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Research Support Service Hub delivered by Newcastle University and Partners

In partnership with the Universities of Durham, Cumbria, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside, Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and North of England Commissioning Support Unit

The hub delivered by Newcastle University and Partners brings expertise in the design, development and delivery of health and care research. Hosted in Newcastle University’s Population Health Sciences Institute, the hub sits within a world class research, health care and training ecosystem, recognised by our Academic Health Science Centre, Newcastle Health Innovation Partners. The hub co-hosts, and works closely with, the new RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health.

The vision of this hub is to support research with a new way of working, integrating research development, design and delivery in health care, in public health, and in social care, responding to changing needs and priorities. Capacity building will be a key component: providing timely opportunities for colleagues to acquire relevant research skills, to inspire and enable future research and leaders in research methods.

Does our experience and expertise match your research needs?

Look through this hub's research specialties and additional support below.

Research strengths and areas of expertise

Experts within this hub have wide ranging expertise including in projects involving underserved/under-represented communities, fields, or sectors (i.e. nursing and midwifery, allied health professions, rural communities, and minority groups).

 Areas of strength include: 

  • Multiple long-term conditions, rare diseases, mental health, cardiovascular health, maternal and foetal medicine, intensive care, and oncology
  • Research in care homes, end of life care, disadvantaged children, families and communities, in understanding rural and deprived coastal communities
  • Design, delivery and analysis of pilot and feasibility studies
  • Health data science and real world data
  • Development and evaluation of complex interventions
  • Health economics and decision modelling
  • Innovative statistical methods for efficient designs
  • Evidence synthesis
  • Horizon scanning
  • Inclusive Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The linked UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Unit has expertise in the design, development and delivery of early and late phase trials including:

  • Regulated trials including CTIMPs, ATIMPs and devices
  • Interventional trials including surgical and complex interventions
  • Observational, pilot and feasibility studies
  • Statistical expertise in trial design, analysis and reporting
  • Randomised and non-randomised designs
  • Studies within trials (SWATS)
  • We also support fellowship applications

Research support

This hub provides responsive, seamless access to expertise from internationally recognised groups of methodologists, and from a wealth of research infrastructure.

The hub and its partners are committed to extending critical and successful patient and public involvement and a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion in its workforce and in research. Strong public partnerships will ensure this hub drives innovation as a tool to change lives. They will drive this agenda of involvement and inclusion regionally and nationally for work with underserved and under-represented populations.

Contact us

If you would like support from this RSS Hub, please complete their contact form 

For general enquiries please contact nihr-rss@newcastle.ac.uk

Hub partners

Key partnerships ensure reach, access and application across health care, public health and social care research. 

This hub provides responsive, seamless access to expertise from internationally recognised groups of methodologists, and from a wealth of research infrastructure, including:

  • UKCRC Registered Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit
  • Biostatistics Research Group
  • Health Economics Group
  • Qualitative Methods Special Interest Group
  • Evidence Synthesis Group
  • NIHR Innovation Observatory
  • NIHR Newcastle MedTech and In vitro Diagnostics Co-operative
  • NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre
  • NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC)
  • NIHR School for Public Health Research
  • Durham Research Methods Centre and Wolfson Institute
  • Northumbria Northern Realist Research Team Hub and Innovation and Implementation Research Group