National PPI Festival Fund

Applications now open for National PPI Festival Fund 2024

The PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway is delighted to announce the inaugural launch of the National PPI Festival Fund. The overarching goal of this seed funding to to offer supports of €1000 to assist University of Galway staff, students, and PPI contributors to host a National PPI Festival event in October that aligns with the festival’s aims (see National PPI Festival 2024 Guidance Document for detail).

The support funds can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including refreshments and catering, design and print, creating accessible information, venue hire, PPI contributor involvement, equipment hire, facilitators hire, interpreters hire, software or equipment costs. The Festival Fund is for National PPI Festival activities only and cannot be used to fund a research project or to cover staff costs.

What is the National PPI Festival? 

The third National PPI Festival will take place from 1-31 October 2024. It is a national celebration of progress in Public and Patient Involvement in Research (PPI) in Ireland, where people from all over Ireland can meet others interested in PPI to share their experiences, learn from each other and help progress PPI in research in Ireland further.

The Festival, coordinated by the PPI Ignite Network @ UCC, under the motto 'Connect, Collaborate, Celebrate' aims to:

• Celebrate PPI progress to date.
• Provide opportunities to bolster existing relationships.
• Connect with research communities not currently involved in PPI.
• Increase public awareness of PPI.
• Allow a creative space for innovation in PPI in Irish research.

Application Requirements

By receiving support from the Festival Fund, successful applicants agree to host an event or activity between the 1st-31st of October 2024 which abides by the National PPI Festival Guidelines. By the end of the year (2024), applicants will write a short overview or case study of the event which will be uploaded onto the university of Galway PPI website: https://www.universityofgalway.ie/ppi/ , a template for which will be provided. Festival funds must be spent for the specified purpose. 

Who Can Apply? 

This call is targeted towards University of Galway staff, researchers, students, and PPI contributors who would like to host an event during the National PPI Festival but lack sufficient funds. 

Applications Now Open for 2024

The Application form is available here: National PPI Festival Fund Application Form

Please review this document for further details and application requirements here: National PPI Festival Fund call and guidance document

Submission Instructions

Due date 16th August 2024 by 5:00PM

Submit one consolidated PDF of the full application requirements. 

Email PDF applications to john.gaffey@universityofgalway.ie and enter 'National PPI Festival Fund' in the subject line. 

Application Assessment Procedure

All applications will be assessed by a review panel comprising PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway team members, PPI contributors, and other relevant experts.

All criteria will be scored 1-5, low to high score:

• Quality of PPI event or activity
• Involvement of PPI Contributor(s) in the application
• Evident Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion plans
• Longer term impact of the event or activity
• Appropriate budgeting and timelines

Individual scoring to shortlist. Group discussion of shortlisted applicants at meeting

Three applications will be awarded funding. Exclusion will apply if an application does not meet the basic requirements outlined above.

For queries and questions relating to this call, please email National PPI Festival Funding coordinator John Gaffey: john.gaffey@universityofgalway.ie