1. NIHR Research Design Service London Enabling Better Research Dr Caroline Burgess General Adviser 13 th November 2013

2. Who are Research Design Service London? Partnership between four academic institutions Teams of advisers, including statisticians, health economists, epidemiologists, social scientists, experts in trial design and Patient and Public Involvement

3.  Advise on all aspects of designing a research study, improving the scientific rigour How can we help? Provide practical advice and guidance Help increase the quality of grant applications Achieve greater success in attracting funding  Identify potential academic or clinical collaborators to strengthen applications and make research more viable  Provide guidance on identifying suitable funding sources and preparing appropriate applications

4. Carry out a general review and identify key points to address  Help formulate research questions  Ensure rationale is well presented  Positioning of the proposed study  Choosing a funding stream Identify further support needed:  Input from methodologists  Assistance with PPI  Help building a team ‘Primary Care’ Consultation on more specific issues:  Trial design  Statistics  Qualitative methods  Health Economics  PPI ‘Secondary Care’ Exploiting our networks:  R&D offices  Clinical Trials Units  CLRN  Meetings with patient groups ‘Tertiary Care’ Delivering the service

5. Who can we help? Those with little experience of research Fellowship applicants Those targeting a resubmission Applicants with experience of submitting funding applications Clinicians eager to exploit ideas or observations Those requiring advice on study design

6. When should I contact RDS London? 6 months prior to submission: Projects in their infancy8 weeks prior to submission: More developed projects4 weeks prior to submission : Absolute minimum

7. Access to the service  website / online support request form website: www.rdslondon.co.uk  clinics  drop in sessions

8. Some of the successes in London... NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (32 awards) NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research (11 awards) NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (11 awards) NIHR Innovation for Invention (4 awards) NIHR Health Technology Assessment (16 award) NIHR Heath Service and Delivery Research (10 award) DH Policy Research Programme (5 awards) NIHR Fellowship (25 awards) School for Social Care Research (1 award) MRC (6 awards) Charity (17 awards) > £65 million Supported 176 successful proposals to date

9. Summary  Support provided throughout grant application  Focus on NIHR, but support for all funding streams  Wide range of expertise  Support for Patient and Public Involvement  Free! Please contact us as early as possible

10. NIHR Research Design Service London website: www.rdslondon.co.uk