The HRI’s Research Support Officer (RSO) will provide dedicated support to health researchers (HRI members) at UL and its affiliated institutions by providing comprehensive advice and support relating to applications for externally funded research both national and international. The support provided to HRI members includes:

  • Identification and communication of relevant research funding opportunities.
  • Assisting with the preparation of research applications.
  • Liaising with the Clinical Research Support Unit.
  • Execution of submission in line with the terms and conditions set out by the funders.
  • Liaising with funding bodies on behalf of the HRI members.
  • Weekly drop in sessions with the RSO are available to all members.

Biostatistical support is available in the HRI and is provided by the Biostatistician. We help with:

  • Study design consultation and evaluation.
  • Sample size and power calculations.
  • Analysis of clinical trials data.
  • Writing statistical analysis section for grant proposals and papers.
  • Review and edits of grant proposals and papers revisions.

Along with helping researchers with their statistical issues, we aim to develop novel methods to analyse data, in order to transform data sets into useful and understandable information.

All researchers and investigators are encouraged to contact our dedicated Biostatistician, Ellie on Eleanor.Fallon@ul.ie early in the grant preparation process.

The Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA)

We know that researchers periodically need access to different datasets for analysis purposes, but accessing that data might sometimes be challenging especially if data is sensitive. Therefore, it is good to know where and how to search for datasets.

The Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA), based in the University College Dublin (UCD) library is a centre for quantitative data acquisition, preservation, and dissemination. It provides a broad access to Irish quantitative datasets for different studies. To name a few- The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), Growing Up in Ireland (GIU), SPHERE and many more.

These datasets are available in different formats, but most of them have at least a STATA, SAS or SPSS version. A full list of datasets can be obtained through the link below:

https://www.ucd.ie/issda/data/

You would need to identify the dataset of interest and make sure that the required format exists on the website.

Datasets can be used for either research or teaching purposes, and each has a different application form that can be found on the above address. Once the application form is completed it should be sent to: issda@ucd.ie.

Datasets will be distributed via an online download service, called FileSender. The datasets are password protected and encrypted, and require either the following software, PKWARE (Windows only) zip reader or Keka (Mac), to decrypt the file. Further instructions will be sent with each dataset.

Finally, if you have any problem with accessing datasets or requesting them, you can send an email to: issda@ucd.ie or please contact the HRI Biostatistician.

Fundamentals of Health Research Series

This entails a series of talks and workshops, delivered virtually, dealing with the essential elements of Health Research- its conduct and specific methodologies.

These sessions occur on a monthly basis on the last Wednesday of each month and are presented by experts in their respective areas.

The sessions are continuous except for a summer break.

More information can be found in the HRI News & Events section or by clicking on the link at the end of the page

HRI Members Lunches

Our Members Lunches take place once a semester with a strong focus on networking and collaboration. Each semester we welcome expert speakers in various fields under Health Research. The purpose of this forum includes provision of an opportunity to highlight excellent research work, provide updates on study progress, share knowledge and best practice, inform on local and national research developments and to hear from invited speakers.

Each members lunch will begin with a 5in5 (5 slides in 5 minutes) by a student from the Hub to showcase their research on a topic related to our main speaker.

More information can be found in the HRI News & Events section or by clicking on the link at the end of the page

Biostatistics Training

The HRI Biostatistician conducts a series of statistical workshops for interested researchers each year, introducing the most important statistical techniques in research, and illustrating how to use key statistics software packages in order to run analyses.

Course content typically includes:

Descriptive Statistics

Introduction to SPSS

Confidence Intervals

Hypothesis Testing

Regression

More information can be found in the HRI News & Events section or by clicking on the link at the end of the page

Good Clinical Practice in Medical Device Research – ISO14155

The Clinical Research Support Unit hosts regular training in ISO 14155: the standard for Clinical Investigation of Medical Devices for human subjects – Good Clinical Practice. 

This provides crucial guidance and understanding from the perspective of the Sponsor and the Investigator/Research team in how to apply these principles to everyday research activities.

More information can be found in the HRI News & Events section or by clicking on the link at the end of the page

Research Integrity

The University of Limerick offers Research Integrity training using the Epigeum platform

For further details: https://www.ul.ie/research/content/researchintegrity

Public and Patient Involvement (PPI)

UL offers a series of workshops each year on Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) in research. An informal PPI Club also takes place monthly. Dates are advertised through the HRI

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Trials Methodology 

 

The HRB- Trials Methodology Research Network based at NUIG is a collaborative initiative between a number of Irish and International higher education institutes (one of which is UL), and methodology centres.

Its Mission is to strengthen the methodology and reporting of trials in health and social care in Ireland so that they become more relevant, accessible and influential for patients and other service users, practitioners, policy makers and the public.

The aim is for trials that are better planned in every sense of the word- better designed, better conducted, better reported and useable for decision makers.

The 4 pillars of focus are: Support Services, Research and Innovation, Public Engagement and Training and Education

For more information please contact TMRN at NUIG (https://www.hrb-tmrn.ie/) or contact us and we will connect you with relevant colleagues in UL who can advise further

Full details on all HRI events and news can be found here