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Remote and Rural Primary Care Research and Evaluation funding opportunity

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Applications for our 2025-26 Primary Care Research and Evaluation Funding awards are now open.

Details and how to apply

If you work within primary care in one of Scotland’s rural or remote areas1 then you could be eligible for research and evaluation funding from the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care. The Centre has been able to identify funding to support NHS primary-care practitioners, including clinical academics who retain a remote or rural primary-care role, to carry out research, evaluation, publication or related professional development activities pertinent to remote and rural health and care in Scotland. Applications for funding are invited for 2025-26 and this is offered without commitment or setting precedent for future financial years. This funding is offered through the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care; NHS Education for Scotland is not acting as a research sponsor, and successful awardees must seek appropriate ethics and governance approvals from their local RD&I node. The award will not cover organisational overheads, indirect costs, or routine salary costs not directly attributable to the funded activity

To be eligible, you must work within primary care that is located within and/or serves a rural or remote area in Scotland. We anticipate that each individual application will be for no more than £5,000 but higher value awards may be made depending on the project. You must be able to demonstrate that the work or activity will result in either/both of the following benefits: 

  1. Contributes to the evidence-base for remote, rural, and island health and care research or evaluation.
  2. Increases your professional development as a remote, rural or island primary care practitioner. 

  

Funding applications will be considered for:  

  • Postgraduate research e.g., Masters, PhD, EdD etc. 
  • Other professional development work where it can be shown to contribute to post-graduate level remote, rural, and island research and/or evaluation. *
  • Publication costs, e.g. journal articles, open access articles etc. *

 

*NES and the National Centre cannot accept applications requesting international travel for e.g. conferences.

Selection Criteria

  • The applicant must be one of the following:
    • A primary care practitioner living and/or working in a remote, rural, or island area of Scotland
    • A clinical academic who holds a current primary-care role (even part-time) serving a remote, rural, or island area of Scotland and is based at a Scottish institution in a relevant subject area. 
  • The research, evaluation or publication should be aligned to NES’ strategic vision and values. 
  • The research, evaluation or publication should match the aims and objectives of the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care. 
  • The research, evaluation or publication (or part thereof being applied for) must not have received financial support from any other source. 
  • The research, evaluation or publication should have a clear and identifiable focus on remote, rural, or island health and care in Scotland. 
  • The research, evaluation or publication can be shown to meet one or both of the benefits identified above. 
  • The research, evaluation or publication align one or more of our themes as detailed above. 
  • Applicants must agree to share their work with the National Centre via the routes outlined in the Terms and Conditions of Award Acceptance.  

Terms and Conditions of Funding Award

  • All funded work must achieve at least one of the following two benefits: 
  • Contributes to the evidence-base for remote, rural, and island health and care research or evaluation.  
  • Increases your professional development as a remote, rural or island primary care practitioner. 
  • The person / team being funded must commence the work detailed in the application by the end of the 2025/26 funding period. 
  • The person / team being funded agrees to share their work with the National Centre via one of the following routes: 

Live/pre-recorded presentation at an end-of-year research and evaluation symposium. 

Poster presentation to be submitted to the National Centre team. 

Presentation of project through the National Centre’s Remote and Rural Series of Learning Events. 

End of project brief / report (minimum 800 words) in a template provided by the National Centre team. 

  • The person / team being funded agree to only spend the funding allocation on the work detailed in the application. Any spending of the funding allocation out with that included in the application may result in forfeiture of some or all of funding award. 
  • The person / team being funded must inform their local RD&I team of their project and follow local RD&I procedures such as ethics and governance approvals: successful award of funding from the Centre does not constitute permission to bypass any local RD&I procedures. 

How to apply

Applications for funding should be submitted via our online application Form. A senior member of our team will triage each application on receipt for clarity, comprehensiveness, and suitability to send to the selection panel for discussion. At this stage they may contact you to request more detail or for clarification on some aspects of your application. Once they are satisfied there is enough information within the application, it will be sent to the selection panel for independent review.

The selection panel meet virtually following this independent review to discuss each application in detail and arrive at a funding decision. There are four possible outcomes: 

  1. Unconditional award – all criteria have been met and the panel is happy to agree to fund the project. 

  2. Conditional award – the panel agrees that some additional information is needed in order for an unconditional award is made, e.g. confirmation that they are employed in a Primary Care role, or confirmation from their board that they’re happy to provide cover for hours etc. 

  3. Unsuccessful – the application didn’t meet the criteria, e.g. there was no remote and rural component, or the practitioner isn’t employed in a Primary Care role. 

  4. Interview – the panel need more information from the applicant before a decision can be made – this could be that the application wasn’t fully clear, or the panel want to probe some aspect of the application further or make suggestions about the direction of the project. 

Following the selection panel discussion, applicants will be notified of the outcome within two working days.

At any point following application submission applicants can contact us for an update or to enquire about timescales. Contact us on nes.ruralteam@nhs.scot 

Our research / evaluation themes for 2025-26
  • Access to healthcare 
  • Health inequalities 
  • Workforce issues (e.g., recruitment and retention challenges, training models for rural healthcare professionals, flexible working arrangements) 
  • Community engagement and empowerment (e.g., co-designed healthcare initiatives, community-led health programs, culturally appropriate services) 
  • Mental health and well-being 
  • Telehealth and technology (e.g., digital solutions for patient monitoring, remote consultations, improving digital literacy for healthcare staff and patients 
  • Ageing population 
  • Rural health infrastructure 
  • Rural health equity 
  • Environmental and occupational health 
  • Emergency and disaster preparedness 
Information Sessions

If you are thinking of applying for funding but would like to know more, or ask us questions about your research project, there are weekly drop-in sessions available to book with a senior member of our team. 

20-minute slots are available from 10-11 on Mondays, or 3-4 on Thursdays. Make an appointment via Microsoft Bookings. 

Footnotes

[1] Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

[2] Primary care is the first point of contact with the NHS. This includes community-based services provided by general practitioners (GPs), community nurses, dentists, dental nurses, optometrists, dispensing opticians, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

Page last updated: 4th December 2025