NIHR HSDR – Researcher-led

Application guidance

Read the following guidance to help you complete your application:

• domestic outline funding application guidance: this lists the fields that appear in the awards management system and explains what information you need to include for each one
• HSDR Programme application guidance: see our checklist and the information below for specific requirements our HSDR Programme looks for in applications
• HSDR Programme page: details about the programme remit
• funding assessment criteria
• research inclusion guidance: it is important that you fully consider inclusive research design and sex and gender throughout the whole research lifecycle
• finance guidance for applicants

Research plan

Write a maximum of 5 A4 pages for your research plan. When reviewing applications, we will not consider any additional information over this 5-page limit.

Background and rationale

There are different types of needs your research could address under our HSDR Programme. Your research may address one or a few needs; it does not have to address all. Read each need for information on what to include in your application:

Research needs

Health or care need

If your proposed research shows the benefits of improving health for the public, patients or carers, please state the benefits and explain how they will have an impact. Benefits include potentially preventing avoidable mortality and morbidity, improving quality of life, and preventing diseases.

Research in this area is likely to identify new ways of working that enhance opportunities for health promotion or quality and safety of care.

Benefits may also arise from improving the acceptability and effectiveness of care, cost effectiveness to the NHS (health and social care), better targeting of services, or equity of access to care.

Expressed need

If someone from the health and care management community has expressed a need for research in a particular area, you should show the evidence for this and how it relates to the wider NHS (health and social care).

You should also consider why patients and the service will want to act on the outcomes of your research.

Sustained interest and intent

Show that the issue or area you are researching will have sustained interest in the future. The results of your research must remain highly relevant and important to the needs of the NHS in the future.

If your research addresses an NIHR area of ongoing need, you should reference this fact in your proposal (under this heading).

Capacity to generate new knowledge

If you have identified a knowledge gap where new research is needed which cannot be addressed by any existing research, you should describe this in your application.

Generalisable findings and prospects for change

Research in this area is likely to produce generalisable or transferable findings which are valuable to the health and care management community.

In your application, describe how health and care organisations are likely to be able to use your findings in their decision-making in ways that bring about change and improvement.

Building on existing work

Your research might contribute to building a coherent body of knowledge in the area. You should show how your research builds on, but does not duplicate, previous research.

What is the problem being addressed?

You must clearly identify the health and care need your research meets or contributes to. Outline the anticipated value or contribution your study will provide.

Review of existing evidence: how does the existing literature support your proposal?

If your proposal includes primary research, then you should reference the existing evidence and explain how this evidence has informed your research.

Where an existing systematic review summarises the available evidence, you should reference this, and reference any relevant literature published after that systematic review.

Where no such systematic review exists, you are expected to undertake an appropriate review of the currently available and relevant evidence. You should do this using a predetermined and described methodology that systematically identifies, critically appraises and then synthesises the available evidence, and then present a summary of these findings in your proposal.

You must also reference relevant ongoing studies, for example, from trial registries.

Aims and objectives

Summarise the research question(s) and key aims and objectives.

HSDR funds research projects, not programmes of work or ongoing work. You must have clearly defined research questions, and aims and objectives, and describe how the planned methodology is likely to achieve these objectives.

Methodology/plan

Include the following detail in your methodology and plan:

Project design and methods

Summarise your project plan plus any additional points required to support statements made in the previous sections. Include any key references required to justify them, for example, the use of particular outcome measures or methods of analysis.

For HSDR funding opportunities there are no fixed limits on the duration of projects, funding amount, or the number of co-applicants.

Design

Clearly summarise the type of study design you will be using. For example, primary research, controlled trial, evidence synthesis, or systematic review.

Include methods, proposed sample size, and analysis methods, and explain why you have chosen the proposed methodology.

Methodological sub-studies (Studies Within A Trial/Review/Project)

We encourage you to embed a methodological sub-study into your research. See our methodological sub-studies page for more information, including any restrictions of specific funding programmes.

Timeline and milestones

Project timetables including recruitment rate

Indicate the anticipated duration of the study. Where relevant, pay particular attention to the expected recruitment rate and justify your estimate.

Outline the main stages of your proposed project including regulatory steps; team recruitment; participant recruitment; data collection, access, linkage, analysis, and knowledge mobilisation.

Include the expected duration of each.

Study management

Clinical Trials Unit involvement 

Clinical Trials Units are regarded as an important component of many trial applications. They can advise and participate throughout the process from initial idea development through to project delivery and reporting. However, they may not be essential for all types of studies. If you feel this is the case, please justify the reasons in your application.

If you are looking for a Clinical Trial Unit to collaborate with in your application, you can find all UK-registered units on the UKCRC CTU Network website.

Please note: we will check all proposals recommended for funding which involve a clinical trial. We check potential overlaps using WHO trials before we communicate any funding decision. Consequently, a funding recommendation may not be taken forward if a major overlap is identified at this stage. It is therefore important that you highlight any potential overlaps before your application is considered by the funding committee.

UK Biobank

UK Biobank is a major national health resource, and a registered charity in its own right. It holds a health research database and aims to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses.

We encourage you to consider whether Biobank may be able to provide suitable data for your study. We do not want to discourage you from establishing new participants and data where this is necessary to address your research question. Our aim is to avoid applications looking to set up Biobank-like cohorts where the use of Biobank would prevent wasteful duplication of Biobank-like activities.

Reasonable costs and value for money

The HSDR Programme accepts that some variance in costs is likely to occur between the outline and full applications. We will carefully scrutinise all full application costs and any variance from the outline application. All costs need to be fully justified by the applicants to reassure that the study offers good value for money for the NHS and social care services.

Uploads

Add the following to the ‘Uploads’ section of your application.

Please note that any additional uploads not required at the outline stage, or larger than the stated limits, will be removed without notice.

Flow diagram (mandatory)

Upload a flow diagram on a single side of A4. The diagram should illustrate the study design and the flow of participants, if appropriate.

If your project consists of more than one work package, consider a diagram that conveys the sequence and timing of research packages, as well as how the work packages are linked.

For qualitative work it may be appropriate to set out your theoretical framework. You must give full consideration to research inclusion and working with people and communities.

Logic model

You do not need to upload a logic model.

References (mandatory)

Upload 1 single-side A4 page PDF document of references.

Flexible upload

You do not need to upload any additional files.