NIHR Global Advanced Fellowships

Fellowship support for postdoctoral applicants in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the UK who have the potential to become future leaders in global health research.

Established in 2006 and primarily funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds health and care research in the UK.

The NIHR Global Advanced Fellowships initiative is a new annual funding scheme that seeks to support postdoctoral researchers in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the UK working in applied global health research. It is the result of recognising a gap in the global health funding landscape for mid-career researchers (anyone with a PhD who has not yet been awarded a Professorship/Chair), particularly for researchers employed in LMICs. The scheme aims to address this gap by creating a sustainable pathway to research leadership for global health researchers at the postdoctoral level.

Funding and support is offered to individuals with the potential to become future leaders in global health research within the remit of NIHR. Any field of applied global health research for the direct and primary benefit of people living in one or more ODA-eligible country will be supported. The strategic aims of the NIHR Global Advanced Fellowship scheme are to:

• Develop a pathway to research leadership for postdoctoral global health researchers.
• Support postdoctoral researchers to conduct a research project in a strategic area of applied global health and receive a bespoke training and development programme relevant to their needs.
• Strengthen institutional capacity for research in LMIC.

All research funded by the NIHR as part of a training award managed by the NIHR Academy must fall within the following remit:

• The overall remit of the NIHR is early translational (experimental medicine), clinical and applied health research, and social care research.
• Proposals must have clear potential for directly benefiting patients/service users, carers and the public (but recognising the training element of the research).
• Proposals can involve: patients/service users and/or carers; samples or data from these groups; other people who are not patients/service users and/or carers; populations; health technology assessment; or health or care services research.

Interdisciplinary applications are particularly encouraged that address under-funded/under-researched areas which could have a significant impact on mortality/morbidity in LMICs. A clear and plausible path to patient/service user, carer or public benefit must be demonstrable. If the work involves biomarkers, research that tests whether application of new knowledge can improve treatment or patient outcomes, and has obvious direct potential benefit, is within remit; this might include application of known biomarkers, or other prognostic factors, to refine and test novel therapeutic strategies.

Funded research must directly and primarily benefit patients and the public in Official Development Assistance (ODA)-eligible countries on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list.