NIHR Funding Calls
i4i Programme
The invention for innovation (i4i) programme is a dedicated MedTech translational funding scheme for academics, clinicians and small- medium-sized enterprises(SME), which will advance innovative medical technologies and interventions for increased patient benefit in areas of existing or emerging clinical need. Projects must have already demonstrated proof of concept as a minimum. Applicants are expected to have generated experimental data to support the case for further development and illustrate technical feasibility, have sufficient research and activities planned (e.g. regulatory or health economics), and have a clear pathway towards adoption and commercialisation. Contact details for queries: i4i@nihr.ac.uk
The Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme primarily funds clinical trials and other robustly designed studies that test the efficacy of interventions. It covers both new and repurposed interventions, including diagnostic tests and decision-making tools, therapeutics, psychological treatments, medical devices, and public health initiatives delivered by the NHS. EME also supports hypothesis-driven research within clinical trials into the mechanism of action of interventions. Applications are required to demonstrate some initial evidence that the technology may be efficacious in patients (i.e. a signal of efficacy in a relevant human population has already been achieved) but a large-scale study is needed to determine definitive proof of clinical efficacy. Contact details for queries: eme@nihr.ac.uk
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme supports research that is immediately useful to patients, clinical practice, and policy or decision makers. It supports research into a wide range of technologies with the potential to improve health outcomes, including procedures, drugs, devices, diagnostic tests, settings of care and screening programmes. Studies funded by HTA aim to establish the clinical effectiveness or accuracy and cost-effectiveness of technologies in comparison with the current alternative(s) or within existing pathways. Applications to HTA are required to demonstrate that efficacy has already been established. Contact details for queries: htafunding@nihr.ac.uk
Music based interventions and dementia care
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme is accepting Stage 1 applications to their commissioned workstream for this primary research topic. This workstream is seeking proposals for the evaluation of the effectiveness and economic analysis of music-based interventions to improve the care and support for people living with dementia and their carers.
Applications close at 1pm on 29th November 2023. Click for further details and to access the application form.
Supporting the mental health of birth mothers at risk of recurrent care proceedings
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme is accepting Stage 1 applications to their commissioned workstream for this primary research topic. This workstream is seeking applicants who can conduct research into the programmes which are used to improve emotional wellbeing of women who have had a baby taken immediately into care, and how effective they are at reducing the cycle of repeated care proceedings.
Applications close at 1pm on 29th November 2023. Click for further details and to access the application form.
Endoscopic modalities for detection of Barrett’s oesophagus related neoplasia
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme is accepting Stage 1 applications to their commissioned workstream for this primary research topic. This workstream is seeking applicants who can conduct research into the diagnostic accuracy of different endoscopic modalities for detection of Barrett’s oesophagus related neoplasia.
Applications close at 1pm on 20th September 2023. Click for further details and to access the application form.
Management of severe acute asthma in children
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme is accepting Stage 1 applications to their commissioned workstream for this primary research topic. This workstream is seeking applicants who can conduct research into the clinical and cost-effectiveness of intravenous bronchodilators in children with severe acute asthma, who are unresponsive to maximal inhaled therapy.
Applications close at 1pm on 20th September 2023. Click for further details and to access the application form.
Effectiveness of oral nutritional supplements in older adults with malnutrition
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme is accepting Stage 1 applications to their commissioned workstream for this primary research topic. This workstream is seeking applicants who can conduct research into the effectiveness of oral nutritional supplements in older adults with malnutrition.
Applications close at 1pm on 20th September 2023. Click for further details and to access the application form.
British Heart Foundation Award: Translational Awards
Translational Awards aim to progress the development of novel, innovative technologies towards benefits to human cardiovascular health. The scheme supports the development of technologies with transformative potential from the proof-of-concept stage to being ready for the commercial market.
Proposals are expected to demonstrate a strong intellectual property position and a development proposition that could attract follow-on investment.
The scheme covers any type of technology, including:
- Devices
- Surgical techniques
- Diagnostics
- Imaging technologies
- Digital solutions
- Cell therapy and regenerative medicine
Preliminary application deadline: 13th December and June 2024 (please allow 10 months for final funding decision). Click to apply to the British Heart Foundation translational awards.
Wellcome Discovery Awards
You can apply for a Wellcome Discovery Award if you are a researcher who wants to pursue bold and creative research ideas. You must aim to make a major contribution to your research field by:
- generating significant shifts in understanding
and/or - developing methodologies, conceptual frameworks, tools or techniques that could benefit health-related research
You will be expected to actively promote a diverse, inclusive and supportive research environment within your team and across your organisation.
Your research can be in any discipline – including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), experimental medicine, humanities and social science, clinical/allied health sciences, and public health – as long as it has the potential to improve human life, health and wellbeing, and aligns with the funding remit for the Wellcome Discovery Awards.
Submission deadline: 21st November 2023
Research Ventures Catalyst
The Research Ventures Catalyst (RVC) is a pilot programme to stimulate the creation of novel research ventures, via entrepreneurial team-based approaches in collaboration with partners drawn from the public sector, industry and the third sector. RVC is a two-stage programme inviting proposals for new organisational models to tackle a research challenge. This application guidance is intended to support potential participants through the stage 1 open call process for the RVC scheme.
Stage 1: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) are initially inviting proposals and bids for up to £100,000 of ‘seed corn’ funding, which is available to support successful applicants in developing full plans for their new research ventures. DSIT is looking for proposals that will bring together researchers, experts and operators from different disciplines and sectors, or with complementary forms of technical expertise, to tackle a complex problem in a new organisational setting.
Find out more about the Research Venture Catalyst.
Submission Deadline: 23rd October 2023
NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme
The NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme is inviting stage 1 applications for research proposals that are concerned with the day-to-day practice of health service staff, and that have the potential to have an impact on the health or wellbeing of patients and users of the NHS.
As a researcher-led programme, RfPB does not specify topics for research but instead encourages proposals for projects that address a wide range of health service issues and challenges.
The programme aims to fund high quality quantitative and qualitative research with a clear trajectory to patient benefit. It particularly encourages applications that have a strong element of interaction with patients and the public and that have been conceived in association with a relevant group of service users.
Please apply for the RfPB Programme here.
Deadline for submission: 8th November 2023
Early detection of liver disease
Click to find out more about the early detection of liver disease funding.
Submission deadline: January 2024
NIHR: The use of artificial intelligence for image interpretation in breast screening commission brief
Submission deadline: 15th November 2023
The Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI)
is delighted to partner with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Surgical MedTech Co-operative (Surgical MIC) to offer the Best New Surgical Innovation Award.
This award will provide the recipient with a £10,000 grant to support prototype development, proof-of-concept work or early feasibility tests for new surgical technologies. In addition, this is an opportunity which will provide you with high-level access to NIHR expertise and its innovation pipeline to advance your project.
The award is an open call and reviews will be conducted on an ongoing basis. Click here for more information about the Best New Surgical Innovation Award.