The award will fund teams led by researchers from low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) to test interventions to manage heat-related health risks in real settings – not under laboratory conditions. By the end of the award, successful applicants will have delivered a high-quality study testing and evaluating a new or existing heat adaptation intervention with the potential to change policy and practice in LMICs.
Key information
Career stage: Leading a research programme
Where the host organisation of the lead applicant is based: Low- or middle-income countries (apart from mainland China)
Level of funding: Between £500,000 and £2 million
Duration of funding: Up to 5 years
To apply
You can apply to this award if you are a transdisciplinary team of researchers who:
- are from climate, health and relevant disciplines (for example, implementation science, social sciences, economics) with the necessary skills to design, test and evaluate the effects that heat adaptation interventions have on health and associated wider outcomes
- are led (or co-led) by an applicant that is a national of, and hosted at an institution that is based in, an eligible low- or middle- income country
- have collaborating partners from policy and/or practice-based institutions in an eligible low- or middle-income country who are involved in a process of co-production across all stages of the research project
- promote a diverse, inclusive and supportive research environment within your team and across your organisation(s)
Proposal assessment criteria
The call will focus on heat adaptation interventions that aim to manage heat-related health risks across short and longer timescales. Eligible interventions can be new or already exist but need to be evaluated within the project timeframe of up to five years in a defined population (for example, urban or rural), or community (for example, schools, healthcare facilities, workplaces, informal settlements and displaced communities). There is guidance on evaluating complex interventions from the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit.
Examples of interventions include but are not limited to:
- individual or household-level interventions (for example, awareness raising and behaviour campaigns, clothing, hydration technologies or plans)
- technological interventions (for example, personal and ambient heat stress sensors, specialised materials)
- infrastructural interventions (for example, shelter design, cool housing, shade provision, water provision)
- nature-based interventions (for example, parks, green roofs/walls, trees, standing water bodies)
- institutional or policy interventions (for example, heat action plans, occupational safety regulations, built environment policy and plans, building policies)
- cultural or behavioural interventions (for example, traditional practices, dietary practices, clothing, shelter design)
For more information, visit the funding call URL
Deadline: 31 May 2022 (17:00 BST)