NIHR Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme Applicant Guidance Notes Round 4

Introduction

The NIHR is pleased to announce the launch of the fourth annual NIHR Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (PLAF) competition. The PLAF scheme has been designed to support the academic ambitions of individuals wishing to incorporate research activity into their roles whilst remaining employed, or at least engaged, within local authorities or local authority supporting services.

This document provides full details of this scheme and the 2024 competition, describing the means by which applications for PLAFs should be submitted, and detailing how they will be assessed.

Background

Following successful pilots of the PLAF and Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF) competitions in 2021, the NIHR secured Department of Health and Social Care funding that, through its Local Authority Academic Fellowship (LAAF) Programme, will continue to support local authorities and local authority supporting services to become more research active.

A growing body of evidence indicates that research active organisations deliver better services and outputs than those that are not. The LAAF Programme will increase the capacity for local authority settings to generate and support research by offering research training fellowships to individuals who intend to build research active careers within them.

The LAAF Programme will again invite applications for PLAFs, DLAFs and the newer post-doctoral Advanced Local Authority Fellowships (ALAFs) in 2024. By offering this tiered suite of similarly focussed funding opportunities to individuals embedded within local authority settings, the LAAF programme will contribute to the development of a credible ‘practitioner academic’ career pathway within local authorities and local authority supporting services.

The importance of Practitioner Academics

Self-sustaining research activity within service providing or policy making organisations is dependent on the employment of practitioner academics. These individuals divide their time between university affiliated research and practice or policy roles.

Some practitioner academic roles, such as that undertaken by the medical Consultant Professor, are well established and understood, but many others are still emerging. As the benefits of a research active workforce become increasingly appreciated, practitioner academic roles are becoming more widespread, and initiatives such as the LAAF Programme aim to accelerate this movement further.

The research questions formulated by practitioner academics are informed by experience and the reality of the practice or policy roles they undertake. As active researchers in fields of relevance to their own continued practice, practitioner academics are also well positioned to critically appraise and utilise research findings in the development of evidence based practice and service redesign. As such, practitioner academics are uniquely placed to make invaluable contributions to the development and maintenance of optimum and adaptive services.

Investment in a practitioner academic career infrastructure has the potential to transform services, inspire staff to develop and innovate, attract and retain talent in a competitive market, and to address quality, governance and safety issues. Such developments benefit individual staff members and their organisations, and can ultimately play a role in accelerating improvements in services provision for users and the public.

The aim of the LAAF Programme, then, is to facilitate the realisation of these benefits for all concerned.

The NIHR Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme

The NIHR PLAF scheme supports individuals employed within local authorities or local authority supporting services to become competitive applicants for fully funded PhD study (a doctoral fellowship).

As well as offering salaried time to prepare an application for a doctoral fellowship, a PLAF will also fund a personalised programme of academic training that will equip the awardee with the skills and experience to make it competitive.

Applicants for a PLAF may:

• have little formal academic training/research experience
• have completed some Masters level training or
• have completed a Masters level qualification or
• require Masters level training/ a full Masters

All applicants for LAAF Programme funding must be able to demonstrate their commitment to a career as a practitioner academic, incorporating health and/or social care research activity into a career that includes  continued employment within a local authority type setting.

PLAF awards will only be granted to individuals who aspire to conduct applied research that pertains to health and/or social care, and that would meet the NIHR remit for personal awards.

Prior experience of audit, evaluation or quality improvement programmes might all be used to evidence an applicant’s evaluative/questioning mindset.

The Structure of a Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship

Two distinct funding offers are available through the PLAF scheme, allowing applicants to choose the level of support most appropriate to their individual requirements:

• Funding to support the development and submission of a doctoral fellowship application and to undertake a programme of academic training at Masters level (“standard” PLAF);
• Funding to support the development and submission of a doctoral fellowship application and to undertake a small amount of academic training at Masters level (PLAF Bridge).

1. Funding to support the development and submission of a doctoral fellowship application and to undertake a programme of academic training at Masters level (“standard” PLAF)

Scope of Funding

• Salary costs to cover the time undertaking the PLAF (including the employer's contribution to National Insurance and Superannuation)
• Up to £5,000 towards Masters level training and associated travel and subsistence
• Up to £1,000 for conference/meeting fees and associated travel and subsistence
• Up to £1000 for research development support comprising: 
  • Public, Service User and Carer Involvement and Engagement
  • Travel to supervision meetings.

Applicants are permitted to propose the undertaking of a full Masters course as a component of the fellowship, but this must be a Research Methods Masters, or at the very least a Masters with a strong (and taught) research methods component. Be aware that a proposal for the latter rather than the former will likely be viewed as sub-optimal and will weaken the application.

Applicants are welcome to propose use of the budget in full, but this must be the best use of the available money and protected time for the purposes of PhD preparation.

Note - reviewers are likely to consider a proposal to undertake a full Masters degree as poor value for money if from an applicant with a good first degree and experience of undertaking degree level dissertation study (and so already well qualified for PhD registration). Such an applicant would be advised to instead consider individual masters level modules that will address the specific needs of their prospective PhD.

The NIHR expects all awardees to be charged for training at UK Home Student rates, irrespective of background.

If applicants are proposing the completion of a full Research Methods Masters course as part of their training and development, it is possible to request a supplement to cover the Masters course fee if over and above the £5,000 limit. A full justification for the additional cost must be provided.

The NIHR expects all awardees to be charged for training at UK Home Student rates, irrespective of background.

Award Uptake Options

• Full time for 12 months (5 days per week)
• Part-time over 24 months (2.5 days per week, 0.5 WTE)
• Part-time over 30 months (2 days per week, 0.4 WTE)

Be aware that the funding committee will (and does) reject applications for ‘standard’ PLAFs when it feels that a PLAF Bridge would have been a better use of the applicant’s time and the scheme’s public funds. For further details please see ‘Choosing the Appropriate PLAF Option’ under ‘Important Areas for Consideration when Developing a Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Application’ below.

2. Funding to support the development and submission of a doctoral fellowship application and to undertake a small amount of academic training at Masters level (PLAF Bridge).

Scope of Funding

• Salary costs to cover the time undertaking the PLAF (including the employer's contribution to National Insurance and Superannuation)
• Up to £400 for formal courses and associated travel and subsistence
• Up to £500 for conference / meeting fees and associated travel and subsistence
• Up to £500 for research development support, comprising:
  • Public, Service User and Carer Involvement and Engagement
  • Travel to supervision meetings

Award Uptake Options

• 4 days per week for 6 months (0.8 WTE)
• 2 days per week for 12 months (0.4 WTE)

Please note - in these guidance notes, ‘PLAF’ refers to both funding options (‘standard’ PLAF and PLAF Bridge) unless otherwise specified.

Eligibility Requirements for the Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme

1) Applicants must hold a contract of employment in England with either a:

• local authority
• provider of local authority commissioned service or function
• nonprofit organisation (such as a charity) that provides services on behalf of a local authority, or that otherwise supports a local authority in meeting its objectives.

Fixed term contracts of any duration are acceptable, however, honorary contracts or bank work cannot be accepted.

The support provided by a nonprofit organisation doesn't need to be commissioned or funded, but it does need to be co-designed with, or at the very least acknowledged and signposted by, the local authority/authorities in question.  

2) NHS employed individuals and individuals employed by a predominately NHS commissioned organisation may apply if they work within a service commissioned by a Local Authority and they lack the requisite professional status to make an application for a NIHR Integrated Clinical and Practitioner Academic (ICA) Programme Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF).

If employed by an NHS (or predominately NHS commissioned) organisation, prospective applicants should refer to the list of regulatory bodies whose registrants are eligible to apply for an award through the analogous ICA Programme.

Registrants to any of these bodies, and individuals whose professional status confers eligibility for registration with one of these bodies (e.g. an FPH registered Public Health trainee) are not eligible to apply for a PLAF IF employed by an NHS organisation or predominately NHS commissioned organisation, and should instead consider an application for a PCAF

3) Applicants cannot hold registration with the General Dental Council as a dentist, or with the General Medical Council as a doctor.

4) Applicants must be intending to continue working in their current sector over the course of PLAF, either (if full-time) through the professional development time included in the award (please see “Professional Skills Development” below) or through continuation of their current role outside of the award time.

5) Applicants cannot have registered for, or have completed, a PhD in a relevant subject area or have registered for an MPhil with the expectation that this will progress to a PhD.

Prospective applicants who have completed either a Masters (including pre-registration professional Masters), an MPhil or an academic training position, and wish to use the Fellowship to develop a proposal for a doctoral fellowship are eligible to apply, providing that the additional research training is justified and appropriate (please see “the PLAF Training and Development Programme” details below).

6) Applicants who have previously held an HEE/NIHR Masters in Clinical Research Studentship are eligible for the “PLAF Bridge” only. Previous recipients of HEE Integrated Clinical Academic Programme Internships, if otherwise eligible, are welcome to apply for either level of support.

It is not permitted to apply for a PLAF if already being assessed for any other NIHR Academy Award.  Once an application for another NIHR Academy Award has been made, the outcome of that application must be determined before an application for a PLAF is permitted. 

Furthermore, once an application for a PLAF is made, it is not permitted to apply for any other NIHR Academy Award until the outcome of the PLAF application is determined. Applicants who apply for another NIHR Academy Award whilst being assessed for a PLAF will be withdrawn from the PLAF competition.
Examples of other NIHR Academy Awards include:

• Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowships (PCAFs)
• Doctoral Local Authority Fellowships (DLAFs)
• Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowships (DCAFs)
• Doctoral Fellowships (DFs)
• Inspiring Students into Research (INSIGHT) Regional Programme Awards

This list is not exhaustive. Please check with the NIHR if unsure of another award scheme’s status in this respect.

Prospective applicants unsure of their eligibility should contact the NIHR at academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk before embarking on the application process.

Important Areas for Consideration when Developing a Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Application

Getting support

It is recommended that applicants seek support and guidance on developing their application from the outset. Please refer to ‘Additional Supporting Information’ at the end of this document for the details of organisations that offer such support.

Choosing the appropriate PLAF option

The extent of existing research experiences and formal academic training undertaken to date should be the primary factors in determining which PLAF funding option (‘standard’ PLAF or PLAF Bridge) is the most appropriate. Applicants who already have research experience and/or research training at a sufficient level to prepare them to undertake a PhD (research doctorate) but who require the time and support to develop a competitive doctoral level application, would be advised to choose the PLAF Bridge option. Applicants who have undertaken limited formal academic training to date and who need to undertake a full Masters or a number of Masters level modules may be better suited to the ‘standard’ PLAF. 

Applicants that have previously completed a Masters qualification are advised to review the level of academic training and research experience that this qualification provided.  If there was a large research component to the course, further academic training may not be necessary at this level. Holding a Masters level qualification per se, however, does not preclude undertaking a ‘standard’ PLAF if further academic training is required. 

Applicants are advised to discuss their previous academic training and experience with their proposed academic supervisors, and to work with them to determine their likely pre-doctoral training needs. Please see below for further guidance regarding the Training and Development Programme proposed in a PLAF application.

Applicants are also advised to consider a timeline for making a doctoral level submission.  Completion of a PLAF should not inadvertently delay the progression of any awardee’s academic career.

The funding committee does consider value-for-money and scope for impact when making its decisions. Remember that the selection process is competitive and so a poor choice in this respect can fatally weaken an application.

Be aware that the funding committee will (and does) reject applications for ‘standard’ PLAFs when it feels that a PLAF Bridge would have been a better use of the applicant’s time and the scheme’s public funds.

Area of research interest

Applicants are not expected to possess a fully developed proposal for PhD study at the point of application (this being an output of the award itself), but they are required to have identified a likely research question, and, ideally, to have conceived strategies for tackling it so as to usefully inform and direct a preparatory training plan and preparatory Public, Service User and Carer Involvement and Engagement (PI&E) plan.

Bridge applicants are expected to have a more refined plan for PhD study than are ‘standard’ applicants.

Competitive applications will have a clearly articulated plan for future research running through the PLAF and into a doctoral fellowship application.

The research plan should inform the proposed preparatory training plan, the proposed PI&E plan and the proposed supervisory team, and is used by the Selection Committee to assess the suitability of each.

The research area is expected to align with the applicant’s existing role/career. If not, the applicant will need to clearly demonstrate how they will work towards such alignment, and so develop a career with mutually complementary and cohesive academic and practice/policy elements.

It is accepted that, as academic training progresses and research experience develops, research ideas and interests may change. If the PLAF is funded, awardees will not be held to their stated area of interest when making applications to the NIHR for doctoral funding.

Research career to date

It is not necessarily expected that applicants at the pre-doctoral level will have extensive research experience to date, but applicants are advised to describe all relevant academic and professional experience (including audit, evaluation and quality improvement programmes) and any research activities that they have been involved in.

Academic training

At the end of a PLAF award, Fellows should be in a position to make a competitive application for a PhD Fellowship. When developing the academic training programme for the PLAF, it is advisable for applicants to consider their previous formal academic training experience and their previous research experience (research career to date) and to identify the areas in which they would currently be less competitive if submitting a doctoral fellowship application. 

The proposed training must be tailored to the applicant’s demonstrable training needs. A justification of how the proposed training will support the applicant’s development as a practitioner academic and as a competitive doctoral fellowship applicant must be provided.

The training may include, but is not limited to:

• full Masters course (Please note - Applicants are permitted to propose the undertaking of a full Masters course as a component of the fellowship, but this must be a Research Methods Masters, or at the very least a Masters with a strong (and taught) research methods component. Be aware that a proposal for the latter rather than the former will likely be viewed as sub-optimal and will weaken the application.)
• formal courses (including Masters modules)
• training in specialist skills and research methodologies
• placements with other research groups or centres
• leadership training
• conference attendance
• research visits
• Public Involvement and Engagement
• dissemination of relevant research
• research experience (Preliminary research in support of the subsequent doctoral level proposal (e.g. a systematic review or small feasibility study) may be included. Research costs cannot be funded through this award, however, and the primary academic supervisor is responsible for ensuring that a PLAF awardee secures all necessary regulatory approvals before undertaking any research included in the PLAF training and development programme.)
• other training and development
• preparation of an application for a competitive, peer-reviewed doctoral level research training fellowship.

Applicants that do not already hold a degree will need to undertake a full Masters if they wish to be eligible for an NIHR administered doctoral level fellowship.

Public, Service User and Carer Involvement and Engagement

The NIHR expects appropriate and relevant involvement of service users, carers, the public and other key stakeholders in the development and conduct of the research it supports.

Information and resources to assist prospective applicants can be found on the NIHR website (a detailed definition of public involvement in research, and briefing notes for researchers on how to involve the public).

In addition, the NIHR has contributed to a Toolkit for Increasing Participation of Black Asian & Minority Ethnic Groups in Health & Social Care Research, and has produced a further resource on Public Involvement in Social Care Research

Applicants may wish to consider seeking input from elected members at their associated local authorities, these individuals being representatives for their communities by definition.  

Professional Skills Development

Aspiring practitioner academics need to develop as professionals and as academics in parallel if they are to become a future practitioner academic leader. PLAF award holders may wish to continue to develop their professional skills through their current role, outside of award time, and are welcome to include details of this in their application. In addition, however, all applicants can request paid professional skills development time as part of the award. Up to 20% professional skills development time can be requested.

If applicants request professional development time through the PLAF, they must be able to demonstrate how they will develop their skills over the period of the Fellowship, taking into consideration their current skill set.  The professional development plan must be demonstrably appropriate to the applicant’s level of seniority and support their development as a practitioner academic.  Senior professionals may choose to propose activities that will ensure the maintenance rather than the development of their professional skills set.

Given that the scheme supports aspiring practitioner academics, it is expected that any applicants that will not be continuing in their professional role outside of the Fellowship time (e.g. proposing a full time PLAF) would request professional development time. A justification would be expected if these applicants do not propose any professional skills development time as part of the PLAF.

Supervision and Mentorship

PLAF applicants are required to identify a primary academic supervisor for their fellowship, as well as to identify a separate career mentor:

Primary Academic Supervisor

The primary academic supervisor will support the award holder to develop their doctoral fellowship proposal and to undertake the training proposed in their application.

Careful consideration should be given to the choice of primary academic supervisor and a clear justification for the individual proposed should be provided in the application.

Careful thought should be given to:

• record of conversion of Masters to PhD students
• experience as a PhD supervisor
• experience in the research area of interest/ relevant methodologies;
• ease of maintaining contact with your supervisor/ availability of the supervisor
• suitability for continuation as the PhD supervisor (if the award is successful) or ability of the supervisor to help find the best PhD supervision.

The Primary Academic Supervisor must hold a position at the named academic organisation (see below).

Career Mentor

Applicants are required to identify an individual who will provide practitioner academic career mentorship over the course of the award. This individual does not need to be employed by one of the organisations named in the application (the Host or Partner Organisation) and need not share a professional background with the applicant.

Mentors should be academically senior to the applicant and be able to go beyond the academic guidance afforded by the named supervisors, using sector knowledge and experience to support the awardee through any challenges encountered during the development of their practitioner academic career including:

• navigating between the academic and local authority sectors
• managing the competing demands inherent in a multifaceted role.

Given that support is already being provided from the named supervisor(s), it is not expected that the same individual will be named as both a supervisor and career mentor. The Primary Academic Supervisor might, however, support the applicant to identify a suitable mentor.

Applicants should describe how the proposed arrangements would support their development as a practitioner academic and provide an initial assessment of the time that will be allocated to the mentorship process.

Scope of Fellowship Employment Options

The PLAF is a NIHR personal research training award. As such, Fellowship proposals are written and submitted directly by the prospective award holder. The NIHR cannot, however, contract with the Fellow directly and, therefore, all applicants require the support of a Host Organisation.

Whilst ALL applicants will require the formal support of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) AND by a provider of health and/or social care services, one organisation must be identified as the organisation that will host the applicant’s Fellowship – referred to as the ‘Host Organisation’, whilst the other must act as the ‘Partner Organisation’.

The Host Organisation must be capable of fulfilling the role of research sponsor as set out in the UK Policy Framework for Health & Social Care Research. Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of a research sponsor can be found on the Health Research Authority’s (HRA) website.

The applicant MUST propose to be employed by EITHER the Host Organisation or the Partner Organisation for the hours and duration of the award. This means, for example, if an applicant is currently working in a clinical/practice setting e.g. a county council, and the proposed Host Organisation is a HEI, then the applicant can choose to continue to be employed by the council or move employment to the HEI.

The decision on which organisation should host the award and, indeed, on which should employ the awardee is down to the applicant in discussion with their supervisors, line managers and mentors. The decision should be based on what is best for the applicant, their career development and the research training they are proposing to undertake.

The Host Organisation and Partner Organisation

The Host Organisation

The Host Organisation may or may not be the applicant’s employer, but will be required to hold the award contract and lead on the local management of the award
Examples of the award contract are available to download from the NIHR website.

The Host Organisation for a PLAF must be based in England and can be a:

1. local authority
2. provider of local authority commissioned services
3. nonprofit organisation (such as a charity) that provides services on behalf of a local authority, or that otherwise supports a local authority in meeting its objectives. This support doesn't need to be commissioned or funded, but it does need to be co-designed with, or at the very least acknowledged and signposted by, the local authority/authorities in question.
4. Higher Education Institution (HEI) (The named HEI for a PLAF must be an English university or university college, and employ the proposed primary academic supervisor.)

The Partner Organisation

PLAF award holders, in developing their practitioner academic careers, require support from a local authority / local authority supporting organisation and a HEI, which will work together to support their Fellowship and their developing practitioner academic career.

If the proposed Host Organisation is not an English university or university college. (i.e. of type 1, 2 or 3 above), then the Partner Organisation must be an English university or university college.

If the proposed Host Organisation is an English university or university college, then the Partner Organisation must be an English:

1. local authority
2. provider of local authority commissioned services
3. nonprofit organisation (such as a charity) that provides services on behalf of a local authority, or that otherwise supports a local authority in meeting its objectives. This support doesn't need to be commissioned or funded, but it does need to be co-designed with, or at the very least acknowledged and signposted by, the local authority/authorities in question.

The Partnership

The Host Organisation and Partner Organisation are expected to show a commitment towards the objectives of the scheme. Both organisations must ensure that the award holder is not expected to undertake any additional roles or work that would erode the time available to undertake the approved training and development as detailed in the PLAF application.

As part of the application review, the PLAF Selection Committee will assess the support that the Host Organisation and Partner Organisation will provide to the applicant to develop their practitioner academic career. Applicants are advised to consider this assessment criterion when identifying suitable organisations to support their PLAF.

Host and Partner Organisation Statement of Support

This statement is completed by relevant Heads of Department/Senior Managers at the proposed Host Organisation and Partner Organisation, and should detail how these organisations are going to support the applicant, in partnership,to successfully complete the PLAF if awarded.

This statement should be specific and tailored to the applicant and their training needs, and describe how the organisations intend to support the applicant to develop their practitioner academic career in the long-term. 

In addition, the HEI is required to detail the conversion rate from Masters to PhD students at the institution. The Senior Manager at the local authority / local authority supporting organisation is required to detail the plans in place to support the continuation of the applicant’s professional role over the course of, and following the completion of, any subsequent award.

Heads of Department/Senior Managers at the Host Organisation and the Partner Organisation should contribute to the statement. This section can only be edited by the Heads of Department/Senior Managers once they have agreed participation and cannot be edited, but can be viewed, by the applicant. 

The NIHR sees Host and Partner Organisations as key contributors to the training and development of our next generation of research leaders.  Therefore, information should also be provided that pertains to the organisations’ track records of, and approaches to, supporting early career researchers.

Please note - The Host Organisation Statement of Support is a key element of the assessment process and applicants are advised to discuss the statement with their Heads of Department/Senior Managers well in advance of the competition deadline.

Assessment of Applications

Following the submission deadline, the NIHR will check applications for completeness and eligibility, and distribute eligible applications to the members of the PLAF Selection Committee.

The selection committee will assess all eligible applications using the Assessment Criteria below.

PLAF Assessment Criteria

• the suitability and commitment of the applicant to a career as a practitioner academic
• the appropriateness of the award to the experience and trajectory of the applicant
• the scope for the described field of academic interest to prove relevant to, and provide benefit to, the local authority setting in which the applicant plans to work
• the quality and appropriateness of the proposed academic training plan (specifically to doctoral fellowship application development)
• the quality and appropriateness of the proposed Public, Service User and Carer Involvement and Engagement in the development of the PhD project
• the appropriateness of the proposed academic supervision
• the appropriateness of the proposed academic environment
• the track record of the host university in supporting individuals with existing practitioner/policy roles to develop practitioner academic careers
• the appropriateness of the proposed career mentorship
• the extent to which the local authority / local authority supporting partner will support the applicant to pursue and develop a practitioner academic career
• the arrangements for ensuring protected time for each of the fellowship’s requisite components
• the extent to which the statement of support is tailored to the applicant and demonstrates a partnership between the Host and Partner Organisations to support the applicant's practitioner academic career development.

Expectations on Completion of a Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship

At the end of a PLAF, Fellows should be able to demonstrate development as a practitioner academic and be in a position to make a competitive application for a peer-reviewed PhD Fellowship. Evidence of the following will be sought by the NIHR through report monitoring:

• Completion of the Training and Development Programme as detailed in the application
• Preparation of an application for a competitive, peer-reviewed doctoral level research training fellowship
• Increased research skills
• Development of research interests
• Development of networks that span the boundary between research activity and practitioners/policy makers, as well as links with individual ‘boundary spanners’.

Competition Timetable

Competition Stage	Key Dates
Competition Opens	9 January 2024
Competition Closes	28 March 2024
Funding Recommendation Meeting	June 2024
If awarded, Fellowships must start on one of the following dates.  Fellowships cannot be deferred without the consent of the NIHR.	1 September 2024 1 October 2024 1 November 2024 1 December 2024 1 January 2025 1 February 2025 or 1 March 2025

The Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Application Process

Awards will be made following open competition. The selection process and subsequent administration of the fellowships will be managed by the NIHR.
All applications must be submitted via the NIHR Academy online Award Management System.

Registering

Before an application can be started, prospective applicants are required to register on the online award management system. Applicants will be asked to supply a valid email address and to complete some basic information. Once this has been submitted, applicants will receive an email confirming their registration and a temporary password. Applicants should follow the instructions in the email to log on to the system.

Once signed into the system, applicants can update various details including their CV (in ‘Manage my Details’) and publication record (in ‘My Research Outputs’) and apply for any open competitions.

Applications can be started via selecting ‘My Applications’ and ‘New Application’. The application form for the scheme of interest can then be selected from the list provided.

Please note – at points during the competition window four pre-doctoral Fellowship competitions will be open concurrently (the In-Practice Fellowship, the NIHR Pre-doctoral Fellowship, the NIHR Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship and this NIHR Pre-doctoral Local Authority Fellowship). Please ensure that you are applying to the correct scheme. 

After answering all of the eligibility questions, applicants will be able to start completing the online form. Applicants must ensure they have read all of the available guidance text as well as any online instructions thoroughly before completing the form. 

The Application Form

Applicants are required to complete all of the mandatory sections of the form and to enter under the ‘Participants and Signatories’ section the names and contact details of those individuals fulfilling Participant and Signatory roles (see below).

Please note:  In addition to the above guidance, information to support the completion of each section of the application form is provided at the end of this document (“Completing the Application Form”).  Applicants should ensure they are referring to the relevant guidance when completing each question on the form.

Once the applicant has completed their sections of the form and the Participants and Signatories have made their contributions, the applicant is required to ‘Submit’ the application to the Signatories for final sign off before the closing date.

Applicants can only ‘Submit’ an application for final sign off by the signatories when:

• All mandatory sections of the application form are complete

• All Participants and Signatories have agreed to be a part of the application and have completed their relevant sections

• Applicants have completed the declaration information.

Individuals undertaking particular Participant and Signatory roles are required to complete certain sections of the application form.  It is strongly recommended that applicants complete their application well in advance of the deadline to allow these individuals enough time to complete the relevant sections and declarations.  Participants and Signatories who are required to complete part of the application form can do so at any time once they have agreed to be part of the application.

Participants and Signatories

Applicants are required to supply the names and email addresses (if not already registered on the award management system) of the individuals who will be undertaking ‘Participant’ and ‘Signatory’ roles as part of the application. Both Participants and Signatories must agree to be part of the application before it is submitted.

Participants and Signatories are required to review the declaration for their role before confirming participation. By confirming participation, Participants and Signatories are acknowledging their involvement and input into an application and agree to be involved in it.  Applicants must ensure that all Participants and Signatories are happy for their application to be submitted before submitting it on the online system.

Please note it is often the case that one or more of the Participants are also named as Signatories. 

Required Participants

Primary Academic Supervisor: The individual acting as Primary Academic Supervisor must confirm that they have read the application and the guidance notes and are willing to act as the applicant’s primary supervisor and agree to abide by the conditions under which an award may be granted.

Mentor: The individual acting as the applicant’s career mentor must confirm that they have read the application and the guidance notes and are willing to act as the applicant’s mentor and agree to abide by the conditions under which an award may be granted.

Required Signatories

Heads of Department/Senior Managers: In agreeing to participate in this application, the Heads of Department/Senior Managers of the Host and Partner organisations in which this award will be based must confirm that their organisations support the application, that, if funded, the academic training programme will be supported and administered in the named organisations, and that the applicant for whom they are responsible will undertake this work.

If the applicant is developing a Clinical Academic career, the Heads of Department/Senior Managers of the Host and Partner organisation must also confirm that they are aware of the principles and obligations published by NIHR to support medical/dental and non-medical clinical academic training and that their organisation is committed to these principles and obligations.

Application Submission

Once the application is ready (see list of required steps above), applicants are able to submit the application for final signatory approval. Upon submission by the applicant, the individuals added in the Signatory roles will be prompted to sign back into the system and approve the finalised application.

The application will not be complete until all of the required signatories have approved the final version of the form submitted by the applicant. Only when the last signatory presses the ‘Approve’ button will the completed application be submitted to the NIHR.

Annex A illustrates the submission process in the form of a flow diagram.

Please note - all of the steps described here, including signatory approval of the submitted application, must take place before the deadline of 1:00pm on Thursday 28th March 2024. No extensions will be given and no exceptions will be made to allow for completion of the form.

Should you require assistance in completing the online form, please contact the NIHR:

Tel: 0113 532 8401

Email: academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk 

Application Outcomes

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application via email as soon as the funding decision is finalised. It can take 6 to 8 weeks following the Funding Recommendation Meeting for application outcomes to be issued. Applicants are advised to take this into account when considering which start date to opt for.

Feedback will be sent to applicants after the funding decisions have been made.

Further guidance for submitting the application on the online application system is available below.

Completing the Application Form

1. Application Summary Information

Host Organisation 

Please detail the organisation that will be the contractor (hold the award contract) if the project is funded. 

The Host Organisation for a PLAF must be based in England and can be a:

1. local authority;
2. provider of local authority commissioned services;
3. nonprofit organisation (such as a charity) that provides services on behalf of a local authority, or that otherwise supports a local authority in meeting its objectives; or a
4. Higher Education Institution (HEI)

The support from a nonprofit organisation doesn't need to be commissioned or funded, but it does need to be co-designed with, or at the very least acknowledged and signposted by, the local authority/authorities in question.

The named HEI for a PLAF must be an English university or university college, and employ the proposed primary academic supervisor.

Please note that we do not require the applicant’s substantive employer to act as the contractor. 

Please also bear in mind that:

• The contractor is expected to respond to annual financial reconciliation exercises, provide the final financial reconciliation statement for the project and to provide responses to ad hoc requests for financial information during the lifetime of the project.
• The contractor is expected to respond to any queries relating to Intellectual Property, commercialisation and benefit realisation. 

If the name of your Host Organisation does not appear in the pre-populated list, please email academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk. 

Partner Organisation

Please give details of the Partner Organisation that will support the fellowship if the project is funded. 

If the name of the Partner Organisation does not appear in the pre-populated list please email academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk 

If the proposed Host Organisation is not an English university or university college, the proposed Partner Organisation must be an English university or university college. 

If the proposed Host Organisation is an English university or university college, the proposed Partner Organisation must be an English:

1. local authority 
2. provider of local authority commissioned services or a
3. nonprofit organisation (such as a charity) that provides services on behalf of a local authority, or that otherwise supports a local authority in meeting its objectives

The nonprofit organisation support doesn't need to be commissioned or funded, but it does need to be co-designed with, or at the very least acknowledged and signposted by, the local authority/authorities in question.

Proposed Start Date

This must be the 1st of the month, regardless of whether this is a working day or not.Please be realistic about your possible start date, taking account of any contracting and recruitment that might be necessary before you will be able to start your Fellowship. 

PLAF Award Type

Please select the PLAF award type you wish to apply for: 'standard' PLAF or PLAF Bridge. 

The extent of existing research experience and formal academic training undertaken to date should be the primary factors in determining which PLAF funding option (‘standard’ PLAF or PLAF Bridge) is the most appropriate.

Applicants who already have research experience and/or research training at a sufficient level to prepare them to undertake a PhD (research doctorate) but who require the time and support to develop a competitive doctoral level application, would be advised to choose the PLAF Bridge option. Applicants who have undertaken limited formal academic training to date and who need to undertake a full Masters or a number of Masters level modules may be better suited to the ‘standard’ PLAF.

Applicants that have previously completed a Masters qualification are advised to review the level of academic training and research experience that this qualification provided. If there was a large research component to the course, further academic training may not be necessary at this level. Holding a Masters level qualification per se, however, does not preclude undertaking a ‘standard’ PLAF if further academic training is required.

Applicants are advised to discuss their previous academic training and experience with their proposed academic supervisors, and to work with them to determine their likely pre-doctoral training needs. Please see below for further guidance regarding the Training and Development Programme proposed in a PLAF application.

Applicants are also advised to consider a timeline for making a doctoral level submission. Completion of a PLAF should not inadvertently delay the progression of any awardee’s academic career.
The funding committee does consider value-for-money and scope for impact when making its decisions. Remember that the selection process is competitive and so a poor choice in this respect can fatally weaken an application.

Be aware that the funding committee will (and does) reject applications for ‘standard’ PLAFs when it feels that the PLAF Bridge would have been a better use of the applicants’ time and the scheme’s public funds.

WTE of Award

Awards can only be undertaken at one of the WTE options given. 

Please ensure that your choice allows sufficient time for completion of your proposed fellowship activities.

2. Applicant CV

Please note: some of the responses to these questions are automatically imported from information entered in the ‘Manage My Details’ page of your ARAMIS account.

The Publication Record section of the form is automatically populated from publications added into the ‘My Research Outputs’ page of your ARAMIS account.

Please note: You must ensure that this section contains any information necessary to determine eligibility for the scheme (please refer to the eligibility criteria) or your application may be rejected.

Professional Bodies

Please provide details (via 'Basic Information' of any current registration you hold with a professional body.

Degrees and Professional Qualifications

Please provide the full details of any completed higher degree(s) and, where relevant, the full details of any higher degree(s) you are currently undertaking.Please ensure that your degree classification is included, if applicable.

Present and previous positions

When entering details of your current and previous positions, please indicate at what percentage (WTE) in each post you were undertaking research.  For example, if you were a Clinical Lecturer and undertook research for 2.5 days a week and clinical work for 2.5 days per week, please enter 50% for that position. If you have worked part time at 60%, and undertook research for half of that time, please enter 30% for that position.  

Research Grants Held

Details of all grants and project funding (research or otherwise) obtained in the last five years should be provided, including personal research training awards or fellowships, plus any additional previous grants (including travel grants and any other small funding awards) relevant to this application. Please indicate clearly any co-applicants and provide brief details of the nature and full extent of your involvement (e.g. project design, project management, day to day running, data collection, data analysis, writing papers for publication, etc.). It is not necessarily expected that applicants at the pre-doctoral level will have been awarded research grant funding as a Principal Investigator (PI) or as a co-applicant, but please details any such achievements here. Please note - your research grant record must be completed within the application form and not via the CV section on ARAMIS.

Publication Record

The publication record is automatically populated from the information added to the ‘Research Outputs’ section of your ARAMIS account. To update, please ‘save and close’ your application, return to the ‘home’ screen and select ‘Research Outputs’ from the left-hand menu.When publications have been added, the applicant’s name can be edited to show in bold within application forms via the ‘Assign Grant Contacts’ option. To ensure publications display correctly, with all of the required information, applicants are strongly advised to use the ‘import’ function and import their publications from Europe PMC. Do not include publications in preparation.  If relevant, details of these may be included in the ‘Applicant Research Background’ section. Do include relevant abstracts, conference proceedings and articles (peer-reviewed or otherwise) that have been published.Depending on professional background and expertise, applicants are not necessarily expected to have an extensive list of publications.

Relevant Prizes, Awards and other Academic Distinctions

Please provide details of any awards or distinctions that would be relevant to your application including details of what the award was for.

Examples may include travel bursaries for a conference, presentation prizes, innovation awards etc.

ORCiD

The NIHR is an ORCID member and encourages all researchers to obtain this persistent digital identifier that distinguishes them from every other researcher. Applicants must include an ORCID iD in their application. Without it, your application will not be validated and you will not be able to submit. For more information and to register go to the ORCiD website. 

3. Applicant Research Background

Professional Background

Select the one option that best describes your professional background. This will determine any options that appear below for your profession, if applicable.

Please describe your research career to date 

Please use this question to describe your research experience and your relevant professional career and experience.

Please also include any of the following:

• research projects that you have led or made a significant contribution to (making clear what your role was)
• the research methods you have experience of
• the impact and outputs of the research you have been involved in (linking to details given in your CV)
• any other relevant experience such as supervisory, management, teaching, public engagement or leadership experience
• any experience of service user and public involvement and engagement activities in health/social care research
• professional experience relevant to your development as a practitioner academic in your chosen field
• other skills and experience that highlight your suitability for the fellowship you are applying for, and that demonstrate your potential as a future health/social care research leader.

It is not necessarily expected that applicants at the pre-doctoral level will have extensive research experience to date, but applicants are advised to describe all relevant academic and professional experience (including audit, evaluation and quality improvement programmes) and any research activities that they have been involved in.

(Word limit: 1000).

Has this application, or a similar application, been previously submitted to this or any other funding body?

Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to indicate whether this or a similar application has previously been submitted to this or any other funding body. This must include any previous submissions for an NIHR research training award, even if the proposed research has changed. Please detail the title of any previous submission(s), the funding body and scheme, the outcome and the date this is due if a decision is pending. If the application was unsuccessful, please indicate why and detail how this application differs from previous submission(s) and how any feedback received has been used to inform this application. 

(Word limit: 500)

Contextual Factors

Please use this question to detail any contextual factors you wish to make the Funding Committee aware of. The NIHR wants to know about any such circumstances so that they may take them into consideration during the assessment of your application. Contextual factors may include:

• Career breaks due to parental leave, or periods of illness.
• Reduced time spent undertaking research due to a disability or caring responsibilities. This could include any physical or mental difficulty that may have impacted your research career. These are situations that have a significant impact on your ability to undertake research
• Reduced opportunities for career support e.g. mentorship, and limited opportunities to undertake prior research and training
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your research carer

Please also use this section to detail any other factors that may have impacted your research career. The impact on your career to date will be specific to your particular circumstances but could include such impacts as limited opportunities to obtain grant funding, or fewer publications. In general terms, mitigating factors should be significant, and relevant.

The NIHR acknowledges that you may be reluctant, or uncomfortable disclosing relevant information that is sensitive, but we are unable to take into account factors that you do not disclose. Please be assured that information provided by you here is sensitive and will be treated confidentially and in line with General Data and Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Use this section to indicate any specific impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your application. 

(Word limit: 500) 

4. Research Plan

Applicants are certainly not expected to possess a fully developed proposal for PhD study at the point of application (this being an output of the award itself), but they are required to have identified a likely research question, and, ideally, to have conceived strategies for tackling it so as to usefully inform and direct a preparatory training plan.‘Bridge’ applicants are expected to have a more refined plan for PhD study than are ‘standard’ applicants.Using all of the headings and associated guidance below, please use this section to explain the proposal for doctoral study that you intend to develop over the course of the fellowship. It is fully expected that some applicants, and particularly ‘standard’ applicants, may not be able to provide much detail under some of these headings.

• What is the problem under consideration?

Explain the health and/or social care problem to be explored, explaining its impact on service users as well as health and/or social care services.

• What will be the research question/aims and objectives?

Please summarise the likely research question / key aims and objectives.

• Why is this research important in terms of improving the health and/or wellbeing of the public and/or to service users and health and social care services?

Please outline the anticipated value or contribution the study might provide.

• Project Plan

Describe your plan of investigation if you have one, including the methods you anticipate using for data collection and analysis.

• How will you involve service users, carers, the public and other key stakeholders undertaking your PhD project?

The NIHR expects appropriate and relevant involvement of service users, carers, the public and other key stakeholders in the conduct of the research it supports.Information and resources to assist you can be found on the NIHR website (a detailed definition of public involvement in research, and briefing notes for researchers on how to involve the public).

In addition, the NIHR has contributed to a Toolkit for Increasing Participation of Black Asian & Minority Ethnic Groups in Health & Social Care Research, and has produced a further resource on Public Involvement in Social Care Research

Identify all stakeholders who are relevant to your research proposal and, where appropriate, describe your plans for their involvement in the proposed research itself.

Applicants may wish consider seeking input from elected members at their associated local authorities, these individuals being representatives for their communities by definition.

Note: The PLAF award you are applying for will not fund any of the activities you describe here. The description is, however, crucial in that it enables the assessors of your application to appraise the appropriateness of your tailored training and development plan, the appropriateness of your supervisory support, and the appropriateness of your hosting arrangements. (Word limit: 500) 

5. Patient and Public Involvement

As noted elsewhere within this document, the NIHR expects appropriate and relevant involvement of service users, carers, the public and other key stakeholders in the development of the research it supports.

Information and resources to assist you can be found on the NIHR website (a detailed definition of public involvement in research, and briefing notes for researchers on how to involve the public).

In addition, the NIHR has contributed to a Toolkit for Increasing Participation of Black Asian & Minority Ethnic Groups in Health & Social Care Research, and has produced a further resource on Public Involvement in Social Care Research.

Applicants may wish consider seeking input from elected members at their associated local authorities, these individuals being representatives for their communities by definition.

Please describe how patients/service users, carers and the public have been involved in developing this proposal

You should describe who has been involved and why this is appropriate, what role(s) they have played and what influence or change has happened as result of their involvement.

(Word limit: 350)

Please describe the ways in which patients/service users, carers and the public will be actively involved the proposed research, including any training and support provided

Service users and the public/community can be involved in every stage of a research project, from developing a proposal through to dissemination and evaluation.

In your description you will need to say who will be involved and why.

Explain why your approach to involvement and engagement is appropriate for this proposal

Describe how you will support and enable involvement and engagement in your research (e.g.: payments, training).

(Word limit: 350)

If it is considered not appropriate and meaningful to actively involve patients/service users, carers and the public in your proposed research, please justify why

Complete / justify as necessary.

(Word limit: 350) 

6. Training and Development and Research Support

Proposed training and development programme

Please use this section to detail the training and development (including doctoral-level Fellowship application development) you will undertake as part of the fellowship. Please answer this question using the headings relevant to your training plan from the list below. As this is the main part of your application you should ensure that the information is accurate, succinct and clearly laid out. 1500 words are available for this section if needed.

• full Masters course (note – this must be a Research Methods Masters, or at the very least a Masters with a strong (and taught) research methods component)
• formal courses (including Masters modules)
• training in specialist skills and research methodologies
• placements with other research groups or centres
• leadership training
• conference attendance
• research visits
• training in public, service user and carer involvement and engagement
• dissemination of relevant research
• research experience
• professional development
• other training and development
• preparation of an application for a competitive, peer-reviewed doctoral level research training fellowship

Impact of the Fellowship

Please describe the impact this fellowship will have on your career, remembering that a fellowship should provide you with a step change in your career trajectory.

(Word limit: 1500)

Primary Academic Supervisor

Please provide details of your proposed Primary Academic Supervisor and the support that they will provide.The individual listed here must also be added as a participant in the ‘Participants and Signatories’ section of the application form. Details of the following must be included here:

1. the numbers of Masters students currently supervised and successfully supervised to completion
2. the number of PhD students currently supervised and successfully supervised to completion

The primary academic supervisor must be employed by the university named as Host or Partner Organisation.

Please note that the Primary Academic Supervisor of the fellowship is not required to remain as the proposed Primary Academic Supervisor in any subsequent application for a doctoral fellowship. It is the the responsibility of the supervisor to help the fellow to identify a replacement if the project evolves in anunforseen direction.

(Word limit: 1000)

Mentor

Applicants are required to identify an individual (ideally an established practitioner academic) who will act as a career mentor over the course of the fellowship.

Mentors need not be of the same profession as the applicant, but should be in a position to provide guidance and insight into the barriers and enablers facing an aspirant practitioner academic.

Please provide details of your proposed career mentor and the support that they will provide.The individual named here must also be added in the ‘Participants and Signatories’ section of the application form.

(Word limit: 250)

Collaborations

Explain what collaborations you intend to establish to support your training and development programme. Collaborations should complement and enhance the skills and experience you are looking to gain through this award and can include (but not limited to) individuals, research groups,CTUs, organisations and industry partners.

(Word limit: 600)

Host Organisations support statement

This statement must be written and added by relevant Heads of Department/Senior Managers at the proposed Host Organisation and Partner Organisation, and should detail how these organisations are going to support the applicant, in partnership, to complete the PLAF if awarded. 

This statement should be specific and tailored to the applicant and their training needs, and describe how the organisations intend to support the applicant to develop their practitioner academic career in the long-term.

The NIHR views Host and Partner Organisations as key contributors to the training and development of our next generation of research leaders. Therefore, information should also be provided that pertains to the organisations’ track records of, and approaches to, supporting early career researchers.

The Head of Department at the academic organisation is required to detail the extent to which Masters students progress to PhD study at the institution. The Senior Manager at the local authority / local authority supporting organisation is required to detail the plans in place to support the continuation of the applicant’s professional role over the course of, and following the completion of, any subsequent award.

NIHR see the responsibility for training the next generation of research leaders as a joint enterprise with host organisations. Information should, therefore, also be provided on the organisations’ track records of supporting early career researchers, such as evidence of bridging or other support provided to fellows upon completion of an award.

In addition, the statement should also describe the organisations’ approaches to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive research culture for all. The statement should provide evidence of how the organisations’ value and support equality, diversity and inclusion as well as acknowledging the organisations’ responsibilities with respect to research integrity. Statements may wish to refer to the principles and best practice outlined within relevant Charters and Concordats in these areas, such as the Researcher Development Concordat and Advance HE’s Equality Charters. It should be noted that being a signatory to Concordats or holding bronze/silver status from the Equality Charters isn’t a requirement of funding and evidence can be provided through other means.

Organisations are expected to comply with the relevant Principles and obligations for clinical academic training and it is recommended that contributors read these documents, where relevant, before completing the statement of support.

NIHR expects that all commitments made to the applicant within this statement will be honoured for the lifetime of the award.

This section can only be edited by the Heads of Department/Senior Managers once they have agreed participation and cannot be edited, but can be viewed, by the applicant. 

Please note - The Host Organisation Statement of Support is a key element of the assessment process and applicants are advised to discuss the statement with their Heads of Department/Senior Managers well in advance of the competition deadline.

(Word limit: 1000)

7. Uploads

To support your training and development proposal you are required to upload the following document in the ‘uploads’ section of the form:

• Training timetable: One page (readable when printed on a single side of A4) detailing specific milestone and deliverables.

8. Budget

Guidance for the completion of the finance section is available in the next section of the Applicant Guidance Notes.