On 3rd March 2025, we were delighted to host a launch event to celebrate Sheffield’s membership of the NIHR School for Social Care Research for the first time, and to share with colleagues the School’s aims, thematic priorities and the various funding opportunities that comprise the £2M in funding unlocked by this brand new partnership.
Around 70 colleagues from across the University gathered in the Wave for an afternoon of presentations from the SSCR Core Management team, to network and make connections over coffee and to tell us how we can best support their involvement.
The event was opened by Professor Ruth Blakeley, Vice-President and Head of Faculty of Social Sciences, who congratulated the applicants on bringing this fantastic opportunity to Sheffield at such a critical time for social care in England. SSCR Executive Director Professor Katherine Runswick-Cole then introduced the School’s mission, structure and themes, with take home messages including:
- A “no wrong door” policy where colleagues looking for any information, advice or support related to social care research at Sheffield are invited to approach anybody from the NIHR SSCR, CIRCLE or the Centre for Care and we will guide you in the right direction.
- The School’s relevance for not only colleagues who are already established social care researchers, but also those who are “social care curious”.
- The broad School themes (Diversity, inclusion, discrimination and equity in Social Care research, Technology and Social Care, Disability and Care across the life course, Creating and synthesising evaluative evidence of social care interventions, Care data and analytical infrastructure) had been agreed as part of the School’s application, but should not be seen as necessarily limiting.
- There were to be a series of open funding calls, and that funding allocated by the Sheffield SSCR should be used to pump prime further funding and impact activity.
After these introductory remarks, each member of the core management team talked about the cross-cutting strands that were to underpin all School activity. Katherine began by outlining plans to embed principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity in all School processes, such as commissioning, reviewing, meetings, partnership working, working with colleagues & students, project delivery, knowledge exchange & impact, communication. The School committed to aligning with One University & EDI work at Sheffield, including using the University's Equality Impact Assessment tool. Next, Dr Liz Croot talked colleagues through the School’s investment in attracting, developing and retaining a diverse cohort of early, mid, and senior social care researchers with the skills and experience to develop and lead social care research in academic and practice settings, including supportive funding opportunities such as capacity, bridging and career development awards.
Professor Peter Bath reported on the School’s work to embed co-production as a core principle so that all work funded by the SSCR must feature meaningful public involvement, whether in establishing research priorities, collaborating on the design, implementation, and dissemination of research, and the co-production of research and KE and impact activities. Professor Kate Hamblin spoke about her role as the main conduit between local practice/policy relationships helping to support links with social care practitioners locally, helping to support recruitment to the advisory board, the college of reviewers, and building networks for disseminating findings and events. Finally, Professor Nathan Hughes highlighted opportunities to work across the three NIHR schools ((1) the School for Social Care Research, (2) the School for Public Health Research, and (3) the School for Primary Care Research) on grants spanning three themes, Dementia, Prevention and Mental Health.
After a coffee and networking break, Professor Katherine Runswick-Cole presented a timetable of funding opportunities over the next 5 years, including calls for proposals of £50k (x3 - open March 25), fellowships of up to £100k (x3 - open Sept 25), proposals of up to £150k (x2 - open Feb 26) and IAA and KE awards (open 2027). She outlined the criteria that would underpin all School funding calls, and then invited attendees to ask questions to help create a “Frequently asked questions - FAQ” that would help colleagues understand and interact with the SSCR and its funding opportunities.
The below constitutes a summary of questions (anonymised) from attendees and we will keep updating it as we go:
FAQs
Who can lead applications for funding related to the NIHR SSCR?
Lead applicants for funding commissioned by the Sheffield SSCR (for example, the newly launched £50k awards) must be from the University of Sheffield and should not be external partners. However, external partners should be remunerated appropriately and this should be factored into the application costings.
Do the charities and organisations I partner with for applications have to be based in Sheffield?
Absolutely not, we encourage you to work with any partners that are relevant for your study.
What do you mean when you say funding calls are relevant for ECR/MCR (for example the call for fellowship stage applications due to open in Sept 25)?
We mean that the calls are targeted towards Early- and Mid- Career Researchers, but we do not have a specific definition or time frame in mind (i.e. x years past PhD) so as to be as inclusive as possible for colleagues that have had career gaps or parental/care leave. Put simply, when we say ECR and MCR, all we are saying is that these calls are not for Professorial level colleagues.
To apply for funding, do you have to be an established researcher of adult social care? What if you're social care adjacent or curious?
We welcome all interested colleagues, whether you are an established social care researcher or curious about applying your existing expertise to social care research. We can absolutely support you to make the links and connections you need in the social care space and you’ll be able to book a 1:1 appointment with us (those on the mailing list will receive monthly invites to these). We also hope to run a timetable of workshops and activities that bring people together from different backgrounds, disciplines and with different knowledge of funding bodies (i.e. other NIHR programmes (e.g.: RPSC; HSDR), ESRC; Wellcome Trust) to share knowledge and collaborate.
What do you mean when you say proposals must be in the area of “applied” social care research?
Applied research for social care refers to research that focuses on practical problems and challenges faced within the field of social care. In social care, this could involve improving care services, enhancing policies, or developing interventions that address the requirements of people who require social care support or people who work in social care.
Applications should demonstrate a good understanding of relevant applied research in the field, and clearly articulate the theoretical frameworks that influence the applied study.
What has been funded by Sheffield SSCR and by our membership of the Three Schools Programme?
Have a look at our research pages to see examples of funded projects!
I do work that could feasibly fit into the theme “care data and analytical infrastructure”, how can I involve the public?
You may work on large survey data for example and be wondering how you can involve the public which is a core requirement of NIHR SSCR funding. It may seem more challenging than for other types of research, however we believe that if you are researching a particular group or population, you have a great opportunity to meaningfully involve them in the early stages by, for example, asking them what they think about your research questions or data analysis plans and even asking for their input in developing the research questions. Quantitative research can still be sense checked with the groups you plan to focus on within your datasets.
Who are the annual research capacity awards of £1k for?
These annual £1k awards to help capacity building and career development are relevant for academic staff, but they are also relevant for those who wish to discipline/sector hop, and crucially would be highly relevant for practitioners or policy makers who wish to get into research and to equip themselves with the skills to use evidence in practice or policy. Examples of what we may fund include: training (e.g. training, writing retreats to complete an application or journal article)
What is the relationship between the NIHR SSCR and other social care research at the University of Sheffield, such as CIRCLE and Centre for Care?
Sheffield has a truly excellent and well established social care research infrastructure including:
- the ESRC Centre for Care
- the Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE)
- the UK evidence implementation centre for IMProving Adult Care Together
- iHuman
- the Health and Care Research Unit
So where does the NIHR SSCR fit? Put simply, there really is “no wrong door” if you are looking for information, advice or support for social care research. Whether you approach NIHR SSCR, CIRCLE or the Centre for Care, because we all work closely together, we will guide you in the right direction so that you arrive at the appropriate contact for your needs.
Can members access a list of other members with keywords and expertise to support making links?
Yes, this will be distributed in an email update shortly and a link published here asap.
How can I join? Is the link on the website?
Yes, please click here to join us! You will receive periodic updates, news, funding opportunities, events and other activity (we promise to keep email traffic to a minimum, and you can unsubscribe at any time). Our funding opportunities are open exclusively to those signed up to our mailing list.