Research Support

Research Management Office

The National Heart and Lung Institute's Research Management Office is staffed by Research Managers Alun Owen and Emma Watson. Alun and Emma are able to support all academics, researchers and students within the Institute in the following ways:

Funding Opportunities. We provide up to date information about new and open sources of research funding through the fortnightly Funding Bulletin. NHLI staff can request the Funding Bulletin by emailing Emma Watson.
Grant Applications. Assist with the process of making the grant application by providing independent assessment and advice on the application. We can provide advice and assistance where required on completing the applications (whether online or paper format) and if necessary supply standardised text in answer to specific questions in the application.
Project Management. We are able to provide help with the project managing large applications where needed. For example, liaising with co-applicants where there are large numbers of individuals involved, chasing documents and ensuring that all information is received in advance of deadlines.
Post Decision Advice. We can offer advice once a decision on the grant applications has been made, whether this is positive or negative. Where the outcome is not as desired we can provide a critical review of the referees comments and may be able to offer advice on refocusing the application for resubmission.

Funding Advice

Alun and Emma are able to offer a range of advice including:

One to one discussions with individuals on any aspect of funding and research
Seminars which include development of applications and common pitfalls
CV clinics which will offer advice on possible routes of funding (eg fellowships) and identification of areas for improvement

The seminars and CV clinics are available on request and best suited to research sections or groups.

Internal Review of Grant Applications

One of the key objectives of the Research Management Office is to ensure that grant applications from NHLI are as competitive as possible. For this reason the Division has agreed an internal review process with the hope that this will identify potential pitfalls and obstacles prior to submission before these are seen by referees.

You are advised to conduct the review at as early a stage as possible. Once the application is in a full draft format is probably best, so that any revisions suggested can be made prior to significant time and effort being spent on tidying up the application. This also provides the longest time possible for the reviewer to make their comments and for potential revisions.

The process is as follows:

For grants which are under £250,000 do not require any formal internal review although applicants are encouraged to seek additional views on their applications
For grants over £250,000 a completed review, together with a response from the applicant, is required. The applicant can arrange the review themselves and this can be done by any individual who is not an applicant or collaborator on the grant
For grants which are over £1m the application should be sent to Alun at least 2 weeks prior to the deadline to allow for an anonymous review to be carried out. You are advised to discuss with Alun at the earliest possible time.

In all cases the figures relate to the direct costs only. That is those costs which directly support the research (salaries of researchers to be employed on the grant, consumables, equipment etc) and does not include any additional indirect or estates charges.

An Internal Review Template Word Document has been produced which should be attached to your InfoEd application when that is submitted for approval. If the review template is missing from InfoEd it is possible that approval will be delayed and this may result in missing a deadline.