NIHR Programme Development Grants (PDG) is inviting applications for funding to undertake preparatory work to develop a future programme of research (stream A). PDGs are also available for researchers to develop and enhance the quality and value of an ongoing or recently completed Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) award (stream B).
This is a one-stage, researcher-led funding opportunity. To apply you will need to submit a full application.
PDG funding opportunities
PDG is participating in the following funding opportunities with separate applications on the awards management system. Applicants should read each one carefully before applying to the relevant one.
PDG is currently participating in the following highlight notices on brain tumours, invasive lobular carcinoma (lobular breast cancer), and work and health. For further details, please visit the themed calls page.
PDG is also interested in receiving applications which meet the research recommendations identified in recent NICE guidance, particularly the Wearable technologies in identifying the risk of falls, and the James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) research priorities, particularly the Addiction Healthcare Goals Priority. For further details, please review the commissioned rolling funding opportunities below.
PGfAR PDG researcher-led – stream A – pre-programme grant (2026/372)
The PDG stream A funding opportunity is available for researchers to undertake preparatory work to develop a future programme of research.
Please see the PDG webpage for details about the overall programme remit and eligibility criteria.
Highlight notice
PDG is currently participating in the following highlight notices:
For further details, please visit the themed calls page.
PDG is also interested in receiving applications which meet the research recommendations identified in recent NICE guidance and the James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) research priorities.
For further details, please review the commissioned rolling funding opportunities below.
PGfAR PDG commissioned – stream A – NIHR NICE rolling funding opportunity (2026/373)
NIHR PDG is interested in receiving applications that:
- are within the remit of the PDG programme Stream A (pre‑programme grant to develop a future programme), and
- address recommendations in research identified in NICE guidance that have been published or updated in the last 5 years.
Applications must clearly state the NICE guidance to which they relate.
In order to apply you will need to carefully review the NIHR NICE specification document.
Wearable technologies in identifying the risk of falls
NG249 – Falls: assessment and prevention in older people and in people 50 and over at higher risk
Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of wearable technologies in identifying all people aged 65 and over and people aged 50-64, at a higher risk of falls within community care settings.
Factors that could increase the risk of falls include long-term health conditions that impact on a person’s daily life such as arthritis, dementia, diabetes or Parkinson’s disease; having had a stroke; and having a learning disability.
Existing evidence shows that no single fall risk assessment or conventional gait and balance tool can accurately predict a person’s risk of falls. Wearable technologies (including standalone sensors and smartphones) have the potential to not only identify those most at risk, but to identify specific gait or balance impairments, monitor and improve adherence to exercise interventions and detect fall events, to reduce the risk of falls and fall related injuries.
Correctly implemented, effective wearable technologies could support the self-assessment of falls risk by patients at scale and the improved efficiency and delivery of falls services including diagnosis and treatment.
Wearables may also serve to increase health inequalities and research proposals should consider the barriers to digital inclusion faced by older people and those living with frailty and how to overcome these.
Through this NICE rolling funding opportunity, we would welcome applications that generate high quality evidence to support a recommendation for the use of wearables, although applications are not restricted to this area of research and are not required to include this research priority.
PGfAR PDG commissioned – stream A – NIHR James Lind Alliance (JLA) rolling funding opportunity (2026/374)
NIHR PDG is interested in receiving applications that:
- are within the remit of the PDG programme Stream A (pre‑programme grant to develop a future programme), and
- address any of the James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) research priorities.
Applications must clearly state the PSP to which they relate.
In order to apply you will need to carefully review the NIHR JLA specification document.
Addiction Healthcare Goals
This cross programme highlight notice indicates an area of research interest for the NIHR and the Office for Life Sciences. Applications in response to this highlight notice must still be within remit of the programme you’re applying to. Applications to this JLA rolling funding opportunity are not required to address or include this research priority and can address any James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership priority.
The Office for Life Science’s (OLS) Addiction Healthcare Goals (AHG) programme, established in November 2022 as part of the UK’s Drug Strategy: From Harm to Hope, has worked with the James Lind Alliance (JLA) to conduct a Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) to identify the research questions that matter most to people with lived experience of drug and/or alcohol addiction, their families and carers, and frontline professionals.
Published in May 2025, the top 10 research priorities ranked ‘identifying the best approaches to reducing drug-related deaths’ as the leading priority. Other key areas for further research include:
- Treatment and therapeutics – including identifying effective interventions to treat trauma alongside addiction (priority 2) and co-existing mental health conditions (priority 5), identifying effective psychological therapies (priority 9) and interventions to prevent relapse (priority 10)
- Health services – including effective interventions or approaches to address stigma and discrimination within health services (priority 3), deliver personalised, culturally responsive treatment (priority 7) and improve the integration of addiction and mental health services (priority 8)
- Public health and harm reduction – identifying the most effective harm reduction approaches (priority 4)
- Supporting children affected by people with addiction (priority 6)
These priorities sit against a significant health burden. In England, illegal drug use is estimated to cost society ~£20bn per year, with alcohol-related harms a further ~£27bn. Since 2012, drug related deaths have more than doubled (~5,000 UK deaths annually) and alcohol specific-deaths now exceed 10,000 per year. Around 300,000 people in England are dependent on heroin and crack cocaine and 600,000, on alcohol with polydrug use common.
Through the JLA PSP rolling funding opportunity, we would welcome applications addressing the AHG research priorities. Proposals that demonstrate alignment with the AHG programme’s aims – catalysing innovation in treatments and technologies and building a pioneering UK-wide research ecosystem across the NHS, third sector, criminal justice and community settings – are particularly encouraged.
PGfAR PDG researcher-led – stream B – post-award programme grant (2026/375)
The PDG stream B funding opportunity is available for researchers to develop and enhance the quality and value of an ongoing or recently completed Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) award.
Please see the PDG webpage for details about the overall programme remit and eligibility criteria.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/programme-development-grants-march-2026/2026372-2026373-2026374-2026375)
