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RDS SC Standard Operating Procedure

Charter

This document describes the role of the RDS (Research Design Service) South Central, detailing in particular how we can advise and support you in developing grant applications. It describes what you can expect from the RDS, and conversely what we anticipate from you in return.

Scope

The RDS is funded by the NIHR to assist researchers preparing research proposals for submission to national, peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research. Priority will be given to supporting proposals to be submitted to an NIHR scheme, with particular emphasis on Research for Patient Benefit.

Nature of support provided

RDS staff have the knowledge and expertise to advise on a wide range of research-related issues, including in particular all aspects of research design and methodology. We can also advise on issues such as involving patients and carers, consideration of the resource required, dissemination plans. Although one RDS Advisor will take the lead in providing support, other RDS staff may become involved to bring complementary skills, and we have a wide range of other contacts in academic and clinical disciplines to ensure any necessary additional input where required.

RDS support may move beyond provision of advice to more “hands-on” involvement, for example drafting appropriate sections of the application and/or co-ordinating the overall process of its development.

Eligibility

We provide support to support NHS, social care researchers and other researchers who are working in partnership with the NHS. Our services are free of charge, but it is useful to give some examples of situations where we are not able to support free of charge:

  • the development of projects for which there is no intention to submit a grant application to a recognised funder as described above;
  • actually doing any research – such work would need to be explicitly funded from another source, for example from a project grant;
  • formal supervision or informal support for students;
  • any aspect of activities that are not research, e.g. audit, evaluation, satisfaction surveys.
  • requesting support to conduct unfunded analysis on data already collected;

If you are in doubt about eligibility, please contact us to discuss your situation.

Mutual understandings

You can expect to gain access to a professional service in a timely manner. You may approach the RDS at any stage of development of a research proposal: from simply wanting to discuss an initial idea through to requesting input on a specific issue relating to a well-developed proposal.

We reserve the right to deny support if the deadline for a grant application is less than 12 weeks from a request for RDS support.

We prefer you to make an initial on-line request for support through our web-site www.rds-sc.nihr.ac.uk. You may, however, also make contact in person or by telephone, email or post. Unless the request is clearly ineligible for RDS support, it will usually be preferable to arrange a face-to-face meeting. If the person contacted is, for whatever reason, unable to provide the lead RDS role in supporting you, another suitable lead will be identified within one week.

If eligible, you can expect the following from the RDS:

  • professional advice about all aspects of developing a grant application and practical support for such development
  • face-to-face meetings at a mutually convenient time and venue, supplemented by other forms of communication as appropriate
  • support in co-ordinating the process of proposal development, as required
  • support in drafting relevant sections of proposals, as required
  • support in identifying and approaching other potential lay and professional collaborators, as required
  • support in identifying suitable potential funding bodies and advising on their application processes
  • financial support for funding appropriate user and carer involvement in project development
  • all discussions regarding the proposal to be treated with appropriate confidentiality

In return, the RDS expects that you will:

  • use the RDS only for eligible purposes
  • consider carefully proffered advice, discussing as necessary and accepting such advice except where there are compelling reasons not to do so
  • ensure that the research team includes as a minimum input from NHS staff and lay person(s)
  • agree to one or more members of RDS staff being grant co-applicants where their involvement justifies full collaborator status, typically involving a substantial contribution to project design
  • agree to include appropriate costs in the grant to cover any work proposed for RDS staff in the running of the project itself
  • consider sharing draft proposals with other RDS staff (with appropriate confidentiality safeguards)
  • consider sharing draft proposals with the Engage Committee
  • agree with RDS staff any wording to be included in a grant application about the nature of RDS involvement and support

Data Protection and Privacy Statement

The NIHR RDS SC complies fully with the Data Protection Act 1998. Personal data will be stored confidentially and will not be disclosed to any third party (any organisation outside the NIHR RDS SC) by NIHR RDS SC staff, except where individual consent has been sought and granted.

To reassure you that contact information relating to you is being held in accordance with data protection regulations:

The NIHR RDS SC is funded by the Department of Health to provide research support to people involved in NHS health and social care research in South Central England. When you contact us we may ask you for your contact details. These are then stored on the NIHR RDS SC Contacts database held at Southampton University.

Only members of the NIHR RDS SC staff are able to access this database. No personal information is ever passed on or otherwise distributed to any other person or organisation, unless you consent has been given.
If you wish to contact us to make sure that your contact details are correct or to ask to be removed from our database, please contact NIHR RDS SC at:

Research Design Service, Mailpoint 805, South Accademic Block, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD

Your information will be removed from the database two years after your last contact with us (unless the information relates to a financial transaction when we are obliged to retain it for up to seven years for auditing purposes).