The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is one of the biggest providers of mental health research funding in the UK. Researchers who want to make a direct difference to the lives of people in the NHS, public health, and social care can receive funding through the different NIHR programmes, schools, and research units. But with so many options, how can you tell which one is right for your research project? In Part 2 of our NIHR funding series, we’ll go into detail about the NIHR Research Programmes and what they can offer to different research projects in mental health.
What kind of research is funded by NIHR?
The NIHR remit funds research that improves the health and wealth of the nation. Research supported by an NIHR funding stream must:
- be for clinical and applied health or social care research
- be people and patient based
- clearly set out a trajectory for how the research will benefit patients and the public
What is a funding stream?
There are two main sources of NIHR funding, collectively referred to as funding streams or funding programmes. The different funding streams support different research areas, methodologies, and researcher experiences.
NIHR Academy Programmes and Fellowships are awarded for the training and development of individual researchers at all career stages, including early career and senior researchers, and health and care professionals developing a career in research. The Academy Programmes include fellowship schemes, professorships, integrated academic training, senior investigators, and NIHR academic career development. New funding opportunities launch regularly on the NIHR funding page. We’ll talk more about these opportunities later on in the NIHR funding series.
NIHR Research Programmes fund varying types of research projects or programmes of research in health and care. There are 10 Research Programmes, each with its own remit for high quality projects in a range of topics and researcher experiences. Researchers can apply to a Programme to fund projects in self-identified topic areas or in topic areas that have been commissioned by NIHR.
NIHR Research Programmes
Below we’ll go into more detail on the types of projects, research areas, and researcher expertise best suited to each of the 10 NIHR Research Programmes.
Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME)
What kinds of projects?
The EME Programme primarily supports clinical trials and other robustly designed studies that test the efficacy of interventions with the potential to improve patient care or benefit the public. The programme will only support studies where there is sufficient evidence that the intervention might work in practice, i.e. that there is ‘proof of concept’.
Which areas of research?
Public health, clinical evaluation and translation, social care.
Best for: senior researchers generating evidence for novel interventions in practice.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for EME
Read some examples of EME research in the NIHR Journals Library
Evidence Synthesis (ES)
What kinds of projects?
ES suits research projects that look to provide evidence to health and care decision-makers about existing interventions being used in practice by combining relevant data from existing research studies. Projects funded in the ES stream identify, evaluate, combine, and summarise information from a range of sources about the effects of tests, treatments, and other interventions currently used in health and social care. ES projects can include systematic, rapid, or scoping reviews, meta-analyses, or decision analytic modelling.
Which areas of research?
Public health, clinical evaluation and translation, social care.
Best for: researchers synthesising evidence for the implementation of existing interventions.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for ES.
Read some examples of ES research in the NIHR Journals Library
Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR)
What kinds of projects?
HS&DR is suitable for evaluative research projects aiming to produce rigorous and relevant evidence to improve the quality, accessibility, and organisation of health and social care services. Typical projects use mixed-methods analyses with a focus on the organisation and accessibility of care and the experiences of patients, staff, and service users.
Which areas of research?
Public health, health service and organisation and social care.
Best for: senior researchers looking to generate or synthesise evidence to improve the quality and organisation of health and care services
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for HS&DR.
Read some examples of HS&DR research in the NIHR Journals Library
Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
What kinds of projects?
HTA suits research programmes analysing the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of treatments and tests used in the NHS and their wider impact on those who plan, provide, or receive care from the NHS and social care services. Studies may compare the evidence for a new technology or method with those currently in practice.
Which areas of research?
Public health, health service and organisation, clinical evaluation and translations, social care.
Best for: senior researchers synthesising or generating evidence on the effect and impact of health and care methods.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for HTA.
Read some examples of HTA research in the NIHR Journals Library
Invention for Innovation (i4i)
What kinds of projects?
Projects funded in the i4i stream focus on the pre-clinical and clinical development of innovative medical devices, diagnostics and health technologies that meet an existing or emerging patient need in the NHS. There are three different funding streams running throughout the year.
Which areas of research?
Public health, clinical evaluation and translations, technology development.
Best for: researchers partnering with industry to generate evidence for bringing medical technologies into use in the NHS.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for i4i.
Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR)
What kinds of projects?
PGfAR-funded research programmes develop multidisciplinary evidence to improve health outcomes through health promotion, prevention and optimal disease management. This stream is suitable for studies that aim to address health and care needs in areas where other research funders may not focus. Programme Development Grants (PDG) can help researchers to prepare for PGfARs. Research funded through PDfAR usually comprise of multiple related projects that form a coherent, clinically relevant theme and work to address priorities in health and/or social care using a range of methodologies and multidisciplinary approaches with clear plans for implementation, knowledge mobilisation, and dissemination.
Which areas of research?
Public health, health service and organisation, clinical evaluation and translations, social care
Best for: senior researchers and mid-career researchers with appropriate mentorship generating or synthesising evidence as part of a programme of applied health and social care research.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for PGfAR.
Read some examples of PGfAR research in the NIHR Journals Library
Programme Development Grants (PDG)
What kinds of projects?
PDG funding supports established researchers to prepare a competitive funding application for the Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) stream. PDG funding may also be used to further develop an existing or ongoing PGfAR-funded programme of research. Stream A PDG funding supports preparatory work for a future programme of research, while Stream B PDG funding supports further development of an ongoing or recently completed programme of research.
Which areas of research?
Public health, health service and organisation, clinical evaluation and translations, social care.
Best for: senior researchers and mid-career researchers with appropriate mentorship who intend to apply to the PGfAR stream.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for PDG
Public Health Research (PHR)
What kinds of projects?
PHR funds research into existing interventions that address health and health inequalities but are not currently delivered within the NHS. PHR research evaluates the potential for these interventions to be implemented at scale and generates evidence to inform long-term changes to and decisions about public health by the government and national health agencies, charities, researchers, health practitioners, and the public. PHR projects can include evaluations of interventions on health and health inequalities, natural experiments, secondary research, modelling studies, interventions with a likely impact on health and health inequalities, studies using longitudinal datasets to study wider determinants of health by linking data across sectors, and a small number of feasibility studies.
Which areas of research?
Public health, social care.
Best for: researchers at any career stage, particularly multi-disciplinary and those from outside public health disciplines, whose project synthesises or generates evidence for non-NHS public health interventions or tests practical interventions.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for PHR
Read some examples of PHR research in the NIHR Journals Library
Policy Research Programme (PRP)
What kinds of projects?
PRP research aims to deliver evidence to government and arms-length bodies about health and care systems that can be used to inform policy decisions, development, and implementation. Research projects funded through PRP assess potential impacts and cost-effectiveness, evaluate policies and pilot policies, and address policy priorities and evidence needs over the longer term. PRP research can include formative and summative evaluations, clinical trials, longitudinal studies, secondary analyses, systematic reviews, or multi-study research initiatives on a key policy area or issue.
Which areas of research?
Public health, health service and organisation, clinical evaluation and translations, technology development, social care.
Best for: Researchers at any career stage synthesising or generating evidence to inform the development of evidence-based national policy decisions across the health, care and public health systems.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for PRP
Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)
What kinds of projects?
RfPB is a flexible programme that funds researcher-led projects related to day-to-day practice of health service and social care staff and with an impact on the health and well-being of patients and users of NHS and social care services. Research funded through RfPB aims to increase the effectiveness of services, provide value for money and benefit patients and the public, and should have a clear trajectory to patient benefit. RfPB research can include projects that would be suitable in any of the other NIHR programmes but would benefit from a smaller scale or feasibility study.
Which areas of research?
Public health, health service and organisation, clinical evaluation and translations, social care.
Best for: Researchers at any career stage synthesising or generating evidence that has a clear trajectory towards benefiting the health or wellbeing of patients and users of the NHS and social care services. RfPB welcomes and encourages early career researchers to lead on research applications while being supported and mentored by a senior colleague as a joint applicant.
Current opportunities: click here to view current NIHR funding opportunities for RfPB
Want to know more about funding your research with NIHR? Stay tuned for Part 3 of our NIHR funding series, where we’ll discuss how the NIHR Research Development Service can help you get your idea funded.