Research Capability Funding

NIHR Research Capability Funding (RCF) is a research funding stream awarded to Trusts on an annual basis which helps research-active NHS organisations to attract, develop and retain the research workforce necessary to deliver high quality health research.

For more details about RCF please visit the NIHR website:

Research capability funding | NIHR

Applications for RCF are welcome from any area of clinical research but priority and from all professional.

Applications will be reviewed against the following criteria:

• in line with the Trust’s Research Strategy
• prospect of leading to a NIHR or other major grant application (It is expected that any grant applications developed with the support of RCF will be submitted with NNUH as the lead organisation / contractor)
• bridging the funding gap for those submitting a grant application
• supporting aspiring researchers where funding from other sources is not available
• led or co-led by an applicant whose substantive employer is NNUH

Examples of what RCF could be used for are (not an exhaustive list)

• background literature searches
• pilot work to generate preliminary or underpinning data
• preliminary biomarker testing
• analysis of preliminary or underpinning data
• stakeholder meetings
• workshops with collaborators
• patient and public involvement (PPI) work

Awards can only be used to support the salary of the individual named in the application, and funds have to be spent in year. It is a requirement for successful applicants to provide interim reports during the award.

RCF Applications for 2025-26 are now closed.

Successful Applicants for RCF 2025/26:

• Carianne Lewis – Oral Vitamin K2 (menaquinone 7; MK-7) supplementation and its effect on vitamin K status of breastfed infants in early infancy; a four-cohort prospective, part-randomised, proof of concept trial: the OK Daily Trial.
• Emma Webb – HEALTHY-FUTURE: Holistic Evaluation and Analysis of novel Laboratory Tests for Health in Young people living with obesity for FUTURE personalised care.
• Kelda Folliard – PILLOW: ImProvIng sLeep LOss in pregnant Women: a pilot feasibility study of the ‘Sleeping for Two’ CBT insomnia adaptation as a staged intervention to improve pregnancy outcomes in chronic anxiety and depression in women from a disadvantaged rural/coastal population.
• Pinelopi Gkogkou – Quantify analgesia and cost effectiveness in bone oligometastases treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy.
• Ricky Lewis –  Developing a Decision-Support Tool for Anaesthetic Care in Pregnant Mothers with Congenital Heart Disease: A Preliminary Study Using Scoping Literature Review, Feasibility Data, and Stakeholder Engagement.