Application criteria
The Big Beat Challenge was designed to bring together world-leading researchers and innovators to identify and solve any of the biggest problems in heart and circulatory disease. Outline applications are now closed and a winner has been chosen. The following criteria was used to choose a winner.
Transformation
The Big Beat Challenge was intended to transform the research landscape in any heart or circulatory disease. We sought proposals for innovative solutions that move beyond incremental gains and work towards a tangible change that would not otherwise be possible. While scientific and technical rigour was always paramount, applicants were encouraged to submit bold ideas that were extraordinary, even radical.
Management and governance
We insisted that these structures must be appropriate for the project’s scope and scale, providing an innovative framework towards successful delivery. Applicants shortlisted were expected to work with the BHF to engage public interest and support through activity such as media work, events, meetings and site visits. Assessors didn’t grade any applications where they may have had a conflict of interest.
Foundations for success
The expertise, resources and track record of the team had to indicate that it had the ability to tackle the targeted transformational advance with confidence, while recognising that the Challenge deliberately encourages a high-risk approach to yield high gain. Proposals had to have a structured project plan, with a clear indication of how progress against goals and milestones will be measured.
Clear patient relevance
Proposals had to address a specific area of unmet need. The end point did not need to be clinical impact within the proposed time frame, but we wanted to see a clear route to patient benefit that is as comprehensible to the general public as it is to patients, healthcare professionals and researchers.
A need for funding
Teams had to demonstrate that delivery of their project would not be possible without the proposed scale of funding, including any complementary funding they are able to secure.
Innovative collaboration
Teams needed to be highly collaborative, mobilising knowledge, skills and resources from multiple disciplines and sectors. We wanted to see evidence that applicants had actively sought out a synergistic team of collaborators worldwide that brought fresh thinking and combine expertise in a new way.