NBT was awarded £1.56m Research Capability Funding (RCF) from the NIHR for 2025/26. This allocation puts NBT in third position out of 258 NHS Trusts and organisations in England.
This is our highest position to date – up from sixth position last year, and the third year in a row we have ranked in the top 10.
RCF is an indicator of how research-active an NHS organisation or health care provider is.
It is awarded to NHS organisations in proportion to the total amount of funding they receive from National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) grants. NIHR is the main funder of applied healthcare research in England and applying for grants is a nationally competitive process.
The combined RCF amount for NBT and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, our partner in the recently formed Bristol NHS Group, is £2.4m. With NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board in first place, these results paint a clear picture of Bristol’s outstanding research activity.