Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Public Health Intervention Development (PHIND)

Apply for funding for the early-stage development of an intervention that seeks to address a UK or global public health challenge.

You must be a researcher employed by an eligible research organisation.

MRC will fund up to £150,000, for a maximum of 18 months.

Funds requested by UK research organisations will be funded at 80% of the full economic cost, in which case the full economic cost of your project can be up to £187,500. Overseas costs will be funded at 100% of the full economic cost.

Who can apply

Before applying for funding, check the following:

UKRI has introduced new role types for opportunities being run on the new Funding Service, effective from 22 May 2023. For full details, see your eligibility as an individual

Who is eligible to apply

To be eligible to apply for this opportunity you must:

  • be a researcher employed by an eligible research organisation
  • show that you will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work
  • focus your application within the science area of early-stage development of interventions that seek to address either UK or global public health challenges

For applicants who do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting the application the research organisation is confirming:

  • contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project
  • appropriate laboratory space and access to facilities to carry out the research will be provided

Applicants and other members of the team

You can include international applicants as project co-leads if they provide expertise not available in the UK and make a major intellectual contribution to the design or conduct of the project. You must justify in your application why their expertise is required, see Applicant and team capability to deliver.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

MRC is committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

  • career breaks
  • support for people with caring responsibilities
  • flexible working
  • alternative working patterns

Read MRC’s guidance on flexible working and career breaks. You can also find out more about MRC’s current EDI initiatives and equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

What we're looking for

MRC is looking to support the early-stage development of interventions that seek to address either UK or global public health challenges. This might include qualitative and quantitative primary research and the development of theory and logic models. However, emphasis should be placed on developing the intervention.

This opportunity supports the incorporation of systems thinking in addressing public health challenges. It is justifiable to focus on just aspect of a system as long as the wider systems context is recognised, for example, in the framework for evaluation.

It also strongly encourages the use of interdisciplinary teams and co-production with users and other relevant stakeholders, such as policy makers.

Scope

Population level interventions, with a focus on non-health care settings. Examples of the focus of health-related population level interventions include:

  • transport
  • education
  • employment
  • leisure
  • the built environment

For the purposes of this funding opportunity, ‘population’ is defined as groups of individuals for which an intervention may subsequently be delivered and evaluated. For example, this includes organisations such as schools, prisons and workplaces, or settings such as:

  • neighbourhoods
  • communities
  • regions
  • countries

Health care settings can be included, but projects should demonstrate potential for improved health of general, high-risk or vulnerable populations.

The creation of new interventions, where active components of existing interventions are combined to create a new intervention, is allowable within the scope.

The following activities are not within the scope of this opportunity:

  • NHS interventions
  • interventions treating clinical conditions or improving health services delivery
  • systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • standalone feasibility studies and pilot studies
  • the wholesale transfer of a proven intervention to a new context, setting or target population

The application

You should address the following points about the proposed intervention, including:

  • its definition
  • a clear theory behind its mechanism of action
  • an indication of its forms and functions
  • its likely components and their inter-relationships
  • its continued refinement and sustainability
  • its scalability

The application should demonstrate a pathway to further development and evaluation of the intervention, and criteria for its progression to the next stage of development (detailed within the case for support).

Engagement of potential commissioners and users of an intervention is often crucial to its potential success. You should be able to identify potential beneficiaries of your intervention, who would be delivering the intervention and who would commission it.

Your application will be strengthened by demonstrating that users and the target population will be willing to participate in the development study (and potentially further testing and evaluation).

It may be helpful to refer to the MRC and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) guidance for developing and evaluating complex interventions. This supports the development or identification, feasibility testing, evaluation and implementation of complex interventions.

Duration

We will fund projects lasting up to 18 months.

For information, MRC has previously funded awards with a shorter duration of eight and 10 months, however, successful awards typically span anywhere from 12 to 18 months in duration.

Funding available

MRC will fund up to £150,000, for a maximum of 18 months.

Funds requested by UK research organisations will be funded at 80% of the full economic cost, in which case the full economic cost of your project can be up to £187,500. Overseas costs will be funded at 100% of the full economic cost.

What we will fund

You can request funding for costs such as:

  • a contribution to the salary of the principal investigator and co-investigators
  • support for other posts such as research and technical
  • research consumables
  • equipment
  • travel costs
  • data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs
  • estates and indirect costs

A limited amount (approximately 15%) of the overall cost may be allocated to some acceptability and feasibility research, to:

  • further develop the intervention
  • help cement a collaboration
  • underpin further work to help the case for a future grant application

What we will not fund

We will not fund:

  • research involving randomised trials or clinical interventions
  • costs for PhD studentships
  • publication costs
  • funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants
  • time spent developing applications for further funding

Team project partner

You may include project partners that will support your research project through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:

  • staff time
  • access to equipment
  • sites or facilities
  • the provision of data
  • software or materials

Each project partner must provide a statement of support.

We collaborations with an industrial partner or partners, where these add value to the project. You and your potential collaborators are advised to refer to the guidance on MRC Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF). ICF is the mechanism by which academic-industrial collaborations can apply to the MRC.

Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles for instances where a project partner is also providing paid services, such as a subcontractor.

Who cannot be included as a team project partner

The individual named as the contact for the project partner organisation cannot also be a named applicant, such as all those with a role of ‘investigator’ and any other named member of staff.

International collaboration

If your application includes international applicants, project partners or collaborators, visit Trusted Research for more information on effective international collaboration.

Find out about getting funding for international collaboration.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UKRI Funding Service. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

We recommend you start your application as soon as possible after the opportunity opens on 13 July 2023.

Your host organisation will also be able to provide advice and guidance to assist you with the creation and completion of your application. They will also be able to guide you through any internal deadlines they have put in place, allowing them sufficient time to complete a review of your application before completing the final submission through TFS.

Information for research office professionals

If an application is created by a member of an organisation where we do not currently have contact details with their research office, we will contact them to enable administrator access. This provides:

  • oversight of every funding service application opened on behalf of your organisation
  • the ability to review and submit completed applications before the advertised opportunity closing date 14 September 2023 4:00pm UK time

If you anticipate researchers from your organisation applying for this opportunity but have not already received an invitation to open an account, email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

As an administrator, you will be responsible for the final submission of the application to UKRI and ensuring internal deadlines are made clear to applicants from your organisation. To hear more about the role of administrators, and the current functionality of the new funding service and how it will further develop, watch our research office webinars about the new UKRI Funding Service.

Submitting your application

Applications should be prepared and submitted by the lead research organisation but should be co-created with input from all investigators, and project partners, and should represent the proposed work of the entire consortia.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply:

  1. Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this page. (this will be available from 13 July 2023, until the opportunity closes)
  2. Confirm you are the project lead.
  3. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org
  4. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to them, or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the ‘How to apply’ section on this Funding finder page.
  5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
  6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

As citations can be integral to a case for support, you should balance their inclusion and the benefit they provide against the inclusion of other parts of your answer to each question. Bear in mind that citations, associated reference lists or bibliographies, or both, contribute to, and are included in, the word count of the relevant section.

Deadline

MRC must receive your application by 14 September 2023 at 4:00pm.

You will not be able to apply after the funding opportunity has closed. Late applications will not be considered by MRC.

You should ensure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place at your research organisation, to ensure the timely final submission of your application before the opportunity closes.

Following the close of the opportunity, your application will not be returned for amendment.

Section guidance

External links are only permitted in the ‘References’ section. Your application should be a self-contained description of the proposed project and should not depend on additional information.

Application name

You will be asked to enter a distinct name for your application using 150 characters or fewer.

Start date and duration

This is a standard TFS section that asks applicants to tell us the start date and duration of their proposed project. Your project can last up to 18 months.

Details and summary

Summary

In plain English, provide a summary of your proposed intervention.

This summary may be made publicly available on external facing websites if funded, so please ensure it can be understood by a variety of readers, for example:

  • opinion-formers
  • policymakers
  • the general public
  • the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary

Succinctly describe your proposed work in terms of:

  • its context
  • the public health challenge the project addresses and its potential impact
  • its aims and study objectives
  • its potential applications and benefits

Word count: 550

Applicants

List the key members of your team and assign them roles, for example:

  • project lead
  • project co-lead UK
  • project co-lead (international)
  • researcher co-lead
  • research and innovation associate
  • visiting researcher
  • specialist
  • technician
  • professional enabling staff

MRC policy only allows one person to be named project lead within your Public Health Intervention Development (PHIND) application. Applications that include more than one project lead will be rejected by MRC. More information about the roles listed above can be found here: Roles in funding applications: eligibility, responsibilities and costings guidance – UKRI.

Section: Vision

Question: What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work:

  • is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
  • has the potential to advance current understanding generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
  • is timely given current trends, context and needs
  • impacts world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment

Within the Vision section we also expect you to:

  • identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be
  • describe the strategic public health priorities and public health outcomes being addressed
  • explain the evidence gap being addressed with this intervention, referring to relevant literature and what is already known, including what has previously been tested and why a new intervention is needed. Please reflect on:
    • utility
    • applicability
    • affordability
    • feasibility

Word count: 1000

Section: Approach

Question: How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:

  • is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
  • is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
  • uses a clear and transparent methodology
  • summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
  • describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place, its location, and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work

Within the Approach section we also expect you to:

  • fully justify the target population identified in your application, with clear consideration of the potential for differences according to:
    • socioeconomic status
    • ethnicity
    • gender
    • age group
    • other characteristics
  • provide the expected number of focus groups, participants, people completing a survey and so on, where applicable
  • clearly describe how the intervention content will be developed from the data collected, including justification for the approach taken
  • highlight any novel aspects of this project or proposed approach
  • outline how co-production with relevant stakeholders will be embedded into development of the intervention and throughout design and delivery of the study.
  • discuss how systems thinking has been applied to the design of the research study and ensure you evaluate the potential for unintended consequences, both positive and negative, explaining what you could put in place to mitigate risks and capture positive outcomes using a systems approach
  • provide a mandatory project plan, including milestones in the form of a Gantt chart to support your proposal (maximum of 1 side of A4 and must be in a readable PDF format)
  • you also have the option to provide a logic model (maximum of 1 side of A4 and must be in a readable format), to help you describe the anticipated mechanism of action, delivery, key components and their inter-relationships, outputs and outcomes of the intervention. If you choose to include a logic model, ensure this is combined with the Gantt chart, into a single PDF file that does not exceed 2 sides of A4
Important information

Please do not use the Gantt chart to include information which should be detailed in the other sections of your application.

All applicants should be aware of the following:

  • if your application does not include a project plan, or any file uploaded exceeds the applicable permitted page limit, your application will be rejected
  • MRC will not be returning applications for amendment and will not accept late submissions
  • successful PHIND applications clearly describe robust methods. For example, if you are using focus groups, specify the number of sessions that will be involved and justify group or sample sizes. You should also define the selection criteria and recruitment strategy for your study participants

Word count: 1,000

Future development phase

Question: What are the next steps for the development and evaluation of the intervention after the proposed PHIND project has been completed?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

This question refers to future development and evaluation phases that would be informed by, or could lead on from, the proposed intervention development study. Include criteria for progression, the pathway to the next stage of evaluation and give an indication of what the intervention would likely involve.

It’s important to demonstrate:

  • the pathway to the next stage of intervention development and evaluation
  • what the intervention would likely involve, such as the type and format of the intervention, clearly describing the system context, where applicable

Be as clear as possible about the future plans, including an outline of the design of a full-scale evaluation.

While you’re not expected to know the outcome of your research, a strong application will provide:

  • an indication of the anticipated intervention’s form and function (for example, specifying that you intend to develop an online alcohol reduction programme would give the panel a clearer picture of what you envisage than simply referring to an educational resource)
  • relevant programme theory to underpin and explain the intervention and its likely effects
  • how the proposed research will feed into the development and refinement of the intervention and inform whether it is likely to be affordable and feasible to deliver

Not all PHIND projects will necessarily be developed into feasible interventions and high-risk high-impact projects are encouraged. Either way, results will be valuable for informing future research and should be appropriately disseminated.

You should also detail the criteria you’ll use to determine whether the project should progress to the next stage of evaluation. This may be related to uptake of the intervention, its feasibility or scalability, or practicality of delivery. It’s not essential to provide figures but you should give the panel an indication of what you’ll be looking for.

Word count: 400

Data management and sharing

Question: how will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a data management plan which should clearly detail how you will comply with MRC’s published data management and sharing policies, which includes detailed guidance notes.

Provide your response following the MRC data management plan template, using the headings:

  • description of the data
  • data collection or generation
  • data management, documentation and curation
  • data security and confidentiality of potentially disclosive information
  • data sharing and access
  • responsibilities

The length of your plan will vary depending on the type of study being undertaken for:

  • population cohorts; longitudinal studies; genetic, omics and imaging data; biobanks, and other collections that are potentially a rich resource for the wider research community: maximum of 1,500 words
  • all other research, including less complex, the plan may be as short as 500 words

Word count: 1,500

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Question: Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you and your team, have:

  • the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
  • the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
  • the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
  • contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

The word count for this section is 1500 words, 1000 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions. Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you, and if relevant your team (project lead and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on), have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work.

You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed below. You should use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:

  • contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
  • the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
  • contributions to the wider research and innovation community
  • contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit
Additions:

Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences or outputs, but any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.

For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

Word count: 1,500

References

Question: List the references you have used to support your application

What the assessors are looking for in your response

You should include all references in this section of the application, and not in the rest of the application questions.

You should not include any other information in this section.

We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.

If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

Word count: 800 words

Project partners

Question: Provide details of any project partners’ contributions, and letters or emails of support from each named partner.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Download and complete the project partner contributions template (DOCX, 52KB). Include letters or emails of support from each partner in a single PDF.

Each letter or email you provide should:

  • confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
  • clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them
  • describe any additional value that they bring to the project

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the template.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Do not provide letters of support from host and project co-leads’ research organisations.

If your application includes industry project partners, you will also need to complete the Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF) section.

Find out more about ICF.

Word limit: 1000

Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF)

Question: Does your application include industry project partners?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If industry collaboration does not apply to any of your project partners, or you don’t have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box.

If your research project involves collaboration between an academic organisation and an industry or company, the assessors are looking for information relating to the nature, goals and conditions of the collaboration and any restrictions or rights to the project results that could be claimed by the project partner.

By ‘industry or company’ we mean an enterprise that puts goods or services on a market and whose commercial activities are greater than 20% of their overall annual capacity.

Find out more about ICF, including:

  • collaboration agreements
  • definitions of basic or applied research
  • internationally based companies
  • subsidy control
  • IP arrangements
  • fully flexible and gated contributions
  • the ICF assessment criteria

Use the ICF Decision Tree to establish whether you need to submit under ICF.

If ICF applies to your project, in addition to the project partner information completed in the previous section, confirm your answers to the ICF questions in the text box, and repeat this process for each ICF project partner:

  1. Name the industry or company project partner considered under ICF.
  2. Indicate whether your application is either basic research or applied research
  3. Explain why, in the absence of the requested UKRI funding, the collaboration and the planned research could not be undertaken
  4. State whether your application is under the category of either fully flexible contribution or gated contribution (based on the IP sharing arrangements with the ICF partner)
  5. Outline the pre-existing IP (‘background IP’) that each project partner (including the academic partner) will bring to the collaborative research project and the terms under which project partners may access these assets
  6. Outline the IP that is expected to be developed during the collaborative research project (‘foreground IP’) and briefly outline how it will be managed, including:
    • which project partners will own this IP
    • what rights project partners will have to use academically-generated foreground IP during and after the research project, for internal research and development or for commercial purposes
    • any rights of the academic partner to commercialise the foreground IP (including foreground IP generated by project partners)
  1. Outline any restrictions to dissemination of the project results, including the rights of the project partner to:
    • review, approve or delay publications (including the time period associated with such rights)
    • request or require the removal of any information
  1. Declare any conflicts of interest held by the applicants in relation to the project partners and describe how they will be managed
  2. If applicable, justify collaborating with an overseas industry or company under ICF

Failure to provide the information requested for industry partners under ICF could result in your application being rejected.

You are recommended to discuss the goals and conditions of any collaboration with an industry or company project partner with your university technology transfer or contracts office before applying.

Word limit: 1,500

Ethics and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)

Question: What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

  • the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
  • how you will manage these considerations

If you are collecting or using data, identify:

  • any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further re-use of data
  • formal information standards with which your study will comply

If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

Word count: max 500

Research involving human participation

Question: Will the project involve the use of human subjects or their personal information?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you are proposing research that requires the involvement of human subjects, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.

Justify the number and the diversity of the participants involved, as well as any procedures.

Provide details of any areas of substantial or moderate severity of impact.

If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Word count: 700

Research involving human tissues or biological samples

Question: Does your proposed research involve the use of human tissues, or biological samples?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you are proposing work that involves human tissues or biological samples, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.

Justify the use of human tissue or biological samples specifying the nature and quantity of the material to be used and its source.

If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Word count: 300

Section: Resources and cost justification

Question: What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

  • project staff
  • significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
  • any equipment that will cost more than £10,000
  • any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
  • all facilities and infrastructure costs
  • all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

  • are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
  • represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
  • maximise potential outcomes and impacts

Where you do not provide adequate justification for a resource, we may deduct it from any funding awarded.

You should identify:

  • support for activities to either increase impact, for public engagement, knowledge exchange and/or to support responsible innovation
  • support for access to facilities, infrastructure and/or procurement of equipment
  • support for preserving, long-term storage, or sharing of data
  • support from your organisation or partner organisations and how that enhances value for money
  • support for international co-leads, demonstrating this is within the 30% costs cap for co-leads from developed countries, India and China
  • NHS research costs, when they are associated with NHS studies

Word count: 1,000

Related applications

Question: Is this application related to another application to MRC or other funding organisation?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If yes, explain how this new application is related to the other application.

If the related application was submitted to another funder you should identify the name of the funder and when you applied.

If this is a resubmission describe how it differs from the previous application and how feedback on the previous application has been considered and acted on.

Word count: 500 words

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Examination of applications

Following the close of the PHIND opportunity, all submitted applications will be examined by MRC to ensure the proposed project is within science remit of the PHIND opportunity.

Following our completion of the application examination process, all those with an application outside of the science remit of the PHIND scheme will be advised their application has been rejected shortly before the advertised expert review panel meeting planned for November 2023.

Applications within the science remit of the PHIND scheme will be taken forward to the expert review panel meeting planned for November 2023.

Expert review panel

A Panel of experts, including independent academics and public health practitioners, will collectively review your application against the criteria of the PHIND opportunity, which is to:

  • ensure the public health relevance of projects
  • increase the potential success of future applications for piloting and evaluative studies

Applications will rank alongside other applications after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

The expert review panel will use the following criteria to assess your PHIND application:

  • Vision: the quality and importance of the proposed research, potential for impact and the need for an intervention to address the public health issues described, taking account of the current landscape and literature
  • Approach: the proposed approach including study design and use of appropriate methodology, feasibility, novelty , research environment, application of systems-thinking and plans for engagement and involvement of users, key stakeholders and target populations
  • Future development phases: plans for progression and the pathway to the next stage of intervention development and evaluation
  • Research team and capability to deliver: evidence that the research team has the relevant experience, skills and expertise to deliver the proposed work
  • Plans for data management and sharing
  • Resources and cost justification: justification that the costs requested are comprehensive, appropriate, represent optimal use of resources and maximise potential outcomes and impacts

Principles of assessment

UKRI supports the San Francisco declaration on research assessment (DORA) and recognises the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI Principles of Assessment and Decision Making.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within 3 months of receiving your application.

The expert review panel meeting will take place approximately 12 weeks after the closing date.

Publication of outcomes

MRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at public health intervention development scheme – funding decisions.

If your application is successful, some personal information will be published on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

To see summaries of successful PHIND applications, you can search project reference IDs from the funding decision spreadsheet on Gateway to Research.

Contact details

Get help with your application

For help and advice on costings and writing your application, please contact your research office in the first instance. Allow enough time for your organisation’s submission process.

Get help with applying through The Funding Service

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

We aim to respond to emails within 2 working days.

Phone: 01793 547490

Sensitive information

If you, or a key team member, need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email support@funding-service.ukri.org. Include ‘Sensitive information: PHIND Sep 2023’ in the subject line.

Typical examples of confidential information include:

  • applicant is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
  • declaration of interest
  • additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘applicant and team capability’ section
  • conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
  • the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, see UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Personal information

MRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your funding service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Updates

  • 23 June 2023
    New guidance added throughout 'How to apply' section following an update to the Funding Service

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