The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has launched a third call for Global Health Research Groups Programme.

Aims

The strategic aim across the Global Health Research Groups programme is to:

• address locally-identified challenges in LMICs through equitable research partnerships between researchers and institutions in the UK and ODA-eligible countries
• to generate the scientific evidence that can improve health outcomes for people in low resource setting through improving practice and informing policy.
• Strengthen research and research management capacity and capability to support future sustainability of research in partner countries.

Funding  Information

Through this call, awards up to £3 million over a period of up to 3 to 4 years are available to NIHR Global Health Research Groups.

Scope

• Global Health Research Group awards will support:
  • Applications which:
    • Propose applied health research programmes that primarily and directly address the challenges faced by people and patients in ODA-eligible country/ies.
    • Include multi-disciplinary applied research teams with relevant expertise and a track-record of ensuring research is transferred into benefits for patients.
    • Include relevant engagement with policy makers, patients and the public, civil society organisations and charities throughout the life of the proposed programme.
    • Demonstrate equity and collaboration in programme leadership, decision-making, capacity strengthening, governance, appropriate distribution of funds, ethics processes, data ownership, and dissemination of findings.
    • Propose a coherent and sustainable plan for capacity and capability strengthening at individual and institutional level.
    • Demonstrate the strength of institutional commitment to the research partnership.

Eligibility Criteria

• The NIHR Global Health Research programme supports high-quality applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) on the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list, using Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding.
• In order to be eligible to receive NIHR Global Health Research funding, applications must demonstrate how they meet ODA compliance criteria and outline:
  • Which country or countries on the OECD DAC list of ODA-eligible countries will directly benefit?
  • How the application is directly and primarily relevant to the development challenges of those countries?
  • How the outcomes will promote the health and welfare of people in a country or countries on the OECD DAC list ?

Criteria

Applications for Global Health Research Groups will be required to describe how they address the following key criteria for funding:    

• Excellence: The research is robust, needs-driven, addresses a significant gap in global health research, and will enable the development of individuals and research institutions to produce high quality global health evidence.
• Equitable Partnership: The proposed research plans will establish equitable partnerships for research teams either newto delivering applied health research globallyor expanding to new global partnerships to deliver applied global health research. Equity and collaboration are strongly reflected in programme leadership, decision-making, capacity strengthening, governance, appropriate distribution of funds, ethics processes, data ownership, and dissemination of findings.
• Effectiveness: The proposed research addresses unmet health needs in ODA-eligible countries, with research plans based on a review of the local context/health system(s) and existing literature. Applications include appropriate plans for effective programme management, governance, institutional support, contract management, with a clear, well-justified budget that represents good value for money.
• Capacity Strengthening: There are clear plans for a focussed programme of research and research management capacity and capability strengthening at individual and institutional level appropriate to the goals of the Group, including at least three academic training posts, appropriate training of research support functions (training in finance, programme and research management) and informal training opportunities, which collectively enhance professional development and education in research.
• Stakeholder and Community Involvement: Relevant and appropriate stakeholder and community engagement should be evident throughout all stages of the research, from research priority setting and design, to delivery, dissemination, and impact evaluation activities.
• Impact and Sustainability: There is a clear and implementable strategy for pathways to impact, including research uptake and dissemination, with the potential to improve practice, inform policy, and support future sustainability of research in partner countries.

For more information, visit NIHR.