Introduction

We are offering a unique opportunity to researchers in health, public health and social care across the South West of England. The Residential Research Retreat provides an opportunity for research teams to develop high quality research proposals suitable for submission to national peer-reviewed funding streams. The aim of the Retreat is to provide the environment and support to promote rapid progress in developing proposals over a relatively short time period.

The Retreat is open to health, public health, and social care professionals and academic partners working within the South West. Applications to attend the Retreat should be submitted on the Retreat application form (available via this website) by a team of three to four people, ideally with varied research skills and professional backgrounds. Applications will be reviewed competitively and places awarded to the most promising team proposals.

Your team could win a place on the Retreat, which will be held at Dillington House in Somerset from 13th to 15th September 2022 inclusive and the deadline for applications is the 20th April 2022.

At the Retreat you will be supported by a range of academic advisers while developing your research proposal. Away from the workplace, you will work intensively on your proposal, while learning how to maximise its chances of successfully securing a grant. You will learn how to develop your idea into a viable and first class research proposal and experience research project planning at a professional level.

In addition, the Retreat will help you develop the key skills needed to conduct research in a clinical, public health or social care setting as well as giving you the confidence to tackle research problems. By the time you return from the Retreat you and your colleagues will have made considerable progress on your idea, hopefully converting it into a highly developed research proposal. With continued support from the Retreat's adviser team and from your local RDS office, you will be able to complete the process to achieve the standard necessary for a competitive submission to a national peer-reviewed funding stream.