This document provides answers to frequently asked questions for Call 1 of the NIHR GHR Development Awards funding stream.
Remit/ Scope
The guidance states that data collection studies are out of scope whereas testing data collection procedures is in scope. Data collection study to some extent is inevitable to test data collection procedures. Can I please have clarification on this?
The primary purpose of any data collected in the development award should be to test data collection procedures with the aim of strengthening the design for the study that will be developed during the course of the award. Because such data collection constitutes human subjects research, ethics clearance must be in place. There is no obligation or expectation that development awards will collect this type of data.
Structure of Team and Expertise/ Institutional Eligibility
Can applicants be institutions/organisations instead of individuals?
Applicants must be individuals. You are required to name the applicants (individuals) in your application.
I am a Principal Investigator (PI) of another ongoing NIHR Global Health Research award, am I eligible to be a Lead Applicant on a GHR Development Awards application?
If you are an existing NIHR GHR award holder, you are eligible to apply to this call provided you meet the eligibility criteria, and you provide assurance you have sufficient plans in terms of time and resources available to you to deliver concurrent awards successfully.
Please note that NIHR will not accept the same or substantially similar applications across multiple NIHR Global Health Research calls. Please refer to the NIHR GHR Development Awards Guidance for Applicants for further details on submissions for more than one NIHR Global Health Research Programme/Call.
Is it a requirement that the Principal Investigator/Lead Applicant is based in an LMIC?
Yes, applications to GHR Development Awards Calls must be led by a Lead Applicant employed by a Higher Education Institution (HEI) or Research Institute based in an ODA-eligible country. Please refer to the NIHR GHR Development Awards Guidance for Applicants for further details about the eligibility of Lead Applicants. Joint leadership is not supported under this call.
How does NIHR define an eligible Research Institute for Lead Applicants?
An eligible LMIC Research Institute is defined as a not-for-profit research organisation with a:
- demonstrable track record in obtaining funding for research through competitive processes, and delivering successful outcomes from this funding
- track record in building and strengthening research capacity including Masters, PhD, and other formal training
- ability to manage internationally competitive awards through research support functions to include finance, intellectual property (IP), and procurement
- this includes, if relevant, the capacity to transfer funds to partner organisations in different countries and knowledge of any national restrictions on transferring funds to other country partners
- capacity to track all expenditures, complete quarterly financial reports, manage virements between budget headings, and respond to audit requests
We advise our applicants to clearly demonstrate in their application how their institute meets these characteristics.
Can the Lead Applicant be based in a hospital?
The Lead Applicants can be based in a hospital if the hospital is a research-active institution with appropriate demonstrable capacity to deliver research. Please refer to the institutional eligibility section in the NIHR GHR Development Awards Guidance for Applicants for the expected characteristics of a Research Institute and the eligibility of different types of organisations. Lead Applicants should be able to lead and manage the work and collaborations proposed in the Development Award application.
Can Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) apply to GHR Development Awards?
Yes, if you are employed by an NGO or charity you can apply as a Lead Applicant, provided the organisation is based in an ODA-eligible country and meets the definition of a Research Institute outlined in Section 6.2 of the NIHR GHR Development Awards Guidance for Applicants. Employees of NGOs and charities are also eligible to join an application as a co-applicant or collaborator.
I hold a short-term academic employment contract with an HEI and my current contract will not outlast my GHR Development Award application if awarded. Can I still apply to the call as a Lead Applicant?
No, NIHR will only accept applications from lead applicants with a substantive FTE at an HEI or Research Institute in an ODA-eligible country, lasting the full period of the proposed Development Award. You must provide details of all other institutional affiliations as part of your application.
What qualifications or level of experience does a Lead Applicant need?
The NIHR is looking to encourage diverse leadership and the development of researchers based in ODA-eligible countries. We encourage Development Award applications from researchers based in ODA-eligible countries who:
- do not hold a professorship
- have not managed a research grant of over £100,000 as a lead investigator.
If you are a Lead Applicant who does not hold a professorship and/or has not managed a research grant of over £100,000 as a lead investigator, you must include the following in your application:
- Details of mentoring and support arrangements to be put in place
- Your named mentor must be listed as a co-applicant on the application with an up-to-date CV completed on the RMS. If your application does not include a named mentor, your application will be rejected and will not be considered by the Funding Committee. If your mentor’s CV is not completed, your application will be rejected and will not be considered by the Funding Committee on the grounds that capability cannot be assessed. Please ensure you give them plenty of time to complete this ahead of submission.
Is it possible to have project partners from High-Income Countries (HICs) formally be involved in the application and receive funding?
As a non-LMIC co-applicant or collaborator, you are eligible, provided that:
- ODA eligibility criteria are met overall
- there is clear justification for your involvement
- your resources and expertise cannot be found within LMICs
Please note, NIHR does not support funding for costs associated with organisations based in non-ODA-eligible countries other than minimal travel and subsistence costs. UK and other HIC staff costs cannot be claimed under this Development Award. Please see the NIHR GHR Development Awards Finance Guidance for more detailed information on eligible costs.
Some co-applicants, who are very competent clinicians, have very limited research experience but are keen to develop research skills. What are NIHR views of such co-applicants? Is it something desirable or should they be collaborators?
NIHR is supportive of developing research and research support capacity in LMICs. NIHR encourage developing such partnerships as appropriate during the award in line with the ambition and scale of the award. Applicants should ensure any less experienced members of the team are fully supported and mentored and this should be clearly set out within your project plan.
Can an eligible organisation submit multiple applications to GHR Development Awards Calls?
Under this call, up to 2 individuals from an organisation can submit an application as Lead Applicant. Where one organisation submits two applications, at least one application must have a female Lead Applicant. Applications from individuals in the same organisation should have independent plans from each other, with no overlap in proposed activities. If more than two applications are submitted to this call with the same organisation as a lead/contracting organisation, all their applications will be rejected and will not be considered by the Funding Committee.
Application process / Research Management System (RMS)
What is the process for applicants to register on the RMS system? Do they have to register separately or does the Lead Applicant invite those who are not registered into the system?
All applicants (both Lead and co-applicants) will need to register on the RMS system. Please note accounts can take up to 48 hours to be verified and that institutional email addresses will need to be used where possible. Please ensure that you and your team complete registration by 01 May 2024. NIHR will not guarantee new RMS accounts (for Lead Applicants or co-applicants) will be verified and approved before the call close date.
Is institutional approval required for setting up an RMS account?
No institutional approval is required to set up an RMS account.
Please indicate the format in which the Lead Applicant and co-applicant CVs need to be presented. Should I populate the online form or upload a Word document of my CV?
All applicants will need to populate their CVs through the online form on RMS.
How do you include publications in the application?
Please follow the steps below:
- To update publications, select My Research Outputs from the left-hand menu.
- To update Grants and your general CV Select Manage My Details Then Update My CV from the left-hand menu before going into the actual application.
To later indicate which 6 publications you will attach to the application, please go to the Lead Applicant research background section and you will see the green plus button that will allow you to add publications. Please refer to the RMS System Help Guidance for further information.
I am helping the Lead Applicant to pull together this bid. I was told if I create an application that I would then become the Lead Applicant which is not what I want. I need to be able to access the online application form and advise the Co-leads and other co-applicants about how to access the application. How can I go about doing this?
The Lead Applicant will need to start the application and they can then invite any co-applicants from the form. Co-applicants must be registered and approved on the RMS to be invited. Once invited, co-applicants will receive an email and they will need to log in and confirm their participation. They can then edit the application form. Please note the application cannot be submitted unless all co-applicants have confirmed their participation.
If you would like to assist the applicants in their application, you would need to be added as a co-applicant to access the form. If you would not like to be a co-applicant on submission, however, the Lead Applicant will be able to delete you from the application at a later date.
Is there a limit to the number of people in a Research Team?
There is no limit on the number of co-applicants/collaborators from ODA-eligible countries per Development Award application, though as a Lead Applicant, you should consider your capacity to manage a large team.
What uploads do we need to include in the application form?
There are four mandatory uploads to include in your application form, which are the Gantt chart, references, a delivery chain risk map and the finance form. In addition to these, 15 non-mandatory documents can be uploaded. This could be a flow diagram illustrating the study design and the flow of participants, a response to feedback from a previous submission, or a letter of support etc.
Additionally, where available, you should provide any due diligence forms completed by the contracting organisation for the NIHR or a UK research organisation or funder in the last 3 years (including any supporting documentation) with your application. Please see the Due Diligence questionnaire for reference.
Once we have submitted the application in the RMS, is it possible to revise the application before the deadline?
It is possible to make edits once you have submitted your application, but this will require us to send the application form back to you, provided the application deadline has not passed. We advise you to only submit the application once you are confident it is complete. Please note, the application does not need to be completed in one sitting, and you can "save and close", on the system, to save your progress. If the application is sent back to you, you will need to ensure you resubmit by the deadline.
Do only the Lead Applicants need to register on RMS? Do co-applicants need to register?
All co-applicants must be registered on the RMS before they can be added to the application. Please note that once you enter a co-applicant’s details they will receive an automated email informing them that this information has been added to your application. Therefore, we would expect co-applicants to have been consulted before adding their details to the RMS. Co-applicants must all confirm their participation; the application cannot be submitted without doing so. The deadline for RMS registration is two weeks before the call closes.
Do we need to submit ethics approval from an institutional review board / independent ethics committee for the research that is planned?
If your proposed work includes research that requires ethics approval, this does not need to be in place before applying to the Development Awards. However, you are advised to provide your plans for an ethical review of the proposed activities in the relevant countries (LMIC/non-LMIC). Any research requiring ethical approval will need to be in place before it can start. Please see the Regulatory Approvals/ Compliance section of the NIHR GHR Development Award Guidance for Applicants for more information.
What is the maximum number of pages for a Development Awards application?
The application form must be completed on our Research Management System (RMS). Each section has a specific word count that must be adhered to. Please see the How to Complete Your Application Form Guidance for more details.
Funding / Finance
What is the budget for the call? How many projects are you expecting to fund?
NIHR does not publish award budgets per call and there is no fixed target for the number of projects we wish to fund. It is dependent on the quality of applications and the Funding Committee's recommendations.
What is the FCRA and how will this impact funding for research projects in India?
The Indian government has recently updated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) which relates to payments to organisations in India. These organisations should follow the latest Indian government guidelines to confirm whether they require an FCRA license and that they have the appropriate measures in place to receive funding.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that any organisations in India involved in the research proposal, whether as Lead Applicants, co-applicants or collaborators, are fully compliant with the requirements of the FCRA. They should also ensure that the FCRA license is valid until beyond the end of the proposed contract period.
Would the call consider providing part funding for studies?
The Development Awards will not fund projects jointly with other funders. An application to the Development Awards must be for a self-contained project with a clearly defined endpoint.
Assuming all costs are justifiable and everything else being equal, will a smaller budget have a better chance of being funded than a larger one?
Your application will be assessed on the stated criteria for funding, as listed in the NIHR GHR Development Awards Guidance for Applicants. Applications can propose research programmes with budgets up to £100,000 over 12 months. Your budget should be proportionate to your proposed project/research.
Are there any specific ineligible costs?
Specific Ineligible costs are listed on the NIHR GHR Development Awards Finance Guidance.
Can the budget include an institution's overhead costs?
Please refer to the NIHR GHR Development Awards Finance Guidance.
What is the Good Financial Grants Practice?
NIHR encourages co-applicants and collaborators to perform a Good Financial Grants Practice (GFGP) self-assessment to understand current areas of weakness in the finance management and systems, and, as required, increase their financial and risk management capability through specific capacity strengthening activities. You can include costs associated with these activities. Please see the NIHR GHR Development Awards Finance Guidance for more information.
Contracting
What is a process agent?
Process agents (also known as agents for service of process, registered agents, registered agents for service of process or resident agents) accept service of notices, proceedings or documents on behalf of their overseas clients in situations where, usually because of contractual obligations, it is not possible for them to be served abroad. A process agent in England is a requirement for all LMIC-based contracting organisations. The Contracting organisation must appoint an organisation with an address in England as its process agent to receive a service of process of its behalf in any proceedings brought in the jurisdiction of England. Such service will be deemed completed on delivery to such process agent (whether or not it is forwarded to and received by the Contractor). In other words, if DHSC has to serve notice on the Contractor, they will deliver it to the process agent. When a notice has been served to the process agent, it is considered delivered even if the process agent fails to pass this on to the Contractor.
If for any reason, the process agent is no longer able to act as a process agent or no longer has an address in England, the contracting organisation will need to appoint a replacement process agent. In this case, NIHR will need to be notified as soon as possible, and the contracting organisation will need to provide us with a copy of the new process agent’s acceptance of the appointment within 14 days of the retirement of the previous process agent.
What is IATI Reporting and do Development Award Holders have to report to IATI?
DHSC requires ODA-funded NIHR award holders to publish organisation and activity data in accordance with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Standard. The DHSC IATI Guidelines shared with contracting organisations will provide information about which fields of the standard it expects partners to publish to and how to do this. For new publishers, further information can be found on the IATI website under publishing data.
If funded, you will be required to publish data related to the GHR Development Award to IATI by the end of the Development Award funding period. When creating your application, you may want to consider what resources will be necessary to support this requirement.
Other
Can I obtain a copy of the webinar slides?
Following the webinar on 10 April, a copy of the webinar slides are available by contacting the Global Health team at ghrdevelopmentawards@nihr.ac.uk. Please register for the webinar.
Can NIHR connect me with previously successful applicants/ current Global Health Research Award Holders?
No, but information on current global health awards is available on NIHR's Funding and Awards website. You can use this information to identify those working in similar areas or countries.
Where can I find information on previous successful applications?
NIHR do not share example applications. Information on current Global Health Research projects is available on NIHR's Funding and Awards website. Please note this is the first call of the GHR Development Awards but NIHR GHR has previously funded the Global Health Policy and Systems Research Development Awards, with similar aims.