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The team at the RSS hub delivered by the University of Southampton and Partners will do its best to offer the most useful and thorough service possible. However, depending on our caseload and how close your submission deadline is (if applicable), we may at times have to put limitations on the services we provide.
We have created the following guidelines to let you know what level of support you are likely to receive depending on your funding deadline (if known). The timelines and levels of support are not set in stone. Where possible, we will offer more – and sometimes, if workload is particularly demanding, we might have to offer less. But please use them as a guide. If you are applying for post-award support, the timelines will not apply (as you are not working to a funding deadline).
If your funding deadline is greater than six weeks
If your funding deadline is greater than six weeks
Allocate you to a Lead RSS Adviser, who will be your go-to person for advice and support
Arrange an initial 1:1 meeting with your Lead Adviser to assess your needs
Arrange one or several meetings between you and our team to discuss your proposal from a multi-methodological point of view
Patient and Public Involvement expertise
Review your narrative CV
Review your funding application and provide feedback in the run-up to submission
Offer a mock interview
If your funding deadline is in four to five weeks
If your funding deadline is in four to five weeks
Arrange a 45-minute meeting with one or two of our advisers for a discussion of your project and some initial pointers
Review your narrative CV
Review your funding application and provide feedback in the run-up to submission
Offer a mock interview
If your funding deadline is in three weeks
If your funding deadline is in three weeks
Review your funding application and provide feedback in the run-up to submission
Offer a mock interview (likely to be a shortened mock interview with fewer panel members)
If your funding deadline is in two weeks
If your funding deadline is in two weeks
Arrange a 30-minute meeting with one or two of our advisers for a discussion of your project and some initial pointers
We will try to arrange last-minute mock interviews if the interview is in more than 10 days’ time (likely to be a shortened mock interview with fewer panel members)
If your funding deadline is in 10 days or fewer
If your funding deadline is in 10 days or fewer
We cannot offer anything
What happens after I submit a request for support to the RSS?
The information you submit will be reviewed by our team of methodologists (RSS advisers). Time permitting (see guidelines on timings above), you will be allocated a Lead RSS adviser. They will be your main point of contact. They will email you with further information on the RSS service and will arrange a 1:1 meeting to discuss your project further. They will keep in contact with you, offering further support until you submit your application. It is likely that they will suggest a multi-methodology Q&A discussion, or offer to provide a review of your funding application.
If your funding deadline is approaching (see guidelines on timings above) and we are not able to offer you our full range of services, our administrative team will email you to let you know what we are able to provide in the run-up to your deadline.
Services we provide
As far as possible, we try to offer a tailored service to accommodate your specific needs. But it is likely that our advisers will offer one or more of the following:
1:1 meetings
1:1 meetings
Where time allows, you will be allocated a Lead Research Adviser. They will be your go-to person for support. They will have an initial meeting with you to discuss your proposal and to offer some initial pointers.
They may suggest further 1:1s with specific methodologists. If your project needs input from a particular methodology (e.g. statistics), we will arrange for you to have a 45-minute 1:1 meeting with one of our team to discuss that particular aspect.
Multi-methodology Q&A discussion
Multi-methodology Q&A discussion
Internally, these are known as RDAPs (Research Design Advisory Panels). Health research proposals rarely fit neatly into one discipline. To ensure your proposal is of the highest possible quality, it is useful to have input from different perspectives. In advance of an RDAP meeting, your funding application will have been read by different methodologists (namely, a statistician, qualitative expert and a health economist). The team will come to the RDAP meeting, ready to discuss it with you. They will make considered recommendations with the aim of improving your chances of funding success. Depending on timelines, we are happy to offer several RDAPs as your funding proposal progresses.
Funding application review and feedback
Funding application review and feedback
Similar to an RDAP – but you don’t attend the meeting. Internally, these are known as RDIPs (Research Design Internal Panels). This is where our methodologists meet to discuss your funding application (or other associated paperwork) and then summarise their discussions into written feedback. RDIPs are used when the researcher does not have any particular questions that need answering and there there is no particular need for a discussion with our team - but the researcher does have a funding application that needs reviewing and would appreciate written feedback.
E-reviews
E-reviews
We tend to offer e-reviews when time is tight and you need a few quick comments to help you on your way. With an e-review, our team will read your paperwork and write comments directly onto the funding application.
Unlike an RDIP (see "Funding application review and feedback" section), there is no discussion amongst our team - they simply review the application individually and post their comments - and the comments/feedback are not summarised. What you see posted onto the application is what you get.
Where time allows, we would recommend an RDIP over an E-review. But e-reviews are useful when a tight turnaround is needed, or if the application only needs a few brief comments.
Mock interviews
Mock interviews
If your funding body invites you to an interview, we can provide a mock interview for you. We are funded by the NIHR, and so our expertise is centred on the NIHR’s interview format – but we will try to adapt the style to fit other funding streams where necessary. By default, we will ask you to give a short presentation, which will be followed by a series of questions (20-30 minutes). A mock interview will last 1.5 to 2 hours. The first 45 minutes will be used to conduct the mock interview; the remaining time will be used to provide feedback.
Request support
Request support
Submit a request for support to the NIHR Research Support Service Hub and Specialist Centre for Public Health delivered by the University of Southampton and Partners. The RSS and the SCPH can support researchers in the devolved nations if they are working in collaboration with English partners.
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