Themed calls

NIHR themed calls are funding opportunities focusing on a particular priority research area. The government’s Chief Medical Officer sets out an annual research priority, calling for researchers with interest in that area, to come forward. We advertise themed funding opportunities across many of our UK programmes. When assessing funding applications, we prioritise those submitted in response to a themed call.

Themed calls typically cover all aspects of translational, clinical, public health and social care research. Funding in these priority areas aims to find high impact solutions for those who plan, commission and use health, public health and social care services.

Current themed call

Our current themed call is around compound pressures.

Compound pressures

We have issued a cross-programme call for research which evaluates health and care interventions and services, to reduce compound pressures on the NHS and social care.

Our healthcare system is facing a lot of pressure. Demand on our services increases during the cold winter months and during times of extreme heat in the summer. Pressure builds when we face unexpected epidemics or pandemics. These additional pressures interact with the ongoing pressures of the cost of living, higher rates of illness since COVID, and operational pressures within the NHS and social care sectors.

This themed funding call asks how we can reduce compound pressures and improve outcomes by being more efficient and resilient.

See our compound pressures funding call and apply

Our highlight notices

We also publish research highlight notices which highlight areas of ongoing health research priorities for our programmes.

Our current highlight notices are:

Brain tumours

Together with the Department of Health and Social Care, we are looking for collaborative research into any aspect of brain tumours including diagnosis, treatment, and supporting patients.

Motor neurone disease (MND)

We have issued a cross-programme call for research proposals to accelerate progress in and learning from MND clinical trials.

Dementia

This call invites proposals for dementia research. It looks to address important health and social care questions, particularly focusing on meeting the needs of underserved populations.

Previous themed calls

These previous research themes remain ongoing health research priorities for all our programmes. If you are an interested researcher, we encourage you to submit an application to one of our researcher-led opportunities:

For queries about our current themed call and highlight notices, please email us at themedcalls@nihr.ac.uk

For all other enquiries about our ongoing research priorities, please contact the relevant programme.

Applying for a themed call

You can find out more about our opportunities and apply online:

Search for themed funding opportunities