MRC Health Systems Research Initiative Call 6, 2019

Innovative proposals are sought from across the public health, social and biomedical sciences to the sixth annual call for the Health Systems Research Initiative. Up to £5 million is available for funding foundation and full proposals under this call.

The Department of International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Wellcome jointly fund the Health Systems Research Initiative. All funders are committed to funding world-class research with high potential for impact on policy and practice.

Launched in 2013, this programme will generate world-class and cutting-edge research that addresses key questions on strengthening and improving health systems in developing countries. Following an excellent response to this programme from the research community, funding has now been secured for an annual call under this initiative until 2021.

Applications for foundation grants will be reviewed at the October 2019 panel meeting following which funding decisions will be announced. The duration of foundation grants can be up to a maximum of 24 months, with a maximum budget of £200,000 each. A foundation grant is expected to be more exploratory than a full research grant and could be either:

• to explore possible health system innovations, under researched areas or creative approaches that have the potential to be developed further. This could include research to identify problems (real or perceived) as well as any underlying causes of such beliefs in existing health systems.
• to conduct preliminary studies needed before a full research grant proposal can be designed. This could include work to evaluate existing interventions, pilot and feasibility work to inform plans for future research, or conducting preliminary research to conceptualise broader research questions on the health system.

Recipients of foundation grants will not automatically progress to full-scale research projects after their grant has ended. They will be expected to apply for a full-scale research project through the standard competitive process.

For more information or to apply visit the call webpage.

Deadline for applications is 30 May 2019.