A new service will provide researchers with support throughout every stage of their journey, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has announced.
The NIHR research support service (RSS) – backed by £97.5m of funding over five years – will be available from pre-application to post-award delivery.
The service will offer guidance on patient and public engagement as well as advice on delivering inclusive research.
Clinical trial development support will also be a feature of the service in addition to opportunities to collaborate with centres of research excellence.
The national research support service will be delivered via eight hubs across England, including:
- University of Birmingham
- Imperial College London
- King’s College London
- University of Lancaster
- University of Leicester
- Newcastle University
- University of Southampton
- University of York
NIHR’s scientific director for infrastructure, Professor Marian Knight, said: “At NIHR we know that funding the best health, public health and social care research requires effective support for researchers to help develop their projects and ensure they lead to real impact for patients and the public.”
A new strategic function will also be established in the new year, according to NIHR – this will deliver better central coordination, leadership and operational efficiencies.
The RSS comes in as a replacement for the NIHR research design service, which will continue to help existing clients until March 2024.
“The RSS will allow us to offer comprehensive expert support at all stages to researchers all over England, to ensure that publicly-funded research is the best it can be,” added Prof Knight.
To view the full breakdown of hubs and their partners, click here.
Image credit: iStock
