The funding, from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), will ensure the Research Design Service South East (RDS SE) continues for a further five years.
The NIHR has awarded a total of £50m to ten NHS organisations and Higher Education Institutions to provide the service in all regions of England.
The service provides advice and support to researchers to develop and design high quality research proposals for submission to NIHR funding programmes. The individual Research Design Services (RDS) form a national network and they liaise with each other to develop a consistent service to the research community.
The new funding, beginning 1 October, will allow RDS advisers to continue offering free and confidential advice, drawing on a unique breadth of experience and a proven track record in improving funding applications.
Professor Jörg Huber, the University of Brighton’s Professor of Health Sciences and future Director and Site Lead Sussex of the RDS SE, said: “We look forward to continuing our work with health and social care researchers in the South East, supporting them to improve the design of their research funding proposals and encouraging involvement of patients and the public wherever possible.
“Whilst we are planning some small changes to improve our service, on the whole it will be ‘business as usual’, with our advisers in Kent, Surrey and Sussex continuing to provide free advice to researchers across the region.”