The NIHR Schools for Primary Care Research (SPCR), Public Health Research (SPHR), and Social Care Research (SSCR) – collectively known as the “Three Schools” – have forged a unique collaboration among leading academic centres in England. This collaboration is dedicated to three distinct programmes funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR): one on mental health hosted by SPCR, the second on dementia hosted by SSCR, and the third on Prevention hosted by SPHR. This research call specifically pertains to the Prevention Research Programme.
The primary goal of each of the Three Schools is to enhance the evidence base for practice in their respective fields, ensuring that their research remains both timely and relevant. Within the Prevention Research Programme, we leverage expertise from across the Three Schools to conduct research targeting the upstream determinants of health and wellbeing (including physical, mental and social aspects). This refers to primary and secondary research across the spectrum of prevention-related practice, across different groups, settings and using a range of methodologies. Research could involve any aspect of prevention support or care in related health and social care services. This research aims to support communities, families, and individuals, not only in adopting healthier behaviours, but also in maintaining independence, safety, reducing loneliness and isolation, and reducing the impacts of disability, leading to improvements in public, patient, service user, and carer outcomes. Examples of these outcomes include:
- Enhanced access to and experience of health and social care services
- Improved physical and mental health, social well-being
- Improved quality of life
- Ability to work
- Decreased premature mortality
- Mitigation of health and well-being inequalities
The NIHR Three Schools Prevention Research Programme was granted £10m to implement a comprehensive prevention research programme and conduct capacity-building activities from 2023 to 2027. The programme’s overarching objectives are to develop, evaluate, and understand how to implement interventions that promote health, independence and well-being, treat conditions early, and manage health problems to prevent severe diseases.
During the first few months of the Prevention Research Programme, we undertook a period of consultation with policy makers, practitioners, users, carers and patients and/or other experts by experience nominated by the NIHR Schools for Public Health, Primary Care and Social Care Research. The consultation identified evidence gaps and priority research to understand and deliver prevention, timely diagnosis and appropriate intervention for people at increased risk of poor health and social isolation, to prevent premature deaths, improve population health, reduce health and wellbeing inequalities and ensure that health and social care services support and meet population and individual needs. The finding from our consultation and research priorities can be found here.
What the follow-on research project award offers
This funding call offers an opportunity for members of the Three NIHR Schools (SPHR, SPCR, SSCR) who hold an existing or recently completed School award(s), or a Three Schools cross-programme award(s) (Prevention, Mental Health, or Dementia), to:
- Enhance the outcomes of their current or completed award(s), with a focus on prevention
- Develop and share innovative research ideas with a focus on prevention that have emerged from their School or cross-School programme research, with the aim of informing and improving national policies and practices
- Explore the scalability of innovative prevention interventions across various settings and/or populations
- Collaborate with leading researchers, practitioners, members of the public, patients, service users, and carers to co-develop follow-on work. These small-scale activities will lay the groundwork for larger prevention research proposals, planned to be submitted to NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research, Social Care, Public Health, NIHR Academy schemes including advanced fellowships and research professorships, Health Technology Assessment, or the HSDR Programmes.
The call particularly welcomes proposals that aim to synthesise key findings, evidence, or lessons learned from existing awards or that aim to translate findings from research to new settings or communities with a focus on prevention. We also welcome work focused on specific prevention research questions, methods development, and research involving diverse communities.
Examples of eligible activities include:
- Conducting additional analyses or linkage work that adds value to existing programme-funded awards with a prevention focus
- Expanding existing prevention activities across primary care, public health, and/or social care, depending on the nature of the original work
- Consolidating learning on topics such as methods development, equality, research inclusion, public involvement, and knowledge exchange
- Scoping work to address evidence gaps identified through previous awards
Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Other prevention-focused follow-on activities may also be proposed.
Proposals should address the following:
- Relevance to the Prevention Research Programme aims (as outlined below)
- How the activity builds on and complements one or more existing (or completed) NIHR Three Schools programme awards
- Mean
- Any ethical implications, along with plans to address them
- Expected outcomes – these must be clearly stated and achievable
All proposals must be methodologically sound, with a strong rationale for the chosen methods. Projects should be clearly defined and coherent in terms of rationale, work plan and pathway to impact.
Please note:
- This funding will not support activities that solely replace or extend what is already funded or expected under other research projects
- Proposals for impact activities will not be supported through this call. Instead, they should be directed to the Prevention Research Programme Impact Accelerator Award call, scheduled for launch in winter 2025
Funding available
The Three Schools Prevention Research Programme expects to commission between 5 and 10 awards, the total budget for a project is expected to be between £50-100k depending on scale. Staff and non-staff costs will be funded at 100%, with an overhead rate of 30% applied to staff costs. Please cost your application using the costing template provided, a full justification of resource is required as part of the application.
Duration
Projects are expected to start from 1st January 2026 and must be completed by 31st March 2027. There is some flexibility with start date and duration for these follow-on awards.
Eligibility criteria
Funding of research through this programme requires collaboration between at least two members of the Three Schools (SPHR, SPCR, SSCR), one who must be project lead. Collaborators from outside the Three Schools are permitted. Details of the Schools, their member institutions, and their research areas can be found on the Schools website, which should be your first point of reference for identifying potential collaborators. If you are unable to identify suitable collaborators, we will provide support in facilitating connections across the Schools where possible.
All applications must demonstrate relevance for, and potential to improve, prevention-related practice and outcomes for people in England. The Prevention Research Programme is focussed on research that aims to understand and deliver prevention in its fullest sense and across all settings within the Three Schools remit. This may include but is not limited to:
Timely diagnosis and access to appropriate interventions for people at increased risk of poor health and well-being (including but not restricted to areas such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mental health, multiple long term conditions, musculoskeletal, respiratory disease, dementia, environmental conditions, alcohol/substance misuse/smoking/tobacco control, physical health, social lives and independence , in the area of ageing, children and young people, woman’s health, and learning and physical disability).
Research should aim to promote and maintain well-being and independence, prevent excess deaths, improve population health (including the working age population), reduce disparities and reduce reliance on health. While reduction in formal social care support may be a useful outcome in some studies it is acknowledged that the aims of social care support are often to promote independence and well-being and therefore reduction may not be an appropriate aim. Research domains, including economics, co-production, implementation, impact, complex systems, workforce, data, social and wider determinants of physical and social health, and health and social inequalities are also in scope.
Emphasis is placed on solution focused rather than descriptive research and may include developing effective interventions for disadvantaged populations, understanding the social and wider determinants of health, well-being and independence, and exploring new models of integrated care. Consideration should be given to the impact of local and national government actions, as well as the role of digital interventions in exacerbating or addressing disparities. Overall, the research should aim to inform evidence-based policies and practice that address the multifaceted prevention challenges within public health, primary care and social care, fostering healthier communities, supporting individuals and promoting equitable access to care.
Special consideration should be given to the inclusion of people from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and other underserved communities that are known to be more affected by inequalities.
Application process
Please send completed application forms to sphr.prevention@ncl.ac.uk before the deadline of 5pm, Tuesday 30th September 2025. Please note the application must be endorsed and signed by an authorised signatory of the lead School member, requires cross School collaboration and inclusion of a completed costing template. We expect to receive more applications than we can fund. Following review by a national research review panel, unsuccessful applicants will receive constructive feedback on their proposals within four weeks of the decision, and, where appropriate, information on other sources of funding may be provided.
Selection criteria
Applications will be reviewed using the following criteria:
- Additional value to an existing programme-funded study(ies) or activities
- Clear alignment with the Prevention Research Programme priorities, including relevance and importance to the priorities and needs of primary care, public health, and social care
- Awareness and understanding of previous relevant research or developments in this area
- Background to the research, the evidence it is based on, why now is the right time
- High-quality research proposal with the potential to impact the prevention agenda; clear aims and objectives with methods to achieve them
- Involve at least two of the Three Schools; Primary Care, Public Health, and Social Care.
- Capacity and expertise; this will be assessed at a local and national level
- Active role of practitioners and experts by experience, as appropriate, in the research process; we strongly encourage collaboration with these colleagues. This could include them acting as peer researchers, joint data analysis and interpretation, and making the best use of local data and knowledge
- Strength of the proposed plans for patient, carer and/or public involvement throughout the duration of the research
- Ability to enable action that promotes research inclusion
- Ability to complete the research within the prevention research funding time limits (work must end by 31st March 2027).
- Suitability of the work plan and project management arrangements
- Value for money
Timeline and commissioning process
- Stage 1 – Work collaboratively with your supervisors/mentors in SPCR, SSCR, SPHR, practice and public partners to develop and complete the application form
- Stage 2 – Completed proposal applications are reviewed, ranked and prioritised by the Three Schools prevention research review panel
A small number of projects will be selected and the successful applicants will be informed. Unsuccessful applicants will receive feedback
- Stage 3 – Award letters will be issued and contract arrangements begin, with successful prevention follow-on research awards to start 1st January 2026
2025 Timeline
- June 2025: Call launches
- 5pm, 30th September 2025: Deadline for applications
- October 2025: National-level peer (academic, practice, public) review of applications. Expert panel to rank and prioritise for funding
- October/November 2025: Outcomes communicated to applicants and feedback to those unsuccessful
- November 2025: Contracting with host institutions; Research agreements will be between the NIHR School for Public Health Research on behalf of the Three Schools and the host organisation. NIHR SPHR terms and conditions will apply
- 1st January 2026: Successful prevention follow-on research projects begin
Visit funding web page
(https://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/research/prevention-programme/nihr-three-research-schools-prevention-programme-follow-on-project-call/)
