2025 Funding Call Now Open

The funding call for 2025 is now open. Applications are invited which relate to the following theme:

Evidence-based innovations that identify the role played by nurses in improving care. 

Nursing faces challenges on multiple fronts, including retention of undergraduates, and significant vacancies in the nursing workforce. One way of addressing these challenges is to strengthen the identity and status of nurses as innovators ensuring it remains an attractive and relevant career choice. Innovations are important in enabling the NHS to meet the challenges of increasing demand bought on by new technologies alongside an ageing population.

An opportunity exists to explore the role played by nurses as innovators by identifying the unique professional contribution nursing makes to healthcare when addressing future patient needs. 

Any area of healthcare can be explored but evidence of how a nursing perspective has shaped the innovation must be clearly identified. The focus of the call is to enhance understanding of the unique contribution a nursing perspective makes to addressing the challenges facing the NHS in order to clarify the evolving role of nurses in meeting the healthcare needs of patients.  

The call aligns with the International Council of Nursing priorities for 2025 'empowering nurses to be leaders and innovators', and 'highlighting the role nurses play in improving the quality, accessibility, and equity of healthcare.' 

We welcome proposals that explore the unique contribution made by nursing to enhancing innovation in healthcare and an exploration of how the professional identity of nursing has been enhanced through engagement with innovations in healthcare.

Nursing must have played a central role (although multi-professional team working may also have been employed). Other opportunities include how nursing's profile has been enhanced by shaping technological innovations, including digital solutions, to better meet the needs of patients.

Any methodological approach to the project is welcome (including pilot or feasibility studies) but the role of nursing must be a central theme in all proposals. The call excludes systematic reviews. We particularly welcome proposals led by early career researchers that demonstrate clinical and academic collaborations.

Closing date: 1pm on Friday 27th June 2025

Applications must be submitted by email using the Trust’s grant application form. In order to be considered for funding, applications must be received by the deadline specified above. The lead applicant must be a registered nurse working in England or Wales, and the proposed research study must be undertaken in England and/or Wales.

The Board of Trustees will draw upon the recommendations of a range of independent reviewers when allocating awards.

The General Nursing Council For England and Wales is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) non-commercial partner. This means that the studies that we fund may be eligible to access NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) support.