For Primary Research, outline proposals are invited in the first instance. For Secondary Research, only full proposals are called for. An invitation for proposals is also put out through our web site and interested parties are informed.
Standard documentation is provided along with a commissioning brief for the topic in question.
The granting of research funds is a competitive process. The HTA Commissioning Board is an advisory committee which meets three times a year to assess the scientific merit of the proposals received, and to make funding recommendations to the HTA Prioritisation Strategy Group. All outline proposals are assessed by two commissioning board members. For Primary Research , typically, 2-4 successful applicants are invited to submit a full proposal using standard documentation. All Primary Research full proposals and shortlisted Secondary Research proposals are peer-reviewed by at least two referees external to the HTA programme.