support the future implementation and sustainability of research and partnerships in LMICs beyond the end of the award. You can read more about pathways to impact in our Theory of Change.

In Stage 2, in addition to 1-4 above, we also assess:

Capacity strengthening: this means there should be clear plans for:
- research and research management capacity and capability strengthening at the individual and institutional levels.
- appropriate training in research support functions (training in finance, programme and research management and informal training opportunities) and training for community stakeholders
Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI): the research plan should:
- include relevant and appropriate stakeholders and CEI throughout all stages of the research
- address barriers and effectively engage the most vulnerable and marginalised groups, relevant stakeholders or actors in the context over the lifetime of the research programme
Equity of partnerships: Your applications should:
- ensure that the equity and collaboration has been embedded across all aspects of the research proposal, including, but not limited to:
  - programme leadership
  - decision-making
  - capacity strengthening
  - governance
  - distribution of funds
  - ethics processes
  - data ownership
  - dissemination of findings
- demonstrate promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the planned research and within and across the research teams. It is important to ensure diversity, in particular, gender balance and leveraging existing expertise within ODA-eligible countries
Value for money: You should:
- include a clear, well-justified budget that represents good value for money
- show that all planned expenditures are proportionate and appropriate against the planned activities outlined in the application. Consider Economy, Efficiency, Effectiveness and Equity (please see the Global Health Research Programmes - Core Guidance for more information on value for money)

Selection Process

All eligible applications at Stage 1 and Stage 2 will be considered by an independent international Funding Committee that will make recommendations to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on which applications should be supported.

If high numbers of applications are received, the NIHR may adopt a triage process where members of the Funding Committee will review and score applications against published eligibility and selection criteria ahead of the Funding Committee meeting. Those proposals which are below the agreed threshold will be rejected at that point. High-scoring applications will proceed to the Funding Committee meeting.

DHSC will retain the right to make strategic decisions at the final outcome stage (following Stage 2 Funding Committee). DHSC’s final funding decisions will be based on available budget, overall portfolio balance, alignment with relevant UK Government policies, NIHR strategic priorities, institutional balance and ranking based on scientific quality.

Contracting institutions should review the terms of the current DHSC ODA research contract. Please consider how these terms will be shared with your research delivery partners.

Prior to contracting, we will ask you to complete a Due Diligence assessment from your contracting institution. The current Due Diligence assessment form is available from the NIHR website.

Submissions to more than one NIHR Programme

We will not accept the same or substantially similar applications to more than one NIHR programme. If two similar applications are submitted, once the overlap is identified, the application that is most advanced through the funding process will continue and the second will not be taken further. Please refer to the Global Health Research Programmes - Core Guidance for Applicants for full details.

How to Apply

You must complete an online application via the Research Management System (RMS). The closing date for stage 1 applications is Wednesday, 23 October 2024 at 1pm UK time.

Applications will not be accepted if submitted after the exact closing date and time, the system will automatically prevent this from happening.
It is the applicants’ responsibility to allow sufficient time to submit an application.
Applicants must contact the NIHR RIGHT Global Health team by emailing right@nihr.ac.uk or calling +44 (0)20 8843 8843 immediately if they think there is a system problem, whilst attempting to continue with their submission.

Please see the guidance on completing your application form.

Contact us

If you have any questions about NIHR RIGHT, please email our team at right@nihr.ac.uk.