Julia Fox Rushby - a Panel Judge's insights

1. APPLYING FOR NIHR CLINICAL DOCTORAL AWARDS:
A 360º VIEW
Insights from an NIHR panel member
Professor Julia Fox-Rushby
Director, Health Economics Research Group
25th MARCH: 3.00 p.m.

2. Brunel University London
Today
• NIHR panel I sit on
• Panel membership
• Selection process
• Shortlisting applications
• Interviews
……….. and implications for preparing applications
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3. Brunel University London
NIHR Career Fellowships Panel 2015
(career development, training & senior fellows)
• 33 members
• Chair & deputy-chair
• Membership
• 26 Profs, 4 Readers/SLs, 3 patient/public reps
• 6 London/South, 14 Mid-lands, 10 North (& 3 reps)
• Disciplines
• Medical specialties: diabetes, haematology, psychiatry, critical
care, surgery, respiratory, CVD, infectious disease, mental health
• 6 HSR, 4 statistics, 3 public health, 2 nursing, 2 economists, 1
psychometric epidemiology, 1 Trust, 1 pharmacology
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4. Brunel University London
A brief research history
• Professor of Health Economics (since 2004) & Director
HERG (since 2011)
• Research focus
• Cost-effectiveness analysis (public health interventions & surgery)
• Applications: physical activity, CVD, malaria, ante/post natal care
• Methodological research: measuring and valuing quality of life,
challenges translating research methods & results across countries
• Countries: England, Kenya, India, Argentina, Cuba, Indonesia …….
• Main research funders: NIHR, Research councils, NICE, WHO

5. Brunel University London
My committee membership for research
funding organisations
• NIHR Career Fellowships Panel (career development,
training and senior fellowships) (2014 – date)
• NIHR Career Fellowships Panel (post-doctoral
fellowships) (2010 – 2013)
• NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme,
Clinical Trials Board (2006 – 2010)
• International Clinical Epidemiology Network INCLEN,
Programme Board (1997 - 2000)
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6. Brunel University London
Implications for preparing successful
applications
Know your reviewers and select appropriate peer reviewers:
• senior staff with excellent research histories
• those who have sat on similar funding committees
• quantitative and qualitative researchers
• subject specialists and researchers who do not know your area
• someone who can critically appraise its 5 year benefit to NHS
• patient /public representatives
• proposed supervisors and mentors
• research costing / finance expert
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7. Brunel University London
Selection process
1. NIHR review of whether application is within brief
2. Shortlisting
3. Subject expert reviewing
4. Interview
5. NIHR review of finances
6. Potential research-specific follow-up (rare)
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8. Brunel University London
Short listing process
• I review 10-20 proposals (85 pages each) within 2-3 weeks
• Each application reviewed online
• Applicant (8 questions, grading & written response)
• Proposed research (8 questions, grading & written response)
• Site and career development (3 questions, grading & written response)
• Is it value for money? (written response)
• Issues for clarification at interview
• Overall grade
• Each application independently reviewed by 3 academics and
1 patient rep
• Independent reviews reviewed by chair/deputy chair
• One day meeting of whole committee to review/discuss grades
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9. Brunel University London
How do I review?
• Lay summary followed by academic summary first
• Candidate history: trajectory, career outputs
• Research: clarity, quality, likely impact in NHS, scale / scope
• Location: REF rating, track record in research, time &
commitment
• Training plans.
• Does it meet needs of candidate and project? (subject specific and
career development). Reflecting growing independence/leadership?
• How will the candidate develop new knowledge (surrounding teams /
networking?)
• More senior applications; how will they develop others inside
the institution and in wider field?
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10. Brunel University London
Implications for successful applications
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11. Brunel University London 11

12. Brunel University London 12

13. Brunel University London 13

14. Brunel University London
Interview (1)
• 25 mins total
• 5 mins presentation
• 2 interviewers; research, training
• Questions open to panel
• Your question
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15. Brunel University London
Interview (2)
Practice
• Mock interviews are usually the worst
Presentation
• Not too many slides and don’t overfill slides
• Don’t go over time
Behaviour
• It is OK to be nervous
• Confident but not over confident
• Don’t get defensive
• Admit what you don’t know and be happy to take advice
• Relax and be yourself
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16. Brunel University London
Interview (3)
The project
•Know it inside and out
•Has anything altered since submission?
•Know the methods and identify the expertise
•Think through alternatives
Training and Development
•Identify your training needs
•How will the training support your project and future career
intentions
The future you
•Be clear where you want to be
•What is does this fellowship mean to your career
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17. Brunel University London
Good luck
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18. Brunel University London 18

19. Brunel University London
NIHR Remit
• People and patient based applied health research
• Research capacity to improve health/healthcare
• Patients, samples or data from patients, people who are
not patients, populations, health technology assessment
and health services research
• Clearly demonstrate the potential to have an impact on
the needs of patients and the public within 5 years of its
completion
• No basic research or work involving animals and/or
animal tissue
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20. Brunel University London
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