1. FUNDING STREAMS Alistair Taylor Research & Development Manager
Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust

2. Who funds research? A range of organisations:
Public and not-for-profit sector bodies
Private companies
International organisations, fund research within the UK.
The many sources of public funding are the research councils, the higher education funding councils and a number of UK government departments. In addition, much research is funded by charities, learned and professional societies, and universities and research institutes themselves. International sources of funding include the European Union, NATO and a number of other European and international public bodies.The scopes of these funding organisations differ dramatically. Some fund research across a range of areas, whilst others only provide funding within specific sciences or humanities subjects. Research funding organisations run schemes tailored to their particular objectives. Each type of grant, fellowship or other award will have associated information about the type of funds available, who is eligible and how to apply.

3. NHS Funding Streams Medical Research Council NIHR Funding Stream WCLRN
DH Flexibility and Sustainability Funding

4. Medical Research Council
The MRC receives annual 'grant-in-aid' funding from Parliament through the Office of Science and Innovation, which is part of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Although government-funded, the MRC is independent in its choice of which research to support.
The organisation works closely with the Health Departments, the other UK research councils, industry and other stakeholders to identify and respond to the UK's health.
Around 3,300 researchers are supported by MRC-funded programmes in universities and hospitals.
The MRC is the UK’s largest non-commercial funder of clinical trials.
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5. NIHR Funding Stream Invention for Innovation Programme (i4i)
Programmes
Programme Grants for Applied Research
Programme Development Grant
Projects
Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)
Research for Innovation Speculation and Creativity (RISC)
Invention for Innovation Programme (i4i)
HTA Clinical Trials
Health Technology Devices (HTD)
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6. Programme Grants for Applied Research
Funding
 The Programme Grants for Applied Research funding scheme will have an annual budget of £75 million once it reaches full capacity.  Individual awards will be for a maximum of £2m over a period of up to five years. The amount of funding awarded will, however, be determined by the scale and nature of the research activity to be conducted.
Competition 6
Competition launch 12th January 2009
Stage 1 Application submission deadline 16th March 2009, 5:00pm
Notification of outcome of Stage 1 Application Mid May, 2009
Stage 2 Full Application submission deadline 12th October 2009, 5:00pm
Notification of outcome of Full Application Late March, 2010  
Competition 7
Competition launch 1st June 2009
Stage 1 Application submission deadline 5th October 2009, 5:00pm
Notification of outcome of Stage 1 Application Early December 2009
Stage 2 Full Application submission deadline 22nd March 2010, 5:00pm
Notification of outcome of Full Application July 2010
Programme Grants for Applied Research are awards of up to £2m over a period of three to five years, the aim of which will be to:
Provide evidence to improve health outcomes in England through promotion of health, prevention of ill health, and optimal disease management (including safety and quality), with particular emphasis on conditions causing significant disease burden, where other research funders may not be focused, or there is insufficient funding available
Enable NHS trusts to tackle areas of high priority or need for health
Provide some stability of funding to support the long-term development of top quality applied research groups working in the NHS
Replace, in part, programmes of research currently supported by the Priorities and Needs (PNF) component of NHS R&D Support Funding for NHS Providers
NIHR Funding Stream

7. Programme Development Grants
Funding
Individual awards will be for a maximum of £100k over a period of up to 18 months. The amount of funding awarded will, however, be determined by the scale and nature of the preparatory work to be conducted.
The sole purpose of NIHR Programme Development Grants is to enable a research team to undertake preparatory work that will position them to submit a successful Programme Grant application in a subsequent funding competition.
Competition 2
Competition launch th July 2009
Programme Development Grant submission deadline th November 2009, 5pm
Review of Programme Development Grant Applications February 2010
Notification of outcome of Programme Development Grant March 2010
Applications
An area of weakness identified by the Programme Grant Selection funding Panels to date has been the tendency for applications to be submitted at too early a stage in the development of a research programme.
The sole purpose of NIHR Programme Development Grants is to address this problem by providing funding of £20k - £100k (over a period of 6 − 18 months) to enable a research team to undertake preparatory work that will position them to submit a successful Programme Grant application in a subsequent funding competition.
Eligible uses of NIHR Programme Development Grant funding may include:
Evidence synthesis that might include modelling
Selection or development of interventions or measures of outcome
Pilot/feasibility studies to determine recruitment and participant retention rates, inform sample sizes calculations, optimise delivery of the intervention, etc.
Initiation and development of collaborations with methodological experts necessary to deliver the proposed research programme
Convening meetings to plan programme strategy, develop protocols, foster collaborative working within the research team, etc.
Funding
Individual awards will be for a maximum of £100k over a period of up to 18 months. The amount of funding awarded will, however, be determined by the scale and nature of the preparatory work to be conducted.
NIHR Funding Stream

8. Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)
The Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme is a nationally co-ordinated funding stream for regionally commissioned research.
Aims The main aim of the RfPB programme is to support projects in Health Services Research and Public Health. Projects can be either quantitative or qualitative, and should aim to
study the way that NHS services are provided and used
evaluate whether interventions are effective and provide value for money
examine whether alternative means for providing healthcare would be more beneficial in terms of cost and effectiveness
formally assess innovations and developments in healthcare which will benefit of patients
Funding
Individual grants are awarded to fund research projects rather than set up or maintain research units, or new service developments.
Competition 9
Registration of intention to submit deadline 17 April 2009, 5 PM
Submission Deadline May 2009, 5 PM
Declaration and Signatures deadline 05 June 2009, 5 PM
Submission Outcome November 2009 
Competition 10
Registration of intention to submit deadline 14 August 2009, 5 PM
Submission Deadline September 2009, 5 PM
Declaration and Signatures deadline 02 October 2009, 5 PM
Submission Outcome March 2010
This programme is intended to support research which is related to the day-to-day practice of health service staff and is capable of showing a demonstrable impact on the health or health care of users of the service. Funded research projects are likely to fall into the areas of health service research and public health research, although other areas are not excluded from the programme. The research projects will use quantitative or qualitative methods to:
• study the provision and use of NHS services;
• evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of interventions;
• examine the resource utilisation of alternative means for healthcare delivery;
• formally scrutinise innovations and developments; and
• pilot or consider the feasibility of projects requiring major grant applications to other funders.
Project grants should be up to 36 months duration with a total maximum cost of £250k including overheads. RfPB Project grants will also fund pilot studies, feasibility studies, meta-analysis, modelling studies and so forth.
Potential applicants should visit the programme NIHRbsite for news and for the most up-to-date information
NIHR Funding Stream

9. Research for Innovation Speculation and Creativity (RISC)
RISC is a response-mode funding programme established to provide research of direct benefit to users of the NHS in England. The RISC programme is for potentially paradigm-changing projects in Health Services and Public Health Research.
Purpose
The purpose of the RISC scheme is to fund new and radical ideas for health research that could lead to a step change in the care and management of patients. RISC awards are intended particularly for speculative, novel proposals that are unlikely to gain support during traditional peer review processes.
The RISC programme is complementary to the Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme as it provides a response-mode funding stream for applications that are too speculative for RfPB.
A fixed grant will be awarded to successful applicants.
On completion of the research, grant holders may be able to apply to RfPB to further develop the research theme.
The RISC programme will support potentially paradigm-changing projects in Health Services and Public Health Research. The aim is to fund new and radical ideas for health research that have potential for high impact but which are unlikely to fair NIHRll in traditional peer review processes.
NIHR programmes apply the Frascati definition of applied research[1]; i.e. that applied research is original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge, which is directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective.
[1] Frascati Manual 2002: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys of Research and Experimental Development, OECD, Paris, 2002
NIHR Funding Stream

10. Invention for Innovation Programme (i4i)
The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme is bringing new investment together with two existing, successful NIHR programmes: New and Emerging Applications of Technology (NEAT) and Health Technology Devices (HTD), to improve the identification of promising healthcare technologies and accelerate the development of new healthcare products for the 21st century.
Programmes under The umbrella of i4i includes:
i4i Future Product Development funding streams
Pilot Healthcare Technology Co-operatives (HTCs)
Challenge Fund for Innovation supporting
NIHR involvement in Assisted Living Innovation Platform
NIHR involvement in Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme
NIHR involvement with Medical Futures
NIHR involvement in MATCH PLUS project
The migration of the New and Emerging Applications of Technology (NEAT) and Health Technology Devices (HTD) programmes into the i4i Programme
NEAT covers all areas of health and social care where new or innovative technological approaches can be developed. Projects meeting the national priorities as specified in the NHS Plan are particularly NIHRlcome.
The programme involves initiatives in both the life and physical sciences. The main aim of the programme is to promote and support through applied research, the use of new or emerging technologies to develop health care products and interventions to enhance the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of health and social care. The research will be strategic and applied in nature, and will have the potential (although not necessarily a direct aim) for generating both intellectual property and cost reducing products and interventions. The main purpose of this programme is to overcome a development barrier and its outputs must have wide applicability and be capable of exploitation.
The NEAT programme will shortly be replaced by the new Invention for Innovation programme. Further information about the Invention for Innovation programme will be available shortly from the Central Commissioning Facility NIHRbsite (
NIHR Funding Stream

11. HTA Clinical Trials
The HTA programme commissions research in three different ways:
by advertising standard calls for research proposals that address specific topics
by advertising special calls for research proposals that address themed areas
by funding HTA clinical trials and evaluation studies that are proposed directly by researchers.
if you would like to be alerted when a new call is advertised
More details can be found at:
NIHR Funding Stream

12. Health Technology Devices (HTD)
The Health Technology Devices Programme aims to stimulate and promote collaborative research that contributes towards the development of new technology which meets patient needs. The HTD programme focuses on supporting the development of new medical devices and healthcare technologies that are capable of exploitation by the healthcare industries. HTD Calls are invited and handled through the HTD web portal at:
NIHR Funding Stream

13. WCLRN
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Comprehensive Clinical Research Network (CCRN) was created as part of the government’s research and development strategy, “Best Research for Best Health” to provide a world-class infrastructure for clinical trials in all areas of disease and clinical need within the NHS. 
The Western Comprehensive Local Research Network (CLRN) is one of 25 CLRNs across England which form part of the NIHR Comprehensive Clinical Research Network (CCRN). CCRN provides support for clinical trials and other well designed studies in all areas of disease and clinical need.
There are 3 funding streams:
Research Management & Governance (R&D Office Costs)
Delivery Sessional Support (Staffing Costs)
Delivery General Service (Running Costs)
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14. DH Flexibility and Sustainability Funding
NIHR Flexibility and Sustainability Funding is a new research funding stream. It helps research active NHS organisations to attract, develop and retain high quality research clinical and support staff by supporting the salaries of their Faculty members in a flexible manner
NIHR Flexibility and Sustainability Funding will provide for salary costs of NIHR Faculty in clearly defined circumstances. It will only support salary costs, including direct (i.e. salary) and indirect (e.g. payroll and HR) costs. It will not fund running costs. More details can be found at:
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15. Contact Details:
Tel: Thank you!