Please note: This is a pre-call announcement. Global Maternal and Neonatal Health funding call 2019 for outline proposals is due to be launched on 16 January 2019. More details to follow.
The Global Maternal and Neonatal Health funding call is a joint initiative between the Medical Research Council (MRC; part of UK Research & Innovation), partly funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
The purpose of the call is to address the burden of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), by funding high-quality proposals across the spectrum of basic to applied research. Awards will support multidisciplinary research, build and strengthen research partnerships, and promote capacity building in global maternal and neonatal health research. Applications are particularly encouraged from principal investigators based at organisations in LMIC, as well as from eligible research organisations based in the UK working in equitable partnership with LMIC colleagues.
This is the first of three annual calls. It is expected that £20-30 million will be made available across the three calls to support research grants up to three years in duration and seed-funding grants up to one year’s duration. For the first call we particularly encourage proposals focusing on the period of pregnancy and birth, although preconception and postpartum applications will be considered.
The GCRF is a £1.5 billion fund announced by the UK government in 2015 to support research addressing the challenges faced by LMIC. MRC is a GCRF delivery partner and their contribution to this call is from their GCRF allocation. This complements the UK government funding of the NIHR Global Health Research (GHR) Programme which delivers internationally outstanding applied global health research for the direct and primary benefit of patients and the public in LMIC.
The GCRF and NIHR GHR Programme forms part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment. Applications must demonstrate the research to be primarily relevant and directly linked to near-term or long-term benefits to the health and economic development of LMIC. Applications should articulate a clear and specific case for the relevance of the proposed research to the LMIC and identify and provide evidence that the proposed plan of research is informed by the needs of the LMIC. Further guidance on ODA and demonstrating ODA compliance in applications for funding is available in the UKRI: GCRF ODA guidance.
This is cross-posted from the Medical Research Council website.