Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI, formerly Medical Research Charities Group) is an umbrella group of medical research and patient support charities that represents the joint interests of charities specialising in restoring health through medical research, diagnosis and treatment and, where possible, the prevention of disease. In March 2020, the HRB Board approved an invitation to HRCI to submit a request for multi-annual funding support of up to €75,000 per annum over a four-year period to deliver on a specific strategically aligned activity. Specifically, the Board approved that future funding should focus on support for the Joint Funding Scheme (JFS) activity, rather than support for general running costs. The Joint Funding Scheme is a partnership between HRCI medical research charities and the HRB. Awards made through the JFS are jointly funded by the individual charity and the HRB. HRCI and the HRB have been running a JFS together since 2006 and a total of 125 projects have been co-funded with member charities in nine rounds of funding. The outcome of the most recent JFS round will be presented to the Board in June 2020. The JFS is a valuable partnership between HRCI and the HRB, offering the opportunity for HRCI members to obtain matched funding to support research of relevance to their communities. As such it is aligned to HRB’s strategic objective to invest in research that delivers value for health, the health system and society, and specifically, of working with partners nationally to co-fund high-quality, internationally competitive investigator-led health research projects and programmes.
