Internal Funding Opportunities

Research Capability Funding (RCF) is a research funding stream made available by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) to help research-active NHS organisations attract, develop and retain high-quality research, clinical and support staff. North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) has two rolling calls for applications, as well as an annual Research Infrastructure call: 

• Early Career/Early-Stage Research Funding – Open for Applications

Applications are welcomed from NBT staff members wishing to fund their time to develop a research idea of relevance to the NHS and of benefit to patients. This rolling funding call is specifically aimed at staff substantively employed by NBT from non-medic staffing groups such as nurses, midwives, Allied Health Professionals and scientific and technical services who do not currently have protected time for research activity within their job plan. 

No prior experience of research is necessary as R&D will provide you with mentorship and support to scope out your research idea and explore the potential for developing this into a funded research project.

• Standard Call

Applications are welcomed from NBT staff members who are actively working towards an NIHR grant(s) for submission within the next 12 months. This is a rolling call, and applications are welcomed at any time during the year. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact R&D and the Research Support Service (RSS) to gain guidance on the various NIHR funding streams before applying for this call. NIHR applications, developed with support from RCF, will be led and hosted by NBT, supporting NBT’s excellent reputation in research and positively impacting NBT’s research portfolio.

NBT R&D Strategy recognises the importance of building research capacity. Therefore, funds from centralised charitable donations continue to support the Southmead Hospital Charity Springboard Research Fund.  

This fund supports NBT staff to undertake research projects (max. £25k per project) which could be directly implemented in the NHS, or feed into larger funding bids with the potential for future impact on the NHS. Applications are invited from NBT staff, including clinicians, nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals (AHPs) from any clinical area. Springboard supports staff with a range of experience, from staff with no prior research experience applying for their first research grant, through to an experienced researcher looking to undertake pilot, feasibility, or proof of concept work. R&D understand that applying for research funding can be daunting, but there is plenty of support available to help develop an application. Please contact researchgrants@nbt.nhs.uk as soon as possible to benefit from support