NIHR Global Health Research Groups Call 5

These partnerships may be for experienced UK researchers pivoting to work globally for the first time or for expanding existing partnerships into new themes and geographies.

Aims: Global Health Research Groups Programme

Building on the NIHR Global Health Research operating principles, the strategic aims of the Global Health Research Groups programme are to:

• build global research capacity by supporting specialist UK researchers to pivot to global health through new equitable and diverse UK-LMIC partnerships
• support UK-LMIC partnerships seeking to scale-up or expand existing research programmes into new health areas and/or geographies
• deliver programmes of high quality applied global health research targeted at the needs of people in LMICs, including e.g., scoping studies, needs analyses, economic and/or health system analyses, pilot studies and potentially trials
• generate robust new scientific evidence that will improve health outcomes for people in low resource settings through improving practice and informing policy
• create pathways to develop research leaders of the future
• strengthen research management capability and institutional sustainability in partner countries.

Scope

• Applications in any field of applied global health research for the direct and primary benefit of people living in one or more ODA-eligible country/ies will be considered. This is an open/researcher-led call. Applications in any field of applied global health research for the direct and primary benefit of people living in one or more ODA-eligible country/ies will be considered. Within this, NIHR remains interested in its previously published priority areas. These include non-communicable diseases, prevention and management of unintentional injuries, multiple long-term conditions, and mental health.

Budget/Length of Funding

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

In Scope

• This Global Health Research Groups call will support applications which:
  • involve specialist UK researchers developing new equitable and diverse UK-LMIC partnerships, or those extending existing UK-LMIC partnerships
  • propose ambitious plans to investigate new health areas and/or geographies through internationally competitive research
  • will deliver coherent and ambitious research and capacity strengthening programmes
  • deliver programmes with a planned start-up phase that will:
    • develop or expand into new research partnerships and networks
    • undertake LMIC-led needs analyses through engagement with policy makers, evidence users and local communities, to refine relevant research questions and priorities
  • target research areas that will lead to improved outcomes for the most vulnerable
  • include interdisciplinary applied research teams, including appropriate health systems and health economics expertise, with relevant experience and track record of ensuring research is transferred into benefits for people living in LMICs
• Applications including elements of methodology research as part of their wider programme of research are welcome. Proposed projects must:
  • meet a clear methods gap
  • contribute to the aims of the award
  • have generalised applicability to improve health research methods in LMICs

Who can apply?

• Groups applications must demonstrate an equitable partnership between 2 Joint Lead Applicants:
  • one at an eligible LMIC institution (LMIC Joint Lead)
  • one at an eligible UK institution (UK Joint Lead)
• The funding contract will be signed with the UK Joint Lead’s institution who will become the administering institution. Funding will be disbursed to the UK Lead institution only, who will be responsible for onwards disbursement to all collaborating institutions including the LMIC Joint Lead institution. Both the UK and LMIC Joint Lead institutions must be eligible Higher Education Institutions (HEI) or Research Institutes. Joint Lead Applicants will normally be Principal Investigators employed by the named UK Joint Lead or LMIC Joint Lead HEI or Research Institute. An individual cannot be named as Joint Lead on more than one application to this Groups Call 5.
• HEI or Research Institutes may submit more than one application to this call as Joint Lead, provided each application is distinct in its aims and objectives.
• Institutions submitting multiple applications to this call as Joint Leads must take into account that the NIHR will fund no more than three awards per Joint Lead Institution.

Eligibility

• ODA eligibility
  • 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
  • Where some elements of the research are not undertaken in an ODA-eligible country during the award (including where a country graduates from the DAC list during the lifetime of the award or there is a need for specialist expertise) the application must clearly state the reasons for this with due consideration to the benefit of the research to ODA-eligible countries.

For more information, visit National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR).