Applying for Funding
To ensure that you will have enough funds to cover the costs of research procedures (including staffing and research materials) you will need to secure a funding grant.
The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) is where the majority of grants are applied for. The following are the grants provided by the NIHR:
· Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)
· Systematic Reviews (SR)
· Policy Research Programme (PRB)
· Public Health Research (PHR)
· Programme Development Grants (PDG)
· Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR)
· Invention for Innovation (i4i)
· Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
· Health Service and Delivery Research (HS&DR)
· Efficacy Mechanism Evaluation (EME)
Typically, NHS Mental Health research falls under two of the streams: The Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) stream and the Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) stream.
Sometimes research is in response to a themed call from the NIHR. These calls recognise the need for an increase in research based- evidence in a particular topic. In the past these themed calls have included long term conditions in children and young people, dementia, primary care interventions, and surgery.
Other funders for research include:
Medical Research Council (MRC)
The neurosciences and mental health board is the MRC board responsible for funding of specific types of mental health research, for example, neurology, mental health and psychiatry, and medically relevant psychology. The MRC provide a number of grants, including a research grant which funds research in UK universities and NHS trusts.
- Service Delivery and Organisation (SDO) research and development programme
The SDO commissions research into six priority themes. Calls for research proposals are made in connection with the following themes – patient and carer centred services, workforce issues, evaluating models of SDO, change management, studying healthcare organisations and SDO research methods.
The Wellcome Trust aim to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health. They provide a range of funding opportunities for both organisations and individuals, including fellowships, and research project support.
There are other funders in addition to those listed, and we encourage you to seek out unique funding opportunities in your field. Securing research funding will allow you to make real steps towards developing your research project.