Guidance for the Submission of Applications for the
RDS YH Public Involvement Funds

Introduction

Many health research funding streams now require members of the public[1] to be involved in the development of research grant applications. The NIHR Research Design Service Yorkshire and Humber (RDS YH) recognise that public involvement in grant application development requires financial support that may not be available from other sources.

Eligibility

The RDS YH Public Involvement Fundsis available to health and social care researchers in the Yorkshire and Humber area ( The awards are to support the involvement of the public in developing grant applications for projects that will lead to submissions to NIHR and other national, peer-reviewed funding competitions. Researchers need to demonstrate that the RDS Public Involvement Fundshas the potential to lead to patient benefit. If you are unsure about you eligibility for this award, please contact the RDS YH to discuss your application.

The awards are generally used to fund two distinct types of project:

1.Standalone public involvement activities (e.g. meetings or events) which will inform the development of a specific research grant application(s). It’s up to you to decide how to find and approach appropriate people for this work.

2.The awards can also be used to establish an ongoing public involvement panel / group, where the need for such a group has been identified.

The RDS YH is unable to provide funding to already established public involvement panels. The panel for RDS Public Involvement Funds will consider applications to establish a new public involvement panel which would be able to advise and contribute to a number of grant applications. In these instances the research team will need to identify ongoing sources of funding and support for the panel. Where the applicants are based in an organisation which have a clear strategy about including the public in research and funding to support panels, applicants should speak to their organisation in the first instance before making an application to the RDS Public Involvement Funds The RDS YH have a guidance document for researchers who are interested in establishing a public involvement panel( in their area.

Please be aware the RDS YH do not support retrospective (where final research grant application has been submitted) public involvement work. The exception to this is where there is a 2 stage research grant application process (for example if applying to the NIHR HTA scheme). Applicants may apply for RDS public involvement funds between stages 1 and 2. Applicants at the second stage will need to clearly describe the public involvement that has taken place to date and the impact this has had on their grant application so far.

Application and review process

Awards of up to £500 are available. Four calls are held each financial year and the RDS YH will fund up to five awards per call. Only one application will be accepted from a lead applicant per call. Only one award will be made for any single research grant in development.

All applications are screened by the RDS YH Public InvolvementLead. Applications which are within the remit are then reviewed and rated by RDS YH staff and members of the RDS YH Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forum. The PPI forum includes patients, carers, service users, researchers, clinicians and NHS managers. All applications are reviewed by at least one lay member of the forum. The applications are then discussed at a review meeting. Applicants are notified approximately one month after the call deadline, a flow diagram( illustrates the journey of an application and the timelines involved. All applicants will receive reviewers’ feedback and will have the opportunity to discuss feedback with an RDS YH adviser, if they wish. Unsuccessful applicants are welcome to resubmit a revised at the next call.

The opening, deadline and outcome dates of forthcoming calls are listed below. Any submissions received after the current call deadline will be considered during the next call.

Call number / Call open date / Call deadline date / Review meeting / Applicants informed deadline
30 / 01.05.2017 / 30.06.2017 / 11.07.2017 / By 18.07.2017
31 / 01.08.2017 / 30.09.2017 / 10.10.2017 / By 17.10.2017
32 / 01.11.2017 / 31.12.2017 / 16.01.2018 / By 23.01.2018

In exceptional circumstances (if you are applying for a commissioned call or if you have been successful at outline), you can apply for an award between calls. Please use the current application form on the RDS YH website. In these circumstances, your application is reviewed by the RDS YH Director, the RDS YH PPI Lead and one member of the RDS YH PPI Forum on a fast-track basis. Please contact your local RDS YH office before submitting a fast-track application.

All applications should be submitted electronically via email to , stating ‘RDS YH Public Involvement Funds’ in the email subject window. An electronic signature should be provided on the application form. Where an electronic signature is not available, a signed, hard copy of the application should be sent to: ‘RDS YH Public Involvement Funds’, NIHR Research Design Service Yorkshire and the Humber, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 30 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 4DA.

All applicants should demonstrate that:

  • The RDS Public Involvement Funds will be used to develop one or more research grant applications to NIHR or other national, peer-reviewed funding competitions.
  • Good practice guidelines( public involvement in research have been followed and activities are appropriate for the people involved.
  • The funding being applied for is fully justified.

Administration, reporting and monitoring

If successful, the award will normally be paid in arrears on receipt of:

  1. An invoice on completion of the specified activities, or as stated in the funding approval letter.
  2. A short report which covers how the award was used. (Reports from previously-successful applicants are available online;

In addition to your invoice, the RDS YH requires successful applicants to collect the names, contact details and signatures of people to whom payment and expenses are distributed. A copy of this should be sent to the RDS YH for auditing purposes. We are aware that some institutions may not be comfortable circulating such details outside of their organisation. In these circumstances, we will require a letter from the institution's authorised finance officer, confirming that there is an audit trail of how the funds have been dispersed.

Impact of RDS Public Involvement Funds

Applicants may also be asked to take part in an evaluation of the Public Involvement Funds at a later date. This may include an invitation to speak at our PPI forum (this is voluntary and not a requirement of funding) about how they have used the award, their experience of carrying out public involvement work, the impact this has had on the grant application the award was for and possibly grant applications which have followed on from this.

Completing the application form

Please carefully read these guidance notes to ensure that all the necessary information is provided.

Question 1: Applicant details

Please provide all necessary contact details of the lead applicant.

Question 2: Co-applicants

Please include only applicants who have contributed to this RDS Public Involvement Funds application or those who will be helping to facilitate the public involvement work.

Question 3: Type of application

Please indicate if the award is for a project specific application or for establishing an ongoing public involvement panel.

Question 4: Research title / Name of panel

Project specific applications: Please provide the title/working title for your research project, this title refers to your overall project not the public involvement aspect.

Establishing a panel: Please provide the name/working name of the group.

Question 5: Resubmission

Please indicate if this is a resubmission. Please supply call number(s) if known and provide details ofwhen you previously submitted this project to the RDSYH. Provide a brief summary of the changes that have been made and how the panel’s feedback has been addressed.

Please note – if you have been successfully awarded funding from the RDS YHpreviously for public involvement and not claimed your funding you will not be eligible for this unless you have informed us of the reasons for this in advance.

Question 6: Contact with RDS

Please provide details of the contact that you made and who you spoke to. Please note this is a monitoring question and will not impact on the funding decision.

Question 7: Plain English Summary (no more than 750 words)

Project Specific Applications:Where you intend to use the award to develop one specific research grant application, please provide a plain English summary of your proposed research idea. The NIHR guidance on Plain English Summaries ( be helpful. We recognise that research ideas may be at an early stage, please just provide your thinking so far.

Establishing a panel: Where you intend to use the award to establish an ongoing PPI panel please describe:

  • The remit of the panel / group
  • Why it is needed in your area, including if you have looked into similar/overlapping panels/ groups
  • Any planned grant applications which they will contribute to
  • The planned structure of the panel
  • Outline academic / clinical links that may be established

Question 8: Active involvement of public involvement members in grant development.

For all applications, please include:

  • Who you would like to involve (e.g. a specific patient/service user/carer group, older people, children etc.)
  • How you intend to find and approach those people.
  • How members of the public will be actively involved in developing the grant application(s),
  • How face to face involvement activities will be facilitated, including an indication of the duration, location, and degree of complexity of activities.
  • How members of the public will be supported.
  • Any relevant experience / expertise your team bring to the proposed PPI activities.

Additionally or establishing panels, please also consider the following points:

  • How you or your department/school intends to sustain the panel/group, once the RDS YH set-up funding has been used.
  • Any ideas you are considering for providing ongoing development/training to panel members over time (this may be limited or very fluid at this stage).

Question 9: Continuing public involvement

Project Specific Applications:Outline what role you envisage or consider the public involvement members may have if your research grant is funded.

Establishing a panel: Outline the role of the panel will have in your research team/department/organisation.

Question 10 – Evaluation of PPI activities

The RDSYH is keen to evaluate the experiences of the public who take part in involvement activities which we fund. Please provide details of how you would evaluate the public involvement work that this award supported. Successful applicants will be sent an example evaluation form .This evaluation form can also be completed on-line via the RDSYH website.

You may also wish to evaluate your public involvement activities from the perspective of other stakeholders, such as the research team. We welcome other approaches to evaluating and reporting PPI activities. Please use this section of the application form to describe and justify your chosen approach.

Question 11 – Potential funding schemes

Applicants should try and be as specific as possible, although the panel are aware that the scheme identified may change. Please include details, such as: the submission deadline and an estimate of the total amount of funding being sought.

Question 12 – Breakdown of costs

Please provide a breakdown, together with costings, of how the RDSYH Public Involvement Funds will be spent.

Because this award is open to people working in various organisations, the RDSYH does not specify the exact amount which applicants should reimburse the public for their time or expenses. When you are costing your application, you should liaise with your finance department for advice on costing. Your organisation may have a payment and expenses policy, which will govern how much you can pay. You should also discuss how payments will be made and ensure that appropriate processes are in place before you start any public involvement activities.

Funding can be used to:

  • Pay a fee for the time spent by members of the public in developing a grant.
  • Reimburse any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by members of the public such as travel, subsistence and carer costs
  • Hire a venue external to your organisation if necessary.
  • Pay for refreshments.
  • Pay for materials which you would not normally have access to within your organisation.
  • To develop innovative methods for difficult or hard to reach groups (a trade-off can be used in these cases but justification needs to be provided)

Funding cannot be used to:

  • Pay for the time spent by health professionals or members of University staff
  • To pay for employees of third sector or voluntary organisations time
  • Undertake preliminary pilot work
  • Hire a venue within your organisation, unless this is fully justified in your application.
  • Fund small scale qualitative research projects (if you are unsure about the boundaries between public involvement and qualitative research, please contact your local RDS PPI advisor to discuss)
  • Pay for materials which you can reasonably gain access to with your organisation (e.g. printing costs).

Further Assistance

For more information please contact your local RDS YH public involvement lead:

  • South Yorkshire: Samaira Khan, 01142220777,
  • North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, Adwoa Hughes-Morley 01904 32 1671,
  • West Yorkshire: Kate Hill, 0113 343 0864,

RDS YH Public Involvement Award_Guidance_v2.2_26May20161

[1] The definition of ‘public’ in each project will depend on the topic area. Researchers should seek to involve people with relevant experience and expertise for their particular research area. The public can include: patients and potential patients; people who use health and social services; informal carers; parents/guardians; disabled people; members of the public who are potential recipients of health promotion programmes, public health programmes and social service interventions; organisations that represent people who use services.