Full Membership

Why should you join HRCI?

Our members are engaged in many and varied aspects of research, including funding projects, research prioritisation, patient involvement, patient registries, evidence-based care and patient access to the outcomes of research.

The HRCI community is known for its camaraderie and supportiveness. Many of the people who sit around the table at our meetings have a background in research but many more do not. Everyone has something to share and something to learn and, at the heart of it, that is what we are all about.

HRCI have developed a guide for our members – it’s designed with new members in mind but should be useful for everyone.  It describes our strategic aims, the work we do, our organisational structure, Board of Directors and staff.  It also explains the acronyms you may come across as a HRCI member.  We hope you find it useful!

Benefits of Full Membership

HRCI, as an umbrella body which represents well over 1 million patients through 40 members, has created a strong collective platform for health research charities to influence policy, practice and legislation, as well as providing member support in all aspects of health research and opportunities for networking.

Full Membership provides:

• Access to HRCI staff with expertise in research, medical research charities and the health research environment and a community of health research-focused charities who are a valuable source of knowledge and support.
• Access to the HRCI/HRB & Joint Funding Scheme. This innovative funding scheme allows members to obtain matched funding to support all forms of health research of relevance to the patient populations they represent. Organisations that are successful in the Joint Funding scheme must pay HRCI a 5% levy on the HRB contribution.
• Access to HRCI Board and member meetings. These meetings provide an opportunity for information exchange and typically feature invited expert speakers. Previous speakers include senior officials from the Department of Health, Health Research Board and the HSE.
• Access to our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Shared Learning Group. Members of this group support each other in improving patient involvement in their research activities and receive guidance and practical support from HRCI.
• Free access to all HRCI events and workshops
• Free access to bi-annual Irish Health Research Forum (IHRF) events, which are run by HRCI. Previous topics at IHRF events have included the implications of data protection for health research, setting health research priorities, public and patient involvement in health research, health researcher careers and legislation relating to health research.
• The opportunity to positively influence the Irish health research environment by helping to shape HRCI’s advocacy initiatives and campaigns.
• Access to member-only news emails, in addition to the HRCI quarterly newsletter.
• The opportunity to be nominated to sit on the Board of Directors and/or to join our two Board sub-committees; Staff & Finance and Advocacy & Communications.
• Copies of all HRCI publications and reports released throughout the year and access to previous publications. These include guides and templates on such topics as PPI, patient registries, intellectual property and engaging with industry.
• The ability to nominate an unlimited number of representatives to receive communications on the organisation’s behalf and who can attend HRCI meetings and events.