Commissioned calls - FAQ

Developing your research proposal

When is your next call for proposals?

Calls are issued in February, April, July and October. Please email hta@hta.ac.uk if you would like to receive an alert when a call is issued. Alternatively you can stay in touch by joining our monthly email bulletin list

I want to do research on a part of what the brief covers (eg; children, older people) - is this allowed?

You must fully justify your position in your proposal. However, you should consider that a common reason given for proposals failing is that they fail to fully address the commissioning brief.

I don't agree with the commissioning brief - what shall I do?

If you still wish to proceed with a proposal you will need to state your objections and state clearly why your suggestion or your method is better than that suggested in the brief.

Can I produce and maintain a Cochrane systematic review?

If the commissioning brief encourages you to consider producing and maintaining a Cochrane systematic review, then we will support these costs. Of course, we encourage all applicants to link with or form a Cochrane Review Group

Can I make changes to my submitted application?

No, once an application has been sent to the HTA programme you cannot ask for changes to be made to it.

The commissioning brief states that the research proposed should be designed using a ‘two-stage’ approach – what is this?

The NETSCC, HTA programme is committed to ensuring that the research it commissions delivers high quality research information on the costs, effectiveness and broader impact of health technologies in the most effective way for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS.

Increasingly, the HTA programme is addressing more complex or difficult research questions. As a result, it is sometimes appropriate to commission HTA research in two stages. Two-stage commissioning involves identifying a first question which needs to be answered before research on a subsequent one should start.

The commissioning brief will state the precise requirements for each topic. Further information on two-stage commissioning in general can be found in this NETSCC, HTA policy paper (pdf, 36kb).

What is meant by the terms 'feasibility study' and 'pilot study'?

The HTA programme defines feasibility and pilot studies in the same way as several other NIHR programmes. For this definition and to see which other NIHR programmes will fund feasibility and pilot studies visit the NETSCC website glossary page.

Unanswered questions

I have some questions not answered here – what should I do now?

Take a look at the FAQ pages for the funding stream you are interested in as further information is available on those pages.  If you are still unable to find the answer to your question then please contact us using the following details:

For HTA commissioned calls: please email your query to htacommissioning@soton.ac.uk

For HTA Clinical Evaluation and Trials: please email your query to htacet@soton.ac.uk

For HTA Themed Calls: please email your query to htatcall@soton.ac.uk 

 

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