Global Health Policy and Health Systems Research

The aims of the Global Health Policy and Health Systems research programme are to

1. contribute to better health by conducting research aiming at strengthening health systems in low-income countries;
2. strengthen research capacity in LICs and
3. strengthen collaboration in the Dutch research and knowledge community in order to enhance utilisation of Dutch research capacity.

NWO/WOTRO and the ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands invite coalitions composed of representatives from academic and public interest organisations, from both the Netherlands and low-income countries, to submit proposals for the second call of the Global Health Policy and Health Systems (GHPHS) research programme.

Who can apply

A proposal can be submitted by a research coalition drawn from at least four different partner institutes and comprising at least two from (one or more) LICs and two based in the Netherlands . Types of partner institutes that are eligible include those with an academic or public interest organisation, such as universities, research institutes, think tanks, government departments, NGOs, etc. The coalition nominates a single coordinator (a senior researcher with a PhD degree, based in either an LIC or in the Netherlands), who will act as the main applicant.

Relevant stakeholders in health policy and systems development and implementation from outside the scientific community (either government agencies, NGOs, private sector partners or consultants) should be represented in the coalition. These partners should be engaged in all phases of the programme. Thus, the development of the proposal, as well as carrying out the research programme, should be performed jointly.

What can be applied for

A GHPHS research programme can focus on several activities:

• knowledge sharing: making existing knowledge available and accessible for stakeholders; analysing existing knowledge to benefit policy making; integrating and synthesizing various sources of knowledge to create 'new' knowledge;
• research: any research proposed should be transdisciplinary: crossing disciplinary boundaries and involving scientific knowledge and knowledge from beyond the scientific community. Research components may include short term, medium term and long term projects. The involvement of MSc and PhD students is not a prerequisite and research components conducted by post-doc and senior researchers will be preferred.

When can be applied

• Closing date for submitting preliminary proposals was 8 March 2011, 12:00 CET
• Closing date for submitting full proposals was 1 September 2011, 12:00 CET

Criteria

I Scientific quality:

• Originality, including the novelty of the integrative approach;
• Adequacy and effectiveness of the approach, including the coherence of the research questions and the integration of disciplinary perspectives, data, methods and results;
• Feasibility, including the appropriateness and suitability of the methodology.

II Relevance for development:

• Quality in identifying problems and opportunities for strengthening health policy and/ or health systems related to attaining MDG 5;
• Extent to which the research questions and intended research results are aimed at and capable of providing answers to the identified development or societal problem/opportunity;
• Potential of getting research results into policy or practice.

III Quality of collaboration:

• Synergy and added value in the Dutch and international scientific and stakeholder collaboration, including potential for strengthening the scientific capacity of LICs;
• Synergy and added value in the national and international stakeholder collaboration, including the participation of NGO?s and/ or consultancy organisations in the execution of research;
• Quality of communication, dissemination and implementation plan.

Procedure

Each full proposal will be reviewed by two to four anonymous expert peer reviewers. These peer reviewers will be independent international researchers with recognised academic excellence in the fields covered by the application and with experience with policy and/ or practice in LICs. In addition, advice regarding the programme application will be sought from the Royal Netherlands Embassies in the countries of research. Research coalitions will have the opportunity to respond to the issues raised in the review reports.

The Programme Committee will evaluate and rank all full proposals based on the proposal, review reports, and the coalition's response to these review reports. The Steering Committee will take a final decision on funding, based on the recommendations received from the Programme Committee. All coalitions will be informed in writing of the outcome of the final selection procedure. The final funding decision will depend on the outcome of the budget negotiations with the coalition.

Committees

The Programme Committee is composed of approximately seven independent international senior experts, who will jointly assess and rank the proposals for selection. Chaired by an independent high-level expert, the Steering Committee is composed of four high-level representatives from relevant international, bilateral or research organisations.

The Steering Committee is mandated by the WOTRO Board to decide on the awarding and financing of the research proposals, based on the recommendation of the Programme Committee.

The compositions of the Programme Committee and Steering Committee are published on the website www.nwo.nl/wotro/healthpolicyandsystems

Budget

In this second call, a budget of maximally M€ 2.2 is available for minimally three to maximally six high quality programmes. The maximum duration of a programme is 5 years. For proposals with this duration, a maximum budget of € 800,000 is available. However, shorter-term proposals with more limited budgets are equally welcome. Because health policy research can often rely on secondary data, it usually requires a relatively modest budget.

Financiers

WOTRO Science for Global Development, DGIS

Contacts

• Ms E. Rijkers
  phone: +31 (0)70 344 06 53, e-mail: e.rijkers@nwo.nl