Pre-funding Feasibility Assessments (PFFA)
Date: 26 February 2024
The Pre-Funding Research Feasibility Assessment (PFFA) was devised for the CRN health and care community to undertake a peer review of grant applications from the perspective of whether the clinical studies proposed are feasible to deliver in the current health and care environment. This project is in conjunction with the NIHR HTA and EME programmes as part of the Reset process. The NIHR CRN are asking Specialty Leads to undertake peer reviews to assess the feasibility of delivering studies prior to them being funded.
The first two pilots were completed successfully on 14 studies, showcasing that the Research Feasibility Assessment can be conducted without disrupting the current peer review process. A further pilot will be conducted aligned with an HTA investigator led funding call to assess scalability of the process.
Pilot 3 will be launched week commencing 11th March when the Stage 2 application period opened for the selected HTA investigator led research call commences. The successful study teams are requested to liaise with the Lead LCRNs to generate a Research Feasibility Assessment report to support the delegated Specialty Lead to complete the reviews.
In addition, as part of Pilot 3, nurse and midwife reviewers may be called on for their participation as reviewers. This will allow us to see if and how we can increase the number of reviewers in the long run.
Contact: Tracy Harman, Head of Medical Directorate (tracy.harman@nihr.ac.uk)