Funding Opportunity: Social Care Research Capacity Building 

An exciting opportunity for a social care practitioner to play a role in bringing social care practice and research together.

Funding for one part-time post is available for 17 months for practitioners in the social care sector in North West London (NWL) to take the lead in promoting research values and culture in their organisation, as well as getting directly involved with existing or new research projects on social care.

They are open to people currently in employment working in social care, whether in a local authority, private social care organisation or in the voluntary sector.

These posts are an essential part of the overarching ARC NWL Social Care Capacity Building Programme, working in collaboration with Brunel University and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Funds available:

Funding is available to support interested practitioners within social care to work for 17 months on developing social care research capacity within their organisation.

We will provide funds for time release for 17 months (£25,000 maximum) and an allocation of a small budget to support the work of capacity building in the local setting (£5000).

A total of £30,000 is available.

The post must be able to commence on the 4 November 2024 and end on the 31 March 2026.

Interested applicants must read the full details in the Guidance Information before applying

What the posts will do:

The practitioner post will be part of an ARC NWL Social Care Research Team. We will offer the successful post holders’ mentorship, training, support and links to support the work being undertaken in the practice settings. The postholders will be able to do a range of things which may include some of the following:

• Organise workshops and seminars to enhance research skills among social care practitioners.

• Provide one-on-one mentorship to practitioners embarking on research projects.

• Collaborate with local organisations to integrate social care research into their culture and practice.

• Establish and maintain partnerships with academic and health and social care institutions for knowledge exchange.

• Identify funding opportunities and assist practitioners in applying for research grants.

• Promote research in social care through presentations and stakeholder meetings.

• Collect and disseminate success stories and case studies to illustrate the impact of research in social care.

Who can apply?

Applicants will come from the boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Westminster, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

They will be currently working in a social care role within an organisation.

The application will be:

• from the organisation (senior manager level) with a named applicant (nominated) who will be the social care researcher practitioner.

• or the application can be from an individual applicant employed by a named organisation and with senior manager agreement.

In both cases, the practitioner interested in undertaking the post will need to fill out the main questions in the application form

View and download a copy of the Application Form (Click 'File' > 'Download' and select 'Microsoft Word .docx')

Selection criteria:

The selection process is two staged: submission of an application form and if shortlisted, an interview. 

Application selection criteria are set out below:

• The applicant works in a social care organisation or social care department in a local authority operating in North West London.

• The strength of the proposal for social care research capacity building.

• Demonstrated interest and commitment to extending the use of social care research within their practice, organisation and building research cultures.

• Clarity on incorporating diversity and inclusion and working with underserved communities.

• Availability to commit time to the capacity building work over the duration of the programme which concludes at the end of March 2026.

• Committing to be part of the NWL ARC Social Care Research community.

• An employee of Brunel University is ineligible to apply for these positions.

Application process:

• Applications for the Social Care Research Capacity Building practitioner posts will close Monday 23 September 2024 @ 4pm.

• Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interviews (via video call) in early October.

Application deadline:

Applications must be submitted to the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) for Northwest London (NWL) at the following email address: nihr.arc@imperial.ac.uk

Please submit your forms by Monday 23 September @ 4pm.

If you have any problems submitting your form by email, please contact us and we can provide you with a printed form by post.

More:

For further information on NIHR ARC NWL and the Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme please email e.kennedy@imperial.ac.uk if you have questions about this funding opportunity.

If you need any assistance with accessing information about NIHR ARC NWL or the application form, please contact us and we will make alternative arrangements to provide you with the information.