We welcome ideas for new IHI call topics from a range of sources. When we receive an idea, we work with our governance bodies to assess how well it fits with our objectives. Our objectives are set out in the legislation creating IHI. In addition, IHI has a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) which provides more details on the objectives and describes what our projects could do to meet the objectives. These documents guide our decision-making on which topic ideas should be developed and turned into fully fledged call topics.
Promising ideas are developed further in consultation with our governance bodies and, in some cases, the wider community, before being sent to the Governing Board for approval. If they give their green light, the topic is launched as part of a call for proposals.
We welcome ideas for call topics from a range of sources, including industry partners, potential contributing partners, and other stakeholders in the health community. A good topic idea will have clearly-described results and potential impacts, and will explain how these contribute to IHI’s objectives as set out in the legislation and the SRIA. In practice, because IHI’s objectives are interlinked, most projects will contribute to more than one objective.
The Science and Innovation Panel, which comprises experts from various stakeholder groups and sectors, discusses the ideas and how well they fit IHI’s objectives and the SRIA. They pass their opinions on the potential topics to the Governing Board.
The IHI Programme Office leads the drafting of the topic texts. For some calls, we do this in collaboration with focus groups.
Once the topic texts are at an advanced stage, they are sent to the Science and Innovation Panel and the States Representatives Group for consultation.
Based on their feedback, the IHI Programme Office finalises the topic texts and sends them to the IHI Governing Board for formal approval as part of the annual Work Programme.
Once the Governing Board has given the green light to the Work Programme, we can launch the call for proposals with the approved topics via the IHI website and the EU’s Funding and Tenders portal.
IHI calls for proposals are open and competitive. Proposals are evaluated by independent experts and the results of the evaluations are approved by the Governing Board.
Once a project is up and running, it must submit regular reports to IHI describing its progress. The IHI Programme Office monitors projects closely to ensure that they are on track to deliver on their objectives and have an impact on health research and innovation, in line with the IHI objectives.