Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) and Helmholtz Centers Germany, are inviting applications for Travel Awards. Proposals are expected to facilitate researchers (at any level) to share existing knowledge in the field of Environmental Health research.

Scheme at a glance

Lead applicant career stage: Applications will be accepted from all career stages. For students – supervisors’ permission will be needed.
Eligibility:  Prospective applicants must be from either a HDR UK Institute Member Organisation or a Helmholtz Center, Germany.
Funding amount: Applications of up to £30K per person will be supported.  All costs will need to be justified in the application. 
Funding duration: Travel awards are expected to be from a few days up to six months duration and must be completed before  31st March 2025.
Opening date: August 2024
Closing date: As this is a rolling call, there is currently no fixed end date to the call.  Applications will be reviewed within 3 weeks.
Funding: Funding has been secured through the UK government’s International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) to support collaborations between MRC institutes/units (UK) and Helmholtz centres (Germany). Grant Reference Number: MC_PC_24002

For any questions regarding this call please contact procurement@hdruk.ac.uk 

Background

The integration of linked health and environmental data represents a pivotal advancement in medical research, offering new insights into the complex interplay between human health and environmental factors.

By linking information from health data resources such as biobanks, electronic health records and cohorts, with weather, noise and air-pollution monitoring systems, researchers gain the ability to investigate the effects of extreme weather events, climate change and environmental exposures on disease patterns, epidemiology and public health. This enables the identification of the positive and negative associations that the environment has on population health, which can inform predictive modelling of diseases in relation to environmental insults and support targeted and population level intervention for vulnerable populations, while laying the foundation for understanding the long-term health impacts of climate change.

To harness the insights from linked health and environmental data, interdisciplinary collaboration is essential.  HDR UK and Helmholtz Centre Munich have been awarded a joint project aimed to facilitate the knowledge exchange between HDR UK Institute Member Organisations and Helmholtz Centers, focusing on Environmental Health research. Funding has been secured through the UK government’s International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF).

Project Partners

Health Data Research UK

Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) is an independent charity working to accelerate trustworthy data use to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives.

Our vision is for large-scale data to benefit every interaction with patients, every clinical trial and every biomedical discovery, and to transform public health.

We work in partnership with the NHS, industry, charities and universities to realise the potential of the UK’s wealth of health data in life-changing research. Patients and the public are actively involved in shaping HDR UK’s work and ensuring it delivers public benefit.

We are supported by nine of the largest government and charity research funders in the UK.

 

Figure 1. Geographical representation of the breadth of HDR UK’s work

 

The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers 

Helmholtz Health are centers as part of the Helmholtz Association located in six location focusing on major non-communicable and infectious diseases. All centers span the wide range from basic research to population research with a strong focus on data sciences.  

Helmholtz Munich and the Helmholtz Center on Infectious Disease are focusing on environment and health amongst other topics.

Helmholtz Health Centers are funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science and the respective states. 

 

Figure 2. Map of the Helmholtz Research centers

To apply

The call is now open for applications and will stay open until funds are exhausted.

For further information please download the call specification and application form:

 

For any questions and to submit your application, please contact procurement@hdruk.ac.uk.