So you’re new to…the National Institute for Health Research

The first leg of a two-part primer on the research arm of the NHS

Have you ever thought about applying for funding from the National Institute for Health Research but ended up talking yourself out of it? For health or social care researchers, the array of programmes on offer can seem at once inspiring—there are so many opportunities—and daunting, as it can be hard to know where your research fits best.

My aim in this article is to demystify the NIHR for those of you who fit into that category. I’ll give a quick overview of the organisation, mapping out the NIHR’s 10 funding programmes. I’ll also discuss the importance of demonstrating public involvement in NIHR applications and where to get support when developing a funding application.