The Research Systems programme is a large digital transformation programme, with a vision to:
- Connect processes for health and social care research in the UK
- Help people work together to plan, approve, set up, manage and complete research
- Help make the UK a great place to do research people can trust
We're developing new services that will digitise the end-to-end research journey, allowing users to plan and prepare new research, make changes to existing research and review and approve research applications in a seamless way. We'll also improve the support offered to users.
As users start to use the new services, they will be transitioned off a number of systems currently used to apply for, approve and manage research including the Integrated Research Approvals System (IRAS), the HRA Assessment Review Portal (HARP) and the Over-Volunteering Prevention System (TOPS). Once the programme is completed, these legacy systems will no longer be in use.
The HRA is leading on the development of the new integrated service on behalf of the IRAS Partners. We are working closely with them and other stakeholders to collaborate on designing the new services.
The new service will deliver an improved user experience, offering more integrated and seamless services for the whole research community. Meeting user needs is at the heart of the improved service we are developing and we are involving users at every stage. As well as significant user research, our designs respond to the key issues users have told us they experience with the current systems.
If you are interested in getting involved in user research, you can volunteer to test our digital services.