Applicants should explore the implementation of proposed intervention(s) for a selected study population(s) taking into account the unique social, political, economic, and cultural context(s) in which the study will take place. Applicants should justify why any adaptation will not compromise the known effectiveness of the selected intervention(s).

Proposals should address all the following activities:

• Provide a research plan using validated implementation research frameworks or hybrid design research;
• Have an appropriate strategy for measuring implementation research outcomes and real-world effectiveness outcomes and indicators. Other health or non-health outcome measures, especially those identified as important by patient participants and/or critical for advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC), are also welcome;
• Specifically address health equity and the principles of UHC;
• Engage an appropriately expert and skilled research team which can ensure a suitable multidisciplinary approach and that demonstrates equitable partnership and shared leadership between HIC-LMIC, and/or non-Indigenous-Indigenous members of the project team and external stakeholders through a clear governance strategy;
• Provide a stakeholder engagement strategy with evidence of support/engagement from key stakeholders for delivering patient-centred care;
• Ensure that project partners are engaged from the beginning to contribute to the sustainability of the intervention after the end of project. Proposals should demonstrate sustainability of the strategy, beyond the lifespan of the project;
• Provide opportunities for implementation research capacity building for early career researchers and team members from lower resourced environments, such as LMICs or disadvantaged communities;
• Ensure meaningful involvement of early career team members, including at least one early career member as a co-investigator.

The study population may include the general population, people with one or more existing NCDs, those currently without NCDs, or a combination of both. The study population may also include patients with NCDs and chronic infectious disease(s) (e.g., studies that focus on integrating NCD management into an HIV or tuberculosis clinic). With regard to NCDs, applicants are encouraged to explore any chronic non-communicable condition (or combination of conditions), including mental health disorders, neurological disorders and sleep disorders.

Stakeholders also include patients, their family members and carers. Their contributions should be nurtured through meaningful engagement from the outset, not only as participants in the research undertaken. Patient engagement throughout the research project is critical to developing patient-centred models of care.

All stakeholders should be engaged at every stage of the research project, from initial ideation of research questions, throughout the duration of the project, and afterwards during the knowledge translation phase. It is also important to include stakeholders who can help sustain the project’s implementation, facilitate scale up, and use the knowledge generated from the project after the grant ends.

All projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to participate in networking and joint activities, including internationally, as appropriate. These activities could, for example, involve the participation in joint workshops, the Annual Scientific Meetings of the GACD, the exchange of knowledge, the development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. Therefore, proposals are expected to include a budget for such activities and may consider covering the costs of any other potential joint activities without the prerequisite to detail concrete joint activities at this stage. The details of these joint activities will be defined during the grant agreement preparation phase.