SSCR secures fourth phase of funding
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) today confirmed that adult social care research in England will receive up to £31 million in funding over 5 years to support the next phase of the NIHR School for Social Care Research (SSCR).
The NIHR SSCR supports internationally leading adult social care research and capacity building for researchers working to improve social care practice. This next round of funding will further support the School’s core vision to provide better evidence for what works in adult social care and how this can be applied across the whole country. This will support, mobilise and deliver impact for the benefit of the public as service users, carers and the workforce.
Professor Yvonne Birks, based at the University of York has been appointed as the SSCR Director to lead the School in its fourth phase.
Professor Yvonne Birks, Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York and new Director of the NIHR School for Social Care Research, said: “I am honoured and delighted to have the opportunity to lead NIHR SSCR through the next five years. In my 10 years of involvement to date I have been privileged to see the huge strides in visibility and quality in relation to social care research. As a discipline, social care research has come such a distance with unprecedented investment from NIHR and we no longer have to justify the need for investment. Our efforts need to address building capacity for our community of excellent early career researchers and demonstrate real impact. That is our focus.”
Professor Lucy Chappell, NIHR Chief Executive, said “The School for Social Care Research has been key in driving forwards social care research within the NIHR since it was established 15 years ago. In this time, the School has delivered a breadth of research which has informed national policy and practice, developed the careers of social care researchers and offered opportunities for everyone wanting to get involved in social care research. This next phase of the School will continue to build on this progress and strengthen the evidence base for adult social care, for the benefit of people who draw on care and support, carers and the workforce.”
The School’s membership has been refreshed through an open competition. NIHR SSCR Phase four brings together six leading academic centres demonstrating excellence in social care research.
The 6 NIHR SSCR member institutions
- The University of York (lead University)
- The University of Birmingham
- University of Bristol
- A collaboration between the Universities of Leeds and Leeds Beckett
- The London School of Economics and Political Science
- University of Sheffield
The investment will fund the next five years of the School (2024-2029) and this marks the fourth phase for the NIHR SSCR. The £31 million is made up of £25 million for research and up to £6 million to build social care research capacity. The School will continue to complement existing NIHR funding streams for social care research.