Clinical Research Network
Kent, Surrey and Sussex

2018/19 Green Shoots Initiative- launch of a new funding support model

Executive Summary

The following paper outlines a new procedure for awarding a small amount of money to protect the time of individuals who are preparing a project for grant application.

Background

In June 2017/18 the Chief Operating Officer of the Clinical Research Network: Kent, Surrey and Sussex (CRN:KSS) launched a document entitled Strategic Improvement Plan 2017/18.

This document outlined some key priorities for CRN:KSS in the short to medium term. These included:

1)Increase in the number of patients and clients recruited to portfolio studies across CRN:KSS in order to increase our impact on the health of our local health economies, improve our value for money and increase our share of the regional funding allocation for research support costs.

2)Improve our performance in terms of delivering studies to time and target.

3)Attract more research business into the region

4)Grow our capacity within the region to generate research projects of our own which will deliver health care research aimed at improving the health of our local populations.

In order to work towards these goals, CRN:KSS has proposed a funding initiative to help get new investigators started on developing portfolio projects of their own. These projects could start relatively modestly but then expand into multi-centre projects with external funding which could answer research questions crucial to health of our region. CRN:KSS would work with our ‘Green Shoots’ investigators to ensure they were supported in their research endeavour both in terms of study support services and access to mentorship support. CRN:KSS will work with the Research Design Service (RDS) to ensure expert assistance is available with grant writing.

CRN:KSS have adopted and adapted an initiative that has been running successfully for a number of years in CRN: North East and North Cumbria (CRN:NENC). Whilst CRN:KSS will begin with a somewhat more modest fund and a more restrictive scope than CRN:NENC, the ambition is to evaluate the success of the scheme and extend it in subsequent years if initial evaluation concludes this initiative is a sound investment. The pilot year for this will be 2018/19.

Principles

1)Funding available - £50,000 for year 1 in 2018/19.

2)This fund could be used to provide £5,000 - £10,000 (up to 1 PA or 0.01WTE), depending on experience, of 5 developing Chief Investigators(CIs) who will produce projects that can be funded externally and adopted onto the CRN portfolio. Any healthcare professional from any discipline is welcome to apply.

3)Awards will be for 12 months in the first instance to support the start-up phase of a project and funding application process. Any further funding would be on merit and dependent on the continuation of the scheme beyond the pilot year.

4)A stringent application process will be implemented to ensure only high quality, feasible ideas are supported.

5)Specific success criteria and project milestones will need to be met. Money will be awarded retrospectively in half yearly instalments provided sufficient progress is being made with the project.

6)Matched funding by either the hosting employer or another partner is encouraged, and may make an application more favourable, but is not a pre-requisite to funding consideration under this scheme.

7)Funding is for new projects only and is not intended in this pilot phase to be used for supporting commercial or non-commercial work already adopted onto the portfolio before application for ‘Green Shoots’ support.

8)Each application will require:

  1. Confirmation from the host employer that protection for the time fundedby the schemehas been (or can be) agreed in the job plan or work plan. This will need to come from the appropriate professional leader (e.g. Medical Director, Director of Nursing, Head of Pharmacy, Head of Therapy etc.)
  2. Details of how academic support for the research endeavour will be sought or existing qualification that ensures the applicant has the skills and knowledge needed to write a research proposal and apply for a grant.
  3. Confirmation that the applicant has not been a chief investigator for a portfolio adopted study before (they may have been a principal investigator, and this will not preclude them from applying).
  4. Details of the proposed work and how this will impact on the health priorities for KSS.
  5. Agreement and sponsorship[1] from the appropriate CRN:KSS Speciality Lead for the speciality area of interest.
  6. Agreement and signoff by the appropriate CRN:KSSDivisional Lead and Research Delivery Manager for the appropriate speciality area. This will require a full review of the application, with recommendations, to be submitted.

9)A single call for applications will be released on 2January 2018. The closing date for applications will be 28 February 2018. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of experts, shortlisted and interviews will then be conducted.

10)Applicants will need to declare any conflicts of interest.

Application Process Timescale

w/c 2.1.18 / Call for applications
28.2.18 / Closing date for applications
w/c 5.3.18 / Applications sent to appointment panel for scoring
w/c 19.3.18 / Panel confirms awards
23.3.18 / Applicants and partner organisations notified of outcome
1.4.18 / Awards take effect

Application Form – Green Shoots initiative 2018/19

Applicant Details
Title :
Forename :
Surname:
Position:
Employing Organisation:
Email:
Telephone:
Highest academic qualification (indicate if you are currently studying towards a qualification):
Have you been a Principal Investigator before ( please give details):
Proposal
Clinical area of Expertise:
CRN Specialty Lead:
CRN Divisional Lead:
CRN RDM:
Title of Project:
Research Question:
Brief description of proposal (max 200 words):
Have you consulted any patients/clients, colleagues or commissioners?
Have you conducted a literature search? If so please summarise outcome?
How will 12 months protected time (1PA or 0.1WTE) help you successfully get this project started?
Potential source of grant funding. Do you know at this stage how much funding the proposal might need?:
Endorsement –Employing organisation
Line management endorsement – please sign:
Name and job title/position and relationship to the applicant
Can protected time be arranged for the applicant, if successful?:
Is there an available population to recruit patients/clients from :
Can you provide additional time for any training needs?:
R&D Lead endorsement –please sign
Name and Job title/position
Can the R&D support the applicant with preparing a grant proposal if they are successful in getting protected time?
Is there any matched funding available to protect the applicants time to prepare a grant application ?
Is your R&D Department willing to act as sponsor for the project if successful in obtaining grant funding?
Please can either or both of give a few words of support to this application:
Endorsement –CRN KSS
Divisional lead or speciality lead endorsement – please sign:
Name and CRN position
Is the proposed research an original research question? If yes how has the applicant evidenced this?
Are to you able to mentor the applicant or have you sourced a suitable mentor?
In your opinion could this lead to a successful bid for grant funding?
Any further comments?
RDM endorsement – please sign
Name and CRN division
How does the proposal match the strategic needs of the CRN?
Any further comments?

Green Shoots Initiative (Nov 2017) 1

[1] Sponsorship in this context means that the Speciality Lead has read and understood the proposed work, checked any background work or scientific claims and is happy to support the applicant in terms of advice and either direct mentorship, or seeking an appropriate mentor for the applicant. No financial support is implied.