Am I eligible for the PIF Plus?
To be considered for the PIF Plus, you must be applying for the 2022 NIHR Programme Development Grants call for Developing Innovative, Inclusive and Diverse Public Partnerships. You must also be receiving support from an RDS London adviser.
How much is awarded?
The maximum amount that we award is £750.
What can the PIF plus funds be used for?
Funds should be used to meaningfully involve under-served groups in the development of research ideas.
Activities funded by the PIF plus are also intended to initiate collaborative and long-lasting partnerships between researchers and under-served groups.
Funds can be used to:
- Reimburse out-of-pocket expenses for members of the public (e.g. travel, subsistence, carer costs)
- Reimburse members of the public for their time
- Pay for refreshments at meetings or events
- Hire a venue external to your organisation, if this is fully justified (e.g. where an accessible room is not available for free)
- Pay for materials which you would not normally have access to free of charge within your organisation (e.g. play materials for a session with children). If you request basic supplies (e.g. stationary, postage etc.) you need to fully justify why you cannot access these materials within your organisation.
Funds cannot be used to:
- Pay for public involvement activities in studies that have already been funded
- Pay for public involvement activities that are in progress or have been completed
- Pay for the time, expenses and/or training of someone who is contributing as part of and during their paid employment (e.g. health or care professionals or practitioners)
- Pay for time, expenses and/or training of a professional member of the research team
- Undertake research
- Hire a venue within your own organisation
- Pay for materials which you can reasonably obtain within your organisation (e.g. printing costs or postage).
Take a look at the RDS London public involvement handbook (PDF download) for more ideas on involving public contributors in the development of research ideas and funding applications.
You can find out more about payments in NIHR Payment for public involvement in health and care research and in the NIHR guidance for easier payment of public contributors to research.
Ready to apply?
Please fill in our PIF application form.
You can submit your application anytime before 12 August 2022. Applications submitted after this date will not be considered.
You can expect a decision on your application within three weeks of submitting a fully-completed form.
How will my application be assessed?
Our team of lay reviewers will review your application.
To be successful, applications will need to demonstrate the following:
- how the proposed activities will help to initiate relevant and impactful research
- adherence to good practice (as outlined in the NIHR UK Standards for Public Involvement
- appropriate approaches to enabling the involvement of under-served groups
- plans for developing equitable and collaborative partnerships between researchers and under-served groups
- potential for sustainable public involvement.
What we need from you
If you are awarded the PIF plus, in order to evaluate its impact we will require you to complete a short feedback questionnaire. We may also collect views from the public involvement groups that provided input into your study.
If you have any questions, please email us.
