Do you have a local government initiative in need of research and evaluation?

The NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme is accepting expressions of interest from Local Authorities that have initiatives in need of research and evaluation.

The shortlisted Expressions of Interest will be given to the Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams (PHIRST) to co-produce research, including the PHIRST led by Fuse.

Local Authorities or equivalents in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are invited to submit an expression of interest to identify specific initiatives within their work programmes, that will benefit from research or evaluation input.

The PHR Programme has appointed four academic teams via the PHIRST scheme, and is in the process of commissioning a fifth team. The teams are ready to work with local authorities to co-produce research on the public health impacts of initiatives. The academic teams are fully funded to co-design and undertake robust research in partnership with local authorities.

Examples of the projects currently being worked on by the four teams can be found on the Local Authority Research section of the PHR landing page. These include the Fuse led PHIRST team evaluation of the "No One Left Behind" employability support service in Fife, and evaluation of the COVID-19 emergency travel schemes across South Gloucestershire Council.

The purpose of this call is to find those local authority initiatives which have the potential to impact on health and health inequalities, and which require research input. The NIHR anticipate high demand and will prioritise local authority initiatives that:

• are likely to lead to important impacts (positive or negative) 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's funding is identified and preferably secured
• where research will provide timely evidence to underpin policy or practice.

How to apply

In order to apply to work with one of the PHIRST’s you will need to carefully review the Specification document by 1pm, 10 January 2022. Guidance on what to include in the expression of interest is contained within the specification document.

Apply Now

Visit the NIHR website to find out more.

Last modified: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 14:36:28 BST