Research Development Fund 2019 applications open
Awards of up to £500 are available to support patient/public/stakeholder involvement or engagement in the research design stage.
Dr Maria Bryant conducting public engagement as part of the Born in Bradford project
Applications are now open to the next round of the Research Development Fund (RDF), with a deadline of Friday 10 January 2020.
Since September 2017, there have been more than 40 applications under the Awards Scheme, with in excess of £8,000 committed to date and more than £5,000 paid to successfully completed projects.
On the back of successful RDF awards, 19 proposals have been submitted to various external funders, of which eight have received research funds of more than £3.6 million – a success rate of 42%.
The awards are supported by Wellcome Trust ISSF funding.
Born in Bradford: Improving air quality event
Among the projects to receive RDF funding is the hugely successful Born in Bradford initiative.
Dr Maria Bryant, Associate Professor in the School of Medicine, was awarded funding to support engagement with the public around improving air quality. Poor air quality is one of the biggest causes of early death and illness, and has been linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease and poor birth outcomes.
Funding was used to support a collaborative workshop between University academics and Born in Bradford – a research study tracking the health issues of more than 30,000 people. RDF paid for an illustrator and supporting materials. These facilitated interactive group discussion, where attendees could discuss and feedback on proposed policy and future research for air quality.
Maria said: “The work contributed to our funding application by providing insight into areas of priority and gave us a number of suggestions regarding engagement and data collection.”
The team has since applied for a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) public health research (PHR) grant for future funding.
Visit the Public Engagement (PE) website or contact the PE team for further information.
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