As most readers of Generations Review will know by now the NDA Programme is a five year multi-disciplinary research initiative with the ultimate aim of improving the quality of later life. The programme is a unique collaboration between five UK Research Councils - ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC - and is the largest and most ambitious research programme on ageing ever mounted in the UK. The sheer scale and scope of the NDA proved to be difficult challenges in the first phase of its life but these have been overcome and the second phase of activity promises to be highly productive.

The central objectives of the Programme are:

• to explore ways in which individual ageing is subject to different influences over the life course
• to understand the dynamic ways in which the meaning, understanding and experience of ageing are currently changing and becoming more diverse
• to investigate the diverse ways in which ageing is/has been understood and represented at different times and in different cultures
• to encourage and support the development of innovative interdisciplinary research groups and methods
• to provide a sound evidence base for policy and practice (including the development of prototype systems, procedures and devices) so that research contributes to well-being and quality of life.

In achieving these objectives, the Programme will be set out to:

• generate new knowledge on the ageing process and, particularly, the factors contributing to ageing well
• deploy and develop new interdisciplinary perspectives on ageing research
• encourage comparative research, for instance on a regional, (inter)national, ethnic, cultural, historical or social basis, with a particular emphasis on the global north and south
• help create a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers
• contribute to policy, practice and product development
• provide new opportunities for UK science to link with those in the EU and North America
• identify opportunities for further research beyond the life of the Programme.

The NDA Programme covers two broad themes with eight sub-themes:

Ageing Well Across the Life Course

• active ageing
• autonomy and independence
• later life transitions
• the oldest old.

Ageing and its enviornments

• resources for ageing
• locality, place and participation
• the built and technological environment
• the global dynamics of ageing.

In addition the programme puts special emphasis on multi-and interdisciplinary approaches to ageing research and calls for innovative methods in data collection and analysis.

Forging a major Research Council collaboration takes time and a great deal of effort by everyone involved. Although the NDA had a head start in being built on the foundations of the cross-council partnership behind the UK National Collaboration on Ageing Research it was an entirely different matter to create a jointly-funded programme of research with a common pot of money, regulations, application forms and procedures. Once these challenges were met the key question was whether or not the scientific communities would respond to the ambitious nature of the Programme. To assist the scientific communities to engage with the programme two large meetings were held in London in June 2005, attended by more than 300 researchers.

There is no doubt that the first round of commissioning represented a huge effort on the part of UK research communities, NDA commissioning panels, peer reviewers and the Research Councils. It is important to recognise the enormity of that effort, to thank those who engaged in it and to acknowledge the disappointment, shared by everyone involved, that only two collaborative research projects (CRPs) were funded at the end of it. Although there were specific factors behind the non-funding of individual applications by a full peer review process and a commissioning panel comprising senior scientists from a wide range of disciplines, many with extensive experience of multi-disciplinary collaboration, and research end users, there was a general sense that many of the applications did not reflect the scope and ambition of the NDA Programme, particularly with regard to interdisciplinarity. Finance did not play any role in this final outcome: the budget was under spent and those resources are being recycled within the programme.

For the record the first round of commissioning comprised 292 expressions of interest, 74 outline applications, 10 full applications, from which two were funded:

• Modelling Needs and Resources of Older People to 2030, Mike Murphy, London School of Economics
• Optimising Quality of Sleep Among Older People, Sara Arber, University of Surrey

In response to the disappointingly small reward from the long process of commissioning the first round of CRPs the Cross-Council Committee on Ageing Research, which manages the NDA, decided on a fresh approach. This entails the provision of pump-priming funds to formative networks to enable them to meet and work together, over a 12 month period, with the sole aim of preparing an application for the second round of CRP funding in the autumn of 2007. Thus the call in May 2006 was for preparatory networks and a series of meetings were held in London and Manchester to assist the scientific communities to respond to this call. In fact there were two parts to the call, the first for preparatory networks closed on 1 August and the second, for single programme grants, on 14 November.

It was gratifying to those responsible for the NDA Programme that there was an excellent response to the call for preparatory networks: 33 applications were received, involving over 300 scientists, and eleven were funded:

• Experiences and Uses of Technology in Older Age, Judith Sixsmith, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Design Enabling Autonomy and Independence through Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology, Jane McCann, University of Wales, Newport
• Self Management of Chronic Disease in Older People through Wireless Sensor Networks, Alison Marshall, University of Leeds
• Working Late: Strategies to Enhance Productive and Healthy Environments for the Older Workforce, Cheryl Haslam, University of Loughborough
• Cultural Perception and Adherence to Exercise and Nutritional Interventions in Older Individuals, Claire Stewart, Manchester Metropolitan University
• A Life Course Approach to Healthy Ageing, Diana Kuh, University College London
• Workplace Design for an Ageing Labour Force, Kerry Platman, University of Cambridge
• Seeking a New Inter-disciplinary Methodology to Quantify the Benefits of Housing Interventions for Older People, Frances Heywood, University of Bristol
• Safety and Security for Older People, Rachel McCrindle, University of Reading
• Adapting Support to Sustain Autonomy: Understanding the Implications of Changing Capabilities for Older ICT users, Leela Damodaran, University of Loughborough
• The Development of an Interdisciplinary Rural Ageing Research Agenda, Catherine Hennessy, University of Plymouth

The commissioning process for programme grants is taking place now (there were 96 applications). There will be further calls for CRPs and programme grants later in 2007.

The Programme was formally launched on 1 November 2006 by a major conference in London attended by nearly 300 researchers and research end users, including older people. Speakers included Lord Hunt the Minister for Work and Pensions, Ian Diamond, Tom Kirkwood, Ian Philp, Denise Platt and Robert Butler. The conference was co-sponsored by the Funders Forum on Research into Ageing and co-funded by Help the Aged. The conference also reflected the partnership being built with the Canadian Institute of Ageing. Although such conferences have their limitations there is no doubt that this one successfully showcased the NDA and, with related press publicity, brought it to the attention of a large audience. Thus it contributed to the general aim of raising the profile of ageing research. The full proceedings will soon be available on the NDA website (http://newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk).

Now that the NDA is properly constituted and formally launched, I expect it to play an active role in the BSG, BGS and other research communites. There will be workshops, public debates, newsletters and research findings over the next 3 years and I hope to be able to report progress in future issues of this review.