Funding Opportunities

Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) and Programme Development Grants (PDG) Wales Outreach Events

In the autumn of 2023, the NIHR opened available funding to health and social care researchers in Wales. The Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) and Programme Development Grants (PDG) funding schemes are excited to welcome applications from Wales.

In order to share this new opportunity with researchers we are running a webinar on the 5th July 2024 at 9:30-11: 30 to outline the remit and scope of these funding awards and answer researchers’ questions. You are more than welcome to join us and please could you share the registration link to those that may be interested too.

The agenda for the webinar:

Event waiting room opens (5 minutes)
Welcome and Introductions (10 minutes)
Aims and scope of PGfAR (20 minutes)
Aims and scope of PDG (20 minutes)
Q&A session (30 minutes)
Closing remarks (5 minutes)

Please note that this webinar is a live event and will be recorded in accordance with GDPR.

We are also hosting a face to face event at Cardiff University on the 24th October 2024 at 10:00-16:00.

This outreach event will give researchers a chance to hear more about the remit of PGfAR and PDG funding, what makes a competitive application and ask questions. This will be a full day event and the afternoon sessions will give researchers the opportunity to have a one-to-one session with a member of the PGfAR team to discuss their application ideas and receive feedback.

The link to register can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/891546990047?aff=oddtdtcreator if you could please circulate this to those that may be interested.

Versus Arthritis - Living Well 2025

Versus Arthritis are planning to invest around £2 million in projects which address the unmet needs within healthcare access and pathways for people with arthritis.

Why are we investing in this research area?

It is important to find other ways to help people live better with their condition right now, with support from their local communities. We want more people to understand what they can do to help those with arthritis. This includes arming health services, local communities, schools, and employers with tools to enable people with arthritis to be active members of their communities. 
Read more about our research strategy and our living well priority area here: Our Better Lives Today, Better Lives Tomorrow Research Strategy 2022-2026.

Who can apply for this funding?

We encourage diverse teams with varied career backgrounds to apply, capable of advancing research into implementation and scaling-up support.
It is our belief that a multidisciplinary research team will facilitate breakthroughs and foster sustainable positive change for those living with arthritis.

What types of research are we looking to fund?

At Versus Arthritis, we want everyone to be able to access evidence-based integrated services across clinical and community settings for people with arthritis with. Our focus includes facilitating access for disadvantaged communities and ensuring smooth transitions from paediatric to adult care.
Additionally, we want to see research interventions that enhance communication between arthritis patients and healthcare providers, supported by decision aids, and advocate for informed, person-centred care grounded in robust health data and knowledge. Overall, this funding call aims to address the need to improve health service access and pathways for people living with arthritis.

We particularly welcome applications addressing the following:

Improving health care service access – with a particular focus on developing service delivery for communities with less access to health care services, including innovative ways of enabling access to health care. This could include novel strategies for accessing or providing evidence for the effectiveness of existing access models.
Improving health care service pathways – aiming to understand the current experience from diagnosis to treatment/management and follow-up, to identify what good referral pathways should look like, and ways to improve and deliver coordinated/joined-up care. A particular focus on osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and gout (not necessarily in the same proposal).

This call is OPEN, Apply here: Types of grants | Applying, guidance and funding (versusarthritis.org)

Other Funding for Living Well projects

Sitting alongside the Living Well 2025 call is our Oliver Bird Fund Round 3 call in partnership with the Nuffield Foundation, which also aligns with our Living Well Priority Area.
While Living Well 2025 focuses on improving access and delivery of health services delivered by health care professionals, the Oliver Bird Fund seeks to support people outside of the healthcare system and addresses the social and economic wellbeing of people living with musculoskeletal conditions.
If you would like to understand more about which funding call better suits your project, visit our funding calls page here: Types of grants | Applying, guidance and funding (versusarthritis.org)

Clinical Innovation Hub - Accelerate projects

The Clinical Innovation Hub is a partnership between Cardiff University and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. The Clinical Innovation Hub is a partner of the Accelerate project, Clinical Innovation Accelerator (CIA). Accelerate is a consortium £24M programme led by the Life Sciences Hub Wales in collaboration with Cardiff University, Swansea University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

It is funded by the Wales European Funding Office (WEFO) and will utilise EU Structural Funds to identify innovation projects that meet an unmet clinical need.

The awards are open to academia, industry, students and healthcare professionals. Innovations could take the form of new technologies, products, processes or services to deliver economically viable solutions for adoption into routine health and social care delivery, for patient benefit, health economic benefit and to stimulate economic growth with attendant socio-economic benefits in Wales.

Support that Accelerate can offer:

Funding for “Pilot” (6-12 months and <£20K) and “Platform” (12-18 months and < £150K) projects
Access to future funding opportunities/initiatives
Clinical input - Buy out and attract in kind NHS staff R&D time
Human resource - Clinical Innovation fellows, project management, business management, cost benefit analytics and research technologist assistance
Collaborations - Industry/Academic/Clinical partner
Advice & Guidance - A Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) of Clinical Innovation experts, including devices and intellectual property experts
Access to leading Welsh University, University Health Boards and Trusts - patients, facilities and personnel
Funding /deadlines: Support and awards operate on an always open basis with funding anticipated until 2021 so you can apply at any time. If you would like further information on submitting a proposal or have an innovative idea that you think would benefit from the advice or support for Cardiff University applicants, please contact Barbara Coles: colesb2@cf.ac.uk

Further information:

Royal College of General Practitioners

RCGP support for researchers

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is supporting researchers to implement academic primary care findings into practice for GPs.

The Research programme includes:

Scientific Foundation Board grants
RCGP Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Fellowship
RCGP Research Ready®
RCGP Impact from Research
Influencing research
Research awards

The new Impact from Research programme offers to partner on research projects and support impact and dissemination through a range of activities.
Further information: www.rcgp.org.uk/research