Pre-Doctoral Students

An introduction to the National Institute for Health and Care Research. 

Click here to enrol.

The NIHR Clinical Research Network Yorkshire and Humber Introduction to Informed Consent workshop is designed for all staff wishing to gain a better understanding of the informed consent process required to enrol participants into a research project. It is also suitable for those working with participants engaged in research activity who may not be directly cared for in a clinic or hospital setting.

It is essential that you seek further support and guidance from your local R&D department, research leadership and/or line manager prior to undertaking informed consent for research activities. Whilst this workshop forms an element of your learning in this area you may be required to complete competency documents and follow organisational/Trust guidance in your place of work. 

This workshop builds on the areas discussed in Good Clinical Practice therefore training and prior knowledge of GCP is assumed.  

Click here to enrol onto the Real-Time Virtual session

Click here to enrol onto the Face-to Face session

This e-Learning course explains why inclusive research matters and how cultural understanding, values and beliefs can impact on research participation. The module concludes by exploring practical recommendations for removing barriers to inclusion that have come from the findings of the NIHRs Include project.

The course will take approximately 40 minutes to complete.

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This online course will discuss how medical treatments are discovered, tested and evaluated to improve healthcare for all.

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This online course discusses the importance of trials in evidence-based medicine and provides the opportunity to learn about the trial lifecycle from conception to publication.

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Explore the world of health research and the role volunteers play in transforming treatments and improving health care.

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Get step-by-step guidance on every stage of the research process to kickstart your career in health and social care research

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The NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) launched in October 2023, providing free and confidential advice and expertise for health and care researchers in England.  The RSS provides support at every stage of the research journey, from pre-application through to post-award delivery.

The core services offered by the NIHR RSS include:

• Pre and post-award advice from methodologists. This includes statisticians, qualitative researchers, health economists, social scientists, behavioural scientists, clinical trialists and others with expertise in study development

• Advice on patient and public involvement and engagement

• Advice on developing and delivering inclusive research

• Support for clinical trial development and delivery

• Opportunities to collaborate with centres of research excellence

• Signposting to other sources of advice and support

To find out more about the NIHR RSS or to request support from one of the RSS hubs visit the NIHR Research Support Service website.

The Conversation is an independent source of news analysis and expert comment written by academic experts, working with professional journalists who help share their knowledge with the world. It offers short courses that cover how to pitch and write for The Conversation and reach non-academic audiences.

To find out more and complete these courses, visit the conversation website. 

The University of Sheffield offer media and social media training sessions throughout the academic year. You can register your interest on their website. The courses offered are:

• Introduction to social media for researchers

• Advanced social media for researchers

• Twitter for Researchers

• Introduction to vertical short form video for researchers

Find out more about these courses.

STEP UP have created a hub of learning resources and training materials from trusted external sources to help facilitate inclusive clinical trial design and delivery.

Visit the STEP UP site to access these resources here.

About the course:
The course will cover the timeline and stages of setting up a clinical trial from the point of receiving the funded grant application to opening the first site. It will provide a practical insight into the individual steps of setting up a clinical trial, with the aim for participants to be able to leave the course feeling confident and ready to set up and manage their own trial (be that multicentre or single site research). The course will be aimed at people working with human participants, specifically within healthcare and / or the NHS.

Who will benefit from the course?
It will be designed for new study managers from across the UK, but would also be relevant to research assistants, new trial managers, PhD students hoping to conduct NHS research, research fellows and associates. Please note that this course is aimed at those working on UK-based clinical trials due to the UK's unique framework of rules.

Register your interest here.

The UK's clinical research infrastructure has developed to adopt and use remote methods in clinical trial delivery. From remote monitoring to remote consultations, there is expertise and willingness to embed innovative approaches to clinical trial delivery. For those looking to incorporate remote methods into their clinical trial design, there are many aspects to consider. The following content aims to  help design and delivery teams and trial sponsors consider and implement remote methods in their studies.

Visit the information site here.

This course explains the regulations and considerations relating to mental capacity and research. It is aimed at those involved in designing or undertaking, supporting or reviewing research, and takes account of research seeking to include adults lacking capacity as well as research where some participants may lack capacity or lose capacity.

Access the e-learning here.

This course explains the regulations and considerations for research involving ionising radiation. It is aimed at those involved in designing or undertaking, supporting or reviewing such research.

*The HRA is currently working to implement updates to this module to reflect The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017. 

Access the e-learning here.

This module is designed with a number of pathways to allow users to select a role which reflects their own professional interest.

Access the e-learning here.

Are you planning to apply for an NIHR Career Development Scheme in the future?

The NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund scheme provides funding which can be used to help you prepare a larger application to the NIHR. It is aimed at individuals that require additional support to submit a competitive application. Through providing additional funding, the Pre-Application Support Fund aims to enhance the opportunities available to those that otherwise would not have sufficient support to apply for NIHR career development funding. 

You can request funding and support for:

• A contribution to your salary to buy out the necessary time to prepare an application

• Training and development, mentorship or supervisory costs specifically associated with developing an application

• Other costs where the additional support required to submit an application extends beyond the categories outlined above

Funding can be requested for up to 12 months to develop an application for an NIHR career development scheme, including:

Pre-Doctoral Fellowship

Doctoral Fellowship

Development and Skills Enhancement (DSE) Award

Advanced Fellowship

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) and Advanced Fellowship (EME-AF)

Population Health Career Scientist Award (PHCSA)

Research Professorship.

NIHR Global Health

Global Research Professorship

NIHR Integrated Pathways Programmes

Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF)

Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (DCAF)

Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (ACAF)

In-Practice Fellowship

Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award.

NIHR Local Authority Academic Fellowship Programme

Pre-Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme (PLAF)

Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF)

Advanced Local Authority Fellowship (ALAF).

For more information about this award, please visit the NIHR page 

The INSIGHT Programme funds a wide range of engagement activities and research Masters places for current students and recent graduates within registered healthcare, social work and public health professions. The scheme will provide over 300 Masters places available per year across 12 regions. It aims to build research capacity across England making sure competitive research training opportunities are available to all regardless of geography. Each region has been awarded up to 30 masters studentships per year.

The regional programmes are open to students and recent graduates from professions without much exposure to research during their professional training. This will broaden access to research training. 

Find out more here.

Some universities offer Master's level degrees to learn the knowledge and skills needed to conduct clinical research. Below are some examples of degrees that may support your career in clinical research available in the UK (this is not an exhaustive list):

MSc in Clinical Trials | University of Oxford 

MClin Res Clinical Research (2024 entry) | The University of Manchester 

Clinical Research MSc PG Certificate PG Diploma | 2024 | Postgraduate (sheffield.ac.uk) 

Clinical Research (MSc) - Study - Cardiff University 

Clinical Research - King's College London (kcl.ac.uk) 

Clinical Research MSc - Lancaster University 

Clinical Research (MSc) (warwick.ac.uk) 

You may wish to undertake a PhD following your undergraduate degree. It is common to pursue a master's degree prior to a PhD, although this is often not a requirement. 

There are multiple ways to find PhD projects:

• Apply for a project that has funding already in place

• Apply for a project that has been developed but requires you to be self-funded or source your own funding

• Approach potential supervisors who conduct research in areas of interest to you to develop your own project

You can find pre-defined projects on University webpages and on FindAPhD.com.

There are various places you can apply for funding for doctoral research:

• Doctoral Fellowships, for example via the NIHR

• Commercial Organisations

• Charitable Organisations 

It's important for you to proactively seek out these opportunities, express your interest to faculty members, and demonstrate your enthusiasm for research. Building a strong professional network and actively engaging in research-related activities can significantly enhance your chances of gaining valuable research experience.

You may wish to explore the option of intercalation. Many medical schools in the UK offer full intercalated degrees, where it is part of the degree  for all medical students to take a year off to study a different field. Others require you to apply for the year off, which usually occurs during your third or fourth year. For more information, visit the BMA page on intercalation. 

The NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) Undergraduate Student Internship Programme provides students with experience in a research environment and access to a team of specialised mentors and supervisors. The aim of the programme is to provide undergraduate students the opportunity to gain primary care research experience, allow for greater collaboration and to raise the academic profile of general practice.

Find out more here. 

The NIHR Undergraduate Internship Programme (UIP) aims to engage and attract students from underrepresented professions in the early stages of their academic studies to consider a career in health and social care research.

Early to mid-career researchers can apply to host up to 3 interns for 2-8 weeks. Interns will undertake a fully funded and flexible placement in the area or discipline they are interested in pursuing, whilst the established researchers will have an opportunity to gain valuable supervisory and grant application experience.

The first round of the programme will offer internships to those who have an interest in or are studying in:

• nursing

• midwifery

• social care

• research methodology

• public health

• data science

• pharmacy

• healthcare science

Find out more here. 

The NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) is a clinical specialty training post in medicine that incorporates academic training. The post has a standard duration of 3 years (up to 4 years for GPs). As an NIHR ACF you will have access to Masters-level research training to develop academic skills and spend 25% of your time in research or educationalist training. The research areas for the remaining NIHR ACF posts will be based on local expertise and the applicant's individual interests.

Find out more here. 

Please note that this has now replaced the PCAF

The NIHR Academy Predoctoral Award funds a programme of training and development designed to advance your health and social care research career at masters level.

If you are a clinical or practitioner applicant, you should also use a Predoctoral Award to support the development of a PhD application. If you are an aspiring methodologist, you can use this award to help develop a methodology career in roles relevant to health and social care research, which may include development of a PhD application.

The Predoctoral Award provides funding for:

• your full salary, including the employer’s contribution to National Insurance and Superannuation (if taking up the award part-time, your salary will be paid pro-rata)

• if you are a clinical or practitioner applicant, or based in a local authority, and you will be taking up the award full-time, you can request up to 20% paid clinical or practice time

• if you are a fully qualified GP or GDP in Primary care, the funded academic component is subject to a salary cap equivalent to the top of the pre-2003 consultant payscale

• if you are a primary care applicant in vocational training when you apply, you will be subject to a cap on your basic salary of spine point 5 or equivalent on the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) clinical academic pay scale in the first year, and spine point 6 in the second year

• full masters fees at the UK rate or £5000 bespoke masters-level training per full-time year

• £1000 for working with people and communities (previously known as patient and public involvement) and research inclusion

• £1000 supervisory fees

• £1000 conference fees and associated travel and subsistence

Find out more here. 

Please note that this has now replaced the DCAF, Doctoral Fellowship, and DLAF. 

The Doctoral Award provides funding and support to individuals from all professional backgrounds. This flexible scheme enables you to complete a PhD in applied health or social care research. Your research project must be within NIHRs remit for personal career development awards.

The award opens twice a year in April and October. It lasts 3 years full-time, with part-time options available.

To be eligible for the Doctoral Award, you must:

• hold a 1st or 2:1 bachelor’s degree, or equivalent (if not, you will usually need to have a master’s degree)

• have prior research experience or training to prepare for a PhD

• not already hold a PhD by research

• propose substantive employment with a recognised Higher Education Institution (HEI), NHS body, local authority, or other publicly/third-sector funded health or social care provider in England

• register for a PhD at a recognised HEI in England, if you are not already enrolled (if already registered, you must not have been enrolled for more than 12 months full-time by the award start date)

Find out more here. 

The Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (DCAF) scheme funds registered healthcare professionals to undertake a PhD by research and, concurrently, to undertake further professional development and practice.

Structure

The DCAF is a three year award (up to six years part time), approximately 80% of which will be spent working academically over the course of the fellowship. The remaining 20% of fellowship hours will be spent devoted to practice and professional development. 

Applicants are required to have the support of an English health or social care provider and a university, and hold a contract of employment with one of these organisations for the hours and duration of the fellowship.

Funding

The personal research training award offers funding to cover salary costs, PhD tuition fees, the costs of an appropriate research project, and the costs of tailored clinical and academic training programmes.

Find out more here. 

The NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR GOSH BRC) has recently launched its Clinical Training PhD Fellowship Programme, which is a three-year programme offering full-time salary funding for fellows to undertake a PhD. The fellowship will allow protected time to concentrate on research, training and development. Applications are welcome from clinicians and wider health care professionals, including nurses, allied health professional (AHP) staff, pharmacists, psychologists and health care scientists, who can demonstrate excellent potential to be paediatric translational researchers of the future.

The call is open nationally, with applications welcome from any clinician or wider health care professional who is interested in undertaking a PhD at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH).  Applicants are expected to develop a project proposal as part of their application, which aligns with the overarching objectives of the NIHR GOSH BRC to support translational research focused on paediatric rare or complex diseases.

As part of the application process, candidates will need to contact relevant supervisors at GOSH/UCL GOS ICH before applying. The BRC can help facilitate initial meetings with prospective supervisors if required. Projects may also be collaborative and involve a supervisor and research time at our partner sites within the NIHR GOSH BRC Paediatric Excellence Initiative (Birmingham, Sheffield and Alder Hey Children’s Hospitals).

The NIHR GOSH BRC anticipates supporting up to four fellows as part of the programme. The Fellowship provides each successful awardee with:

• Full time salary commensurate with their stage of training for clinicians - this is up to but not including NHS consultant level. Wider health care professionals will receive a full time salary equivalent to their current NHS band.

• The cost of tuition fees based on the UK (Home) rate PhD tuition fees for three years full time.

• Up to £5,000 non-pay budget per year to support research activities.

• Access to a training package of transferable skills for researchers and the opportunity to apply for additional consumables funding and an annual PhD prize.

The deadline for applications is Tuesday 9th January 2024. Please visit the website to find out more about the Programme and for details of how to apply:  NIHR GOSH BRC Clinical Training PhD Fellowships for Clinicians and Wider Health Care Professionals | Great Ormond Street Hospital

Candidates are strongly encouraged to read the guidance in full before preparing an application. Applications are to be submitted via UCL Jobs, with separate adverts to apply to depending on your profession. All applications submitted across the two adverts will be considered competitively in one call. Salaries included on the UCL Jobs adverts are indicative.

The NIHR Sheffield BRC offer fully funded non-clinical PhD studentships across all four of our themes, as well as our cross-cutting EDI theme. To find out more information and to see which projects are currently available, visit NIHR Sheffield BRC - PhD Studentships.

The Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF) scheme funds individuals based within local authorities and supporting services to undertake a PhD and professional development.

Find out more here. 

The Associate PI Scheme is a six month in-work training opportunity, providing practical experience for healthcare professionals starting their research career. People who would not normally have the opportunity to take part in clinical research in their day-to-day role have the chance to experience what it means to work on and deliver an NIHR portfolio trial under the mentorship of an enthusiastic Local Principal Investigator (PI).

The scheme is open to any health and care professional who does not have research as a core part of their role, but wishes to gain skills and experience by contributing towards an NIHR Portfolio adopted study. This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and so on. We encourage all health and care professionals to consider taking part.

Interested applications must:

• Be a healthcare professional who wants to gain knowledge of what it means to deliver an NIHR portfolio study.

• Be able to commit to six months of working on a study registered onto the scheme at the same local site, once their spot on the Associate PI Scheme is confirmed.

• Have spoken to the Local Principal Investigator of their chosen study and gained their mentorship approval prior to applying.

• Not currently working in a full time funded research role (e.g research nurse).

• If you are a ‘Fellow’ (e.g Research Fellow, Clinical Fellow) then you must not be receiving funding to work on the study that you want to be an Associate PI for. However, you can be an Associate PI on a study that is outside of your funded fellow role. Enrolment in these cases will be made on an individual basis.

Find out more here. 

The NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) is a clinical specialty training post in medicine that incorporates academic training. The post has a standard duration of 3 years (up to 4 years for GPs). As an NIHR ACF you will have access to Masters-level research training to develop academic skills and spend 25% of your time in research or educationalist training. 

Find out more here. 

YES is an innovative global competition developed to raise awareness among Master's and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows and technicians, about how ideas can be commercialised.

For the past 28 years, teams, united by a dedication to their subject, curiosity, enthusiasm and a desire to learn, attempt to deploy novel science and engineering to address societal challenges such as the ageing population, sustainable food production and global warming. In this way, they develop a business plan for a start-up company based on a hypothetical but plausible idea. 

By taking part, you will have the opportunity to hear from leading industry experts about the ways they go about making a business work. This competition has been devised for you to further understand the processes involved in bringing a service/product to market.

Find out more and register here. 

Undergraduate students at the University of Sheffield can gain experience of working in a research environment during their penultimate year through fully funded 6-week projects. SURE offers 6-week summer scholarships for undergraduates, working with an academic on a dedicated piece of research. Students will be provided with a living costs bursary for the 6-week period and a small consumables budget to be used at the discretion of the project supervisor.

The BRC fund projects within this scheme. Projects open to applications can be found here: NIHR Sheffield BRC - Undergraduate Summer Placements

The Clinical Entrepreneur Programme is an award winning, NHS initiative, delivered by Anglia Ruskin University. Launched in 2016 the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (NHS CEP), is a free entrepreneurial work force development programme aimed at NHS staff and healthcare professionals.

The programme is part of the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) which brings together industry, government, regulators, patients and the NHS to remove barriers and accelerate the introduction of new ground-breaking treatments and diagnostics which have the potential to transform care.

Eligibility: All NHS workforce staff (including NHS Scotland, NHS Wales and Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland) and those providing NHS Services such as: GP’s, dentists, pharmacists, physios, are welcome to apply, including those in both clinical (including clinician academics who work in research/university) and non-clinical roles. If you are working as a locum, or in a hospice you can also apply. 

Find out more and register here. 

4Ward North PhD Fellowships are three years in duration and should include supervision from at least two of the 4Ward North institutions. Each individual PhD will be hosted by one of four institutions: The University of Manchester, the University of Leeds, Newcastle University and The University of Sheffield.

Successful applications will receive:

• a training programme 

• bespoke mentoring

• an opportunity to compete for the Leading Scholars’ Programme (12 months of research support immediately after the PhD to pump-prime postdoctoral clinical career development applications)

• a key skills development opportunity by supervising and mentoring NRP students.

Those who are shortlisted but are not successful in securing a fellowship will receive:

• help in building their project

• guidance, advice and mentorship through the application process for an equivalent research training award from other funders

Eligibility: Fellows recruited to a programme must have completed their undergraduate degree, and must be practicing healthcare professionals and be registered with a professional regulatory body in the UK/Republic of Ireland, such as the General Medical Council or the Health and Care Professions Council. Medical graduates must be registered on a UK/Republic of Ireland specialist training programme or must be a registered GP. Eligible healthcare professionals include those practicing in nursing, midwifery, allied healthcare professions, pharmacy and healthcare sciences, dental and medical specialties.

Find out more and apply here. 

Master's level qualifications in clinical research delivery leadership. Suitable for all registered healthcare professionals at all stages of their career. 

The NIHR and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, led by the Royal College of Physicians worked with higher education institutions to create a national framework of Master’s level clinical research delivery leadership qualifications. These qualifications provide learners with the necessary skills and build the confidence required to be able to lead and support clinical research delivery. All the qualifications are aimed at experienced healthcare practitioners from all professional backgrounds, who aspire to take on  leadership roles in clinical research delivery, such as Co-Investigator or Principal Investigator. This includes those who have no or limited research experience and those currently working in research delivery. 

The course is run at four institutions: 

• King's College London

• Newcastle University

• The University of Exeter

• The University of Sheffield

Find out more and apply here. 

The Equity in Doctoral Education through Partnership and Innovation (EDEPI) programme is looking for passionate and talented individuals to pursue original research and broaden their professional horizons through a part-time PhD programme.

EDEPI has partnered with NHS Trust across Nottingham, Sheffield and Liverpool to offer fee-waived, part-time PhD places to eligible NHS staff to pursue research alongside their role. The PhD programme is designed to enable staff from racially minoritised groups to set a new research agenda relevant to their experiences and to remove barriers to leadership roles within the NHS. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals staff who are a UK resident (eligible for home student fees) from a racially minoritised group are eligible to apply.

To find out more about PhD study and to signup for the workshops run by Sheffield Hallam University, visit Is a PhD at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) right for me? 2025 Entry | Rise 360 

If you are looking to undertake a PhD in Respiratory medicine, you may be able to apply to Asthma and Lung UK. 

PhD Studentship applications must be made by a prospective PhD student as the principal applicant, with established investigator(s) named as co-applicants who will act as primary and secondary supervisors for the named student. Supervision should be provided from a respiratory clinician and a senior data scientist who has an interest in health. The PhD project and application should be developed alongside supervisors. The PhD student can have a respiratory (clinical or non-clinical) and/or data science background. 

To find out more, visit Apply for funding 2024 - 2025 | Asthma + Lung UK