Research Design Service
West Midlands
RfPB Research Funding
Application Workshop
28th February 2014
How does RfPB work?
• 10 'Regional Advisory Committees'
• Applications that relate to health service challenges,
regionally or locally, will be particularly welcome.
• As a responsive rather than a commissioning programme,
RfPB does not seek to name specific topic areas and
welcomes applications on a wide range of issues.
• Potential applicants are encouraged to visit the programme
website (www.rfpb.nihr.ac.uk) for the most up-to-date
information before submitting an application.
• There is a regularly updated list of ‘frequently asked
questions’ (FAQs) on the RfPB website to supplement this
guidance.
Who can apply?
• All NHS bodies and other providers of NHS
services in England are eligible to apply,
provided they are capable of fulfilling the role
of a research sponsor as set out in the
Research Governance Framework for Health &
Care. Applications must come from such
organisations in England which are able to
fulfil the role of research sponsor.
What is funded? £350k/36 months
• Research which is related to the day-to-day practice of health
service staff and is concerned with having an impact on the health
of users of the NHS.
• Funded research projects are likely to fall into the areas of health
service research and public health research, although other areas
are not excluded from the programme. The research projects will
use quantitative or qualitative methods to:
– Study the provision and use of NHS services.
– Evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of interventions.
– Examine the resource utilisation of alternative means for healthcare
delivery.
– Formally scrutinise innovations and developments.
– Pilot or consider the feasibility of research requiring major award
applications to other funders.
Why does patient and public
involvement matter?
• Applications which have emerged from
interaction with patients and the public, which
relate to patient and service user experience,
and which have been drawn up in association
with a relevant group of service users will be
particularly welcome.
• In all cases, however, potential trajectory to
patient benefit will be a major selection
criterion.
Not funded?
• Laboratory-based research or basic science research,
including research based on animal models.
• Setting up or maintaining research units.
• Applications which are solely service developments.
Although the programme will fund research aimed at
evaluating the effectiveness of a service or
intervention, it will not fund the costs of providing the
service or intervention itself.
• Applications which are solely: audit, survey, needs
assessment, technology development (although these
elements may be part of an integrated research study).
Systematic reviews may be funded as part of a larger
research project or as stand-alone studies. For more
details,
http://www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/RfPB/Pages/FAQ.aspx#22
RfPB Programme Director
Prof David Armstrong
• The main reason for RfPB funding failure is:
• Picking the wrong research
question
• What makes a good question?
Five basic tests of a good question
•
•
•
•
•
Will you get a real answer to a real problem?
Is it timely?
Is it original (but not too original)?
Is it plausible?
How risky is it?
Is it the right question?
• What is the problem?
– Don’t assume that the funding panel will know
about your area of clinical interest
– How many people does it affect? How does it
affect them? Why does this matter?
• Will your research provide the answer to the
problem?
– Will it just be a stepping stone to the answer?
Is your research timely?
• Will your research findings produce applicable
changes in services which will lead to patient
benefit within 5 years?
• Will your research still be relevant in 17 years
from now, or is it a problem that will
disappear over time?
How do you know how original it is?
• Have you done a thorough systematic review?
– Has anyone else?
• If not, have you had a thorough look at the
relevant literature?
• Is someone else already answering this
question?
See UK Clinical Trials Gateway
http://www.ukctg.nihr.ac.uk/default.aspx
Are you being too original?
• Is your idea too strange and different to
convince other people that it’s the right
approach?
– Dance classes for dementia?
• Is your idea so narrow that only a very few
people will either understand it or benefit
from it?
Does your idea sound plausible?
• Do we already know enough to be able to see
that your effect sizes are realistic?
– Have you just plucked some wildly optimistic
numbers from thin air?
Risk
• Will your methods give us the wrong answer
or no answer at all?
• What evidence is that participants can be
recruited to your study?
• Are there enough potential participants to
provide a definitive answer?
• What is the distance from patient benefit?
– Greater distance, greater the risk
Reminder: Five basic tests of a good
question
•
•
•
•
•
Will you get a real answer to a real problem?
Is it timely?
Is it original (but not too original)?
Is it plausible?
How risky is it?