Introduction: Research Capacity Building Programme

Dr Martin Elliott of the CASCADE Research Centre at Cardiff University presents a summary of the new three-year research capacity programme that has been funded by Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW).

The programme will build research capacity in social care in Wales at three levels:

1. Supporting individuals in the social care workforce who are keen to undertake a PhD, Professional Doctorate, or specific piece of research. The individuals will work with academics and peers in small groups to support and develop their proposals and methodologies.

2. Supporting social care researchers who have completed their PhD or Professional Doctorate and wish to stay in research. They will be given support to apply for their first grant as a principal investigator (PI) and to develop their research methodology.

3. Experienced researchers will be paired with senior academic mentors to support them as they develop their research career and future research goals.

The entire programme will be underpinned by a series of workshops in which experts identify varoius methodologies as well as how to apply for research grants. The first of these workshops will be launched in early 2021.