Restricted Call: NIHR Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) Strategic Funding Opportunity 2027/28 (internal deadline 22nd October 2026)

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has announced the NIHR RRDN Strategic Funding Opportunity 2027/28.

This regional funding opportunity supports strategic projects aiming to innovate and improve public participation in health and care research. The call is aimed at research leads, clinical academics, and delivery teams working across health, care, and higher education settings. Funding empowers regions to trial new research delivery mechanisms, enhance study delivery speed/quality, build capability, and foster cross-organisational or multi-region collaborations. Projects must align with government health priorities (shifting from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention) and the RDN Strategic Priority Areas as listed here. The funder states that the applicants need to contact their RRDN to discuss their project options before they apply and the email contacts of all RRDNs can be found on the same link.

Individual applications may request up to £150,000 for 6 to 24 months (starting between 1 April 2027 and 31 March 2028, completing by 31 March 2029). Collaborative projects involving 2+ organisations or spanning multiple RDN regions may exceed this cap. Note: Projects extending beyond 12 months must clearly demonstrate progress milestones and long-term sustainability plans.

Further Information

University Internal Selection

Institutions can only submit up to 3 applications (plus 1 additional application if submitting a collaborative/multi-region bid). Therefore, this call will be managed according to the University’s restricted calls procedure and Cambridge-led applicants, Collaborative/ Co-applicants, multi-regional applicants are all required to participate in the University’s internal selection.

Your Department’s Research Grants Team and/or Departmental Administrator (or equivalent) must be made aware of your internal application, and a support letter signed by the Head of Department is required.

To take part in the internal selection, please complete the online form by Thursday 22^nd October 2026 (NB: if asked to log-in, please use your University account and note that a Form cannot be saved and returned to).

You will need the following documents and information to complete the Form:

• Project Outline (3 pages max): Summary of proposed research delivery innovation, details of collaborators (if any), strategic rationale, regional/national relevance, and implementation plan with a timeline of how the project will be undertaken in the 6 to 24 months period.
• Head of Department Support Letter.
• RRDN Engagement Confirmation: Brief note (a screenshot of email exchange) with the local or multi-RRDN confirming preliminary discussions of options. Please refer to the RRDN’s specific strategic priority areas here where email contacts can be found as well.
• State clearly in the forms if the project will involve just one region or multiple regions (evidence of contact with local RDN discussing involvement of multiple RDN must be submitted in the above section in that case).

Internal Assessment Criteria

Please note that the assessment of internal applications will focus on the following core funder criteria:

• Strategic Alignment: Alignment with RDN Strategic Priority Areas and the 3 government health shifts (hospital to community, analogue to digital, sickness to prevention).
• Feasibility & Implementation: Technical and operational quality of the research delivery model, realistic timelines, and sustainability beyond the funding period.
• Impact & Collaboration: Quality of cross-organisational/multi-region partnerships, value for money, and potential to scale successful delivery mechanisms nationally.

Funder Deadline: 23:59 on Tuesday 17 November 2026.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact researchstrategy@admin.cam.ac.uk.

 

Posted on 15/10/2026