Propose ideas

The concept of ‘co-creation’ is embedded in the way IHI works. When it comes to ideas for potential new call topics, this means that we welcome suggestions from the wider health and research community. We have set up the IHI Ideas Incubator to make it easier for people to submit ideas, and for IHI to assess them. But what makes a good idea for an IHI call topic? How can you submit your idea? And what happens to the ideas we receive?

A good idea for an IHI call topic is one which:

• contributes directly to IHI’s objectives, as described in the legislation creating IHI and our Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda;
• addresses an unmet public health need;
• requires large-scale collaboration between different industry sectors (i.e. pharmaceutical / vaccines / biotech / medical devices / imaging, ICT, etc.) and between public and private partners;
• will deliver clearly-described impacts on society, the economy and science;
• takes account of the pre-competitive nature of IHI projects;
• is innovative and ambitious.

1 - Do your research

Before drafting your idea, we would strongly advise you to take the time to read about our objectives (which are set out in the legislation creating IHI), our Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA, which details how we can turn our legislative objectives into projects) and how we work.

2 - Draft your idea

If you want to submit an idea, you must use this online form. Because the form cannot be saved, and you cannot leave the form and come back later, we recommend you prepare the answers to the questions using this Word template. The template also includes a lot of advice on how best to answer the questions in the form. Bear in mind that for transparency purposes, we publish online all ideas reviewed by the Science and Innovation Panel (see below). You should therefore ensure your idea does not include any confidential information.

3 - Submit your idea via our online form

Once you are happy with your answers, you can simply copy and paste them into the online form and submit. We do not accept ideas or additional information or documentation submitted via e-mail.

Note that submitting an idea that is ultimately used in an IHI call topic does not give you as the submitter any rights to participate in the resulting project or receive any IHI funding.

1 - Completeness and quality check

When you submit an idea, you’ll receive an automatic acknowledgement from the system with your idea’s reference number. On our side, IHI staff will first carry out a simple completeness and quality check, to ensure that the form contains enough information for review and that your idea is in line with IHI’s objectives. If your idea passes this check, it will go to the next stage (i.e. review by the IHI Science and Innovation Panel). If your idea does not pass this first check, you will receive an e-mail from the IHI Programme Office informing you of this and explaining the reasons behind the decision.

2 - Review by the IHI Science and Innovation Panel and publication online

Ideas that pass the first check are reviewed by the IHI Science and Innovation Panel (SIP), which is made up of experts from diverse sectors, disciplines and stakeholder groups. The SIP discusses the ideas at their meetings and agrees on which ideas merit further consideration, i.e. they are aligned with IHI’s objectives and have the potential to be developed further as all or part of an IHI call topic. The SIP sends its feedback on the ideas to the IHI Governing Board.

All ideas reviewed by the SIP are published here under the 'Ideas' tab above, along with the SIP opinion. This is for transparency purposes. Note that we do not inform idea submitters of the outcome of the SIP review or when their idea is published.

3 - Further development of ideas

Ideas that receive a positive review from the SIP are discussed by the IHI members and may be developed further as part of an IHI call topic. The topic development and approval process involves a wide range of stakeholders and all IHI governance bodies. This means that even if your idea is reviewed positively by the SIP, it may be altered significantly during the subsequent stages of topic development, or it could become a small part of a broader topic. It may also be dropped entirely.

You can submit an idea at any time. The exact time the SIP will need to review your idea will depend on the date of their next meeting, but we expect this part of the process to take around 6 months.

In practice, most external ideas taken on board by IHI are more likely to form just one component/aspect of a call topic. In any case, it is important to understand that if your idea is supported and ultimately used in an IHI call topic, the fact that you submitted the original idea does not give you any rights to participate in the resulting project or receive any IHI funding. If you want to be involved in the project, your options will depend on whether your topic is part of a single-stage or two-stage call, and whether or not you are willing to contribute to the project in kind. Note that not all organisations are eligible to receive IHI funding – further details can be found on our call documents page.

Single-stage calls: If your idea is part of a single-stage call topic, you will need to join / build a consortium and apply via our normal competitive call process. This is regardless of whether you want to receive IHI funding or whether you want to contribute to the project either as an industry partner or IHI contributing partner. Your proposal would be reviewed by independent experts alongside all other eligible proposals.

Two-stage calls for organisations that want to receive IHI funding: If your idea is part of a two-stage call topic, you will need to join / build a consortium and apply via stage 1 of our normal competitive call process. Your proposal would be reviewed by independent experts alongside all other eligible proposals.

Two-stage calls for organisations that are willing to contribute to the project in kind: If you are a member of one of IHI’s industry partners, or are (or are willing to become) an IHI contributing partner, you can be part of the pre-formed industry consortium that contributes to the definition of the topic and, crucially, contributes to the project in kind once it is up and running.