The call is expected to close in April 2023, and programmes should start on or as close as possible to 1 November 2023.

Programme Grants provide support for the long-term development of a health research field by a group of established investigators with an outstanding track record of achievement. Programmes generally comprise a number of high-quality interrelated projects, usually described in separate work packages, that form a coherent theme, where added value is gained from the combination of the various strands of research.

The HRB Applied Programme Grant scheme will therefore complement project grant schemes such as the Investigator Led Projects (ILP) scheme and the Applied Partnership Awards (APA), by supporting research activities of a greater scale and ambition than is possible in one specific project.  

Commenting on the scheme, Dr Mairéad O’Driscoll, Chief Executive at the HRB, said:

“The HRB is delighted to announce this exciting new funding opportunity for applied research programmes, which aligns with our strategic objectives to support high-quality, team-based research.

“Each award will support programmes of research by teams of researchers from a broad range of disciplines, working in collaboration with knowledge users and PPI contributors. The programmes will address thematic areas of national and global relevance, including mental health, personalised medicine, pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance.”

Applications should be submitted under one of the following thematic areas:

  • Health, wellbeing and keeping populations healthy and independent throughout life
  • Mental health and disability
  • Social care and the future of community care
  • Non-communicable diseases
  • Resilient and sustainable healthcare systems
  • Pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance
  • Digital health and personalised medicine

Programmes seeking to address the integration of health and social care to improve patient, service user and carer outcomes, and those that include work packages aimed at tackling the social care dimension of healthcare problems, are particularly welcome.

Dr Aoife Cahill, Programme Manager, Investigator-led grants and PPI, at the HRB adds:

“We will post more information on the HRB funding website pages in early January. In the meantime, interested applicants should consider that programmes will tackle an identified problem from a variety of perspectives with a multidisciplinary, complementary and collaborative approach; collaborations between researchers and knowledge users are expected with a view to making outputs useable for implementation or for informing policy and decision making; and a strong PPI element should be integrated throughout the work.”

Provisional information on the call is attached. (File size155kB.)

ENDS

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