This is a key one for ECRs in mental health research – the NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund is back for round 2! Read on for more info on why it is so useful.
What is it?
The fund is aimed at providing short term, 12 month, support to enable researchers to carve out time or otherwise prepare for an application to one of the larger career development grant schemes offered by the NIHR. As we have written about before here, large applications take a significant amount of time to prepare.
This grant helps by providing:
- a contribution to the salary of the applicant to buy out the necessary time to prepare an application;
- relevant training and development, mentorship or supervisory costs specifically associated with developing an application;
- other costs where the additional support required to submit an application extends beyond the categories outlined above.
Who’s it for?
The fund is open to anyone hosted by an English institution or body who can prove that the support is necessary to develop a subsequent application and would meet the criteria for one. Additionally, NIHR are particularly welcoming applications from the following groups:
- regulated health and care professionals (nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, pharmacists and healthcare scientists)
- social work and public health professionals
- researchers in methodology
- applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds
- applicants who are disabled
Key dates
This funding round opened on 23 January and runs until 13.00 Wednesday 27 March. The awards would start on either 1 August or 1 November.
A third round of funding will open in May 2024 if you are not feeling ready this time round, or will need support after November 2024.
Want to know more?
Check out the call on the NIHR’s website here, including a link to the detailed guidance notes.
Are you applying to this fund, or did you apply in round one and have advice to share? Let us know over on X/Twitter @MHRIncubator