Our hub is a collaboration of four world-leading research universities: Imperial College London, University College London, Queen Mary University of London and King's College London. However, we can help applicants from across England.
Led by our Directors: Professor Victoria Cornelius, Director of Imperial Clinical Trials Unit (ICTU), Chair in Medical Statistics and Trial Methodology at Imperial College London Professor Greta Rait, Clinical Professor of Primary Care and Health Services Research at UCL
We provide expert interdisciplinary support from the start of your journey, whatever your research area.
Our team can support you to navigate complex research funding processes. Our expert advisors have been where you are now, have wide-ranging expertise, and know what funders and panels are looking for.
We can work with you from pre-application stage, providing expert advice on:
- NIHR funding and other research funding programmes
- developing funding applications, including for fellowships
- grantsmanship reviews and mock interviews
- advice on research methods, design, and delivery, across a range of specialisms advice on collaboration and building your research team
- research career advice
- patient and public involvement and research inclusion expertise
Who can access this service?
Free expert advice is available to anyone applying to health and social care research funding.
We can help:
- researchers at all career stages
- health and care professionals of all disciplines
- SMEs, private and commercial applicants for research funding
We are keen to help those at an early stage of their research career, new to the research funding world or with less established research networks.
Innovative health and care research support
Expert advisors can support you to use the most modern and leading-edge methodologies and with implementation.
Our hub's team unites expert and senior health and social care researchers, methodologists and staff from world-leading institutions with outstanding track records in designing and delivering impactful and innovative research.
We also provide opportunities for collaboration with our interdisciplinary team, including signposting to connect to wider expertise networks to support innovative research. Our partnerships include expertise across a range of health and social care topics
Public involvement and research inclusion
We are committed to supporting inclusive research guided by public involvement. Our hub is expert in Public Involvement and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). These are vital parts of progressive and innovative research.
How to apply for support
To make the most of our support, we suggest getting in contact as early as possible.
Next steps
- Fill in the online Research Support Service request form
- Your request will be reviewed, and we will contact you within two weeks
- If your request is within our remit, you will be matched with an expert adviser who will tailor their support to your needs
If you have any questions, please email nihrrss@imperial.ac.uk
Holiday closure: December and January
Our service will be closed for the holidays, between Friday 20th December and Thursday 2nd January.
We won't be able to respond to research support requests during the closure period.
Reminder:
- To make sure we can provide you with the best possible support, please submit your request at least five working weeks before your funding submission deadline.
- We cannot accept requests made less than four working weeks before your funding application deadline. As we need enough time for our expert advisers to review your documents and provide tailored advice.
- Holiday closure days are not considered working days, so please plan accordingly.
Thank you for your understanding. We hope you have a happy holiday season.
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Research strengths and methodological expertise
Our hub special expertise in inspiring innovation in health and social care research, especially:
- Supporting and advancing innovation in trial design and delivery including digital health studies, stepped wedge trials, use of routine data including electronic health records, patient recorded outcome measurement (PROMS) and longitudinal data.
- Statistics and epidemiology including causal inference, target trial emulation, mediation analysis and Markov modeling.
- Participatory research methods such as Photovoice, community based participatory research and experience-based co-design.
- Qualitative methodologies such as Biographical Narrative Interpretative Method and linguistic-orientated methodologies such as linguistic ethnography and discourse analysis.
- Artificial intelligence including development of predictive models for patient outcomes, integration of AI tools in health data analytics, application of AI in clinical decision support systems, ethical considerations and governance of AI in healthcare research, support for researchers in AI methodologies and tools, implementation of AI algorithms for optimising clinical trial designs, collaboration with interdisciplinary teams to innovate AI applications in healthcare, Enhancing patient monitoring and management through AI-powered systems.
- Health psychology, behaviour change and complex behavioural or psychosocial interventions in primary care and community settings, culturally relevant complex interventions, championing equality, diversity and inclusion in applied health research.
- Implementation science including integration of mental and physical healthcare, adoption of virtual health care, health management information systems, improvement science and patient safety.
- Health economics including outcome assessment, economic evaluation and health technology assessment, health policy evaluation, evidence synthesis and translation, access to health care and health care financing, disease modelling, cost-effectiveness analysis and health inequities.
We provide expert interdisciplinary support from the start of your research journey, whatever your research area. We will match you with our expert advisors, to provide tailored research funding support.
We welcome early career researchers developing projects or fellowships, experienced investigators and under-represented disciplines. We offer specialist activities such as mock interviews and grant reviews from national academics with panel experience.
You can get in touch before you've even written your proposal.
We deliver support through online advice sessions, workshops and resources. We are developing new, innovative, online ways for you to engage with our service. So, you can receive support in the best way for you.
Collaborations
Is your team equipped to successfully carry out your research? Are you seeking to expand and complement your team's expertise? Our hub provides opportunities to collaborate with world-leading researchers and methodologists. We offer connections to broader expert networks, supporting innovative and interdisciplinary research.
Imperial College London: School of Public Health hosts the RSS alongside Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, Primary Care and Public Health, Ageing and Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Environmental Research Group and The George Institute.
QMUL: Wolfson Institute of Population Health in the Centre for Evaluation and Methods, which incorporates a Methodology Research Unit, Health Economics & Policy Research Unit, the Pragmatic CTU, and Barts CTU.
UCL: Department of Primary Care and Population Health, alongside PRIMENT CTU, Centres for Ageing, e-Health, Health Informatics, Qualitative Health Research, within the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care.
KCL: Research Management and Innovation Directorate (RMID), which provides cross-school research support collaborating with King's CTU.
General Enquiries
For general enquiries please email: nihrrss@imperial.ac.uk