Quality research evidence is essential for improving health and social care, but some problems in the healthcare system cannot wait many years for research outcomes. Meanwhile, there are people working in a range of health and social care settings who are eager to engage in research, but don’t have many opportunities to do so.

Enter our Applied Partnership Awards (APA) scheme, which calls on researchers and knowledge users in the health and social care system to join forces and co-create research that addresses these challenges and applies findings in real time.

What is the APA scheme?

The APA scheme brings together knowledge users with researchers from a broad range of disciplines and settings to work on research questions that are important nationally. By knowledge users we mean people who can take research findings and apply them in to practice through their day-to-day roles. Knowledge users can come from Government departments, hospitals, community healthcare organisations, voluntary organisations or any organisation that can commit to co-design a research project to address their evidence needs, and then apply the findings.

What makes the APA scheme different?

As with all HRB funding calls, scientific rigour is an absolute and critical requirement of the APA funding scheme. However, it differs from others in several ways:

  • While partnerships and knowledge user engagement are encouraged through many HRB funding schemes, in APA it is a requirement. In fact, to ensure that commitment is genuine, the partner organisation is required to provide co-funding
  • Uniquely for a HRB funding scheme, each APA call has two closing dates with staggered deadlines and distinct review processes. It is challenging and time-consuming to broker and advance discussions between knowledge users and teams of researchers, and to work through the co-design of a research application. In addition, the environment in which knowledge users work is always changing. An early line of sight to two possible deadlines enables applicant teams (some new and some who have worked together previously) to be flexible in what deadline they choose, to ensure that the application is of high quality and to respond to the knowledge users’ needs and the changing environment in which they work
  • The scheme supports applied projects that have the potential for application/impact within a relatively short timeframe of one to two years.
What’s in it for applicants?

Apart from the funding and the opportunity to embark on a new and exciting research project, there are other benefits to being involved in an APA. These include:

  • Collaboration: APA has led to the development of fruitful partnerships that last long beyond the research project
  • Insight:  Researchers gain insight into the reality of working in policy and services delivery, planning and implementation, with exposure to real world scenarios. Meanwhile, knowledge users can develop research skills, including how to ask the right question, how to approach answering it, and how to critically appraise research findings
  • Manageability: For knowledge users with shifting priorities and a need to be responsive, a project duration of 12-24 months can be a more manageable commitment
  • Communication: Involving end users from the start enables researchers to consider alternative outputs to academic publications, and other formats that will communicate the message to the right audience in a way that they find useful.

And most importantly:

  • Impact: We all want our research to make a difference. The APA model helps ensure you are addressing a question that someone really needs an answer to, and working in partnership creates a strong pathway to translating the answers into impact.
Tips when preparing an APA application

With three rounds of APA under our belt, we have a few tips for researchers who are considering applying:

  • Start early! Hopefully many of you are already developing partnerships in anticipation of this call. For those who have not, do not wait until a few weeks before the Cycle 2 closing date. Developing a strong partnership takes time
  • Be aware of what each partner will get out of the collaboration. Agree expectations, roles, responsibilities, and governance arrangements as early as possible
  • Consider who else needs to be involved apart from the lead applicants. For example, how do you plan to involve public, patients and/or carers in the project. Are there data controllers you need to bring on board?
  • Think about the type of staff you will need for a short project. What level of experience do you need so you can get off the ground quickly? What are the most important skills?
  • Consider dissemination and knowledge exchange from the beginning. Think beyond peer reviewed publications. What will be helpful to potential users? Keep alternative communication approaches in mind when preparing your budget
  • Read the guidance notes carefully. Everything is there for a reason!

The APA call for applications is open. The closing date for Cycle 1 is 27 April 2022, while Cycle 2 will close in February 2023. Here you will find more information and guidance notes, and an FAQ is in preparation. Please direct any queries to Ailbhe Lamont: alamont@hrb.ie.