1. 19/04/2014 What is the Research Design Service? Research Design Service North West Dr Nancy Preston

2. Part of an NIHR network East of England London North East South Central South East Coast South West West Midlands Yorkshire and Humberside North West East Midlands

3. Purpose of the RDS To help people design and develop high quality research proposals. Focus on NHS-based researchers applying to peer reviewed open competition funding Particular focus on: –Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme –NIHR Programmes for Applied Research

4. Why the investment? Relatively high proportion of low quality applications –Relatively high proportion not in scope –Not enough collaboration –Public involvement weak –Simple administrative errors in applications

5. A regional service delivered locally The North West of England Cumbria and Lancashire local office Lancaster University with Universities of Cumbria and Central Lancashire Mersey and Cheshire local office Liverpool University with University of Bangor Greater Manchester local office University of Manchester Central coordinating office based at Lancaster University

6. RDS expertise Research synthesis Methodology (qualitative & quantitative) Statistics Health Economics Specific application advice for schemes Facilitate collaboration: building a dream team - including public involvement

7. How to access the service in the North West of England Via central coordinating office telephone helpline: 01524 593209 Via the website: http://www.rds-nw.nihr.ac.uk/request-advice/

8. How to access the service in the North West of England Via a local office: Mersey and Cheshire Tel: 0151 795 5303 Email: rds-nw-mc@liverpool.ac.uk Greater Manchester Tel:0161 306 8009 Email:rds-nw-gm@manchester.ac.uk Cumbria and Lancashire Tel:01524 592976 Email:rds-nw-cl@lancaster.ac.uk

9. What happens when you contact the service Depending on your needs you may be: Provided with information on first contact with the service Directed to our online resources for information Directed to another source of help Eligible for our advisory service if you are looking for support with proposal development to apply for funding from an open peer reviewed competition scheme.

10. The advisory process You will be asked to complete an advice request form which gathers information needed to assess your case. Your case will be assessed and if eligible you will be passed on to one or more of our specialist advisers Advisers will then provide the support needed to develop your proposal.

11. How we deliver support Face-to-face E-mail Phone Road shows Targeted funding stream support meetings Online Support

12. Website and online support http://www.rds-nw.nihr.ac.ukhttp://www.rds-nw.nihr.ac.uk. Provides a signposting service Offers a growing number of self-help resources Provides news and funding alerts Provides access to our advice service and much more

14. PPI – How to Guide http://www.rds-nw.nihr.ac.uk/public-involvement/how-to-guide/ Dr Sue Hinder (RaFT Consulting) and Dr Tracey Williamson (RDS Adviser, University of Salford) had significant input into producing the content of the guide and providing feedback.

15. http://www.rds-nw.nihr.ac.uk Please visit the services website for further information: