The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is inviting expressions of interest from Local Authorities that have public health initiatives needing research and evaluation.
The NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme have six fully-funded academic teams, ready to work in partnership with Local Authorities to co-design and undertake research.
The shortlisted expressions of interest will be given to NIHR’s Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams (PHIRST) to co-produce research into.
The opportunity is open to all Local Authorities across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Examples of initiatives currently being evaluated through the PHIRST Scheme can be found via the Local Authority Research link on the PHR landing page.
Two of the 24 projects currently being worked on include an evaluation of the Hammersmith and Fulham ‘Free universal breakfast club and secondary school meals’ initiative, and an evaluation of ‘New models of remote delivery, in drug and alcohol services, introduced during Covid-19’ in Leeds.
The purpose of this call is to identify and prioritise Local Authority initiatives which have the potential to impact on health, and which require research input.
The NIHR anticipate high demand and will prioritise local authority initiatives that:
- are likely to lead to important impacts on population health
- are likely to be widely generalisable
- where there is an identified need for the initiative
- where the initiative is readily evaluable
- where the source of the initiative funding is identified and preferably secured
- where research will provide timely evidence to underpin policy or practice
- Please note, the research, but not the initiative itself, will be fully funded by the PHR Programme
For more information and to apply, click here.
The deadline for submissions is 1pm, 12th September 2022.