Clinical Research Training UK - Barts Charity
Research

Healthcare Professional Clinical Research Training Fellowships

We support healthcare professionals to undertake PhD training in health-related research that could improve the lives of people in East London. 

Level of funding

Fellow's salary, PhD fees and research costs

Duration of funding

We offer funding for up to three years full-time, plus flexible and part-time opportunities

Healthcare Professional Clinical Research Training Fellowships Information

Lead applicant

This scheme is open to all healthcare professionals, including allied healthcare professionals (AHPs), clinicians, dentists and general practitioners, healthcare scientists, midwives, nurses, pharmacists, and psychologists.

The applicant (prospective fellow) must:

  • Be registered with the appropriate healthcare professional body with a licence to practice and be clinically active. Healthcare scientists without a registration must commit to registering as part of the fellowship.
  • Be released from any training and/or clinical requirements for the duration of the fellowship. Fellows may request to spend a proportion of their time undertaking clinical duties to maintain their clinical competence, please see our fellowship FAQs for guidance.
  • Be able to demonstrate previous research experience (e.g. hold a relevant MRes, MSc or equivalent experience).
  • Plan to work on a research project as part of their PhD.
  • Plan to be an employee of Barts Health NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London or City, University of London for the duration of the fellowship.
  • Plan to register for and complete a PhD at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD) at Queen Mary University of London or the School of Health & Psychological Sciences at City, University of London.

Prospective fellows who are already registered for a PhD are not eligible for this scheme.

Primary and secondary supervisors

The primary and secondary supervisors must:

  • Have a contract of employment at the FMD or at City, University of London.
  • Meet the requirements to supervise PhD students set by FMD or City, University of London.

Collaborators

Additional collaborators can be identified to support the work proposed and can be based at any organisation.

Your application will be reviewed by our Fellowship Panel. During the assessment they look for:

  • Benefit - the research outcomes aim to enhance our understanding of health and illness and/or have the potential to lead to improved lives in East London.
  • Originality - a novel and important research proposal within its field.
  • Feasibility –  the proposed approaches are realistic, well developed and likely to achieve the proposed aims.
  • Involvement – the proposal includes appropriate plans for engagement with, and involvement of patients, the public, local services, research and/or clinical networks.
  • Credentials – the prospective fellow has the necessary professional and research experience, skills and knowledge to undertake the proposed research. Supervisors and broader team have the expertise and experience to support the project.
  • Sustainability – the fellowship will enable the prospective fellow’s career plans. The proposal includes appropriate commitments to sharing expected research outcomes.

Prospective fellows can request:

  • Three years of full-time salary support. We also offer flexible research career opportunities and part-time working. You must spend at least 0.5 FTE on the fellowship.
  • PhD registration fees.
  • Materials and consumables (up to £10,000 per year).

We will also consider requests for costs relating to:

  • Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE).
  • Contribution to dissemination, such as conference attendance and/or publications (up to £2,000).
  • Fees to attend training courses directly related to the research project.

Please see our  Grants Cost Policy  for more detail.

Please see our  Grants Cost Policy , which includes disallowed costs.

Application and assessment process

Work with your supervisory team to develop the proposed research project.

The application must be costed and agreed by the Queen Mary University of London Joint Research Management Office (JMRO) or the City, University of London research support services. Please contact the relevant team well in advance of the submission date to allow enough time for them to provide your costing.

Application form will be available from June 2024.

Please complete the online application form. Remember to save your application often and to attach all the necessary documents before submission.

When you complete your application form it will be sent to your research management office who must review and approve your application in order to complete the submission to the charity.

Applications must be submitted by 5pm on the day of the deadline. 

Our Funding & Impact team will check that your application is eligible for this scheme. We’ll be in touch if we have any questions.

Your application will be sent for external written peer review by experts in your field.

On the application form you are asked to suggest potential reviewers and exclude those who may have a conflict of interest.

The Fellowship Panel will review your application and peer review reports, and decide whether to invite you for interview.

If invited, you will be given at least two weeks’ notice. We will send you anonymised comments from the external peer reviewers.

The interviews will be conducted by the Fellowship Panel, who make the final funding decision, and will take place in March 2025.

Start your application

Apply now

Questions?

Our Funding & Impact team are here to work with you and can offer advice and support. We encourage you to contact us if you have any queries. You can also find answers to commonly asked questions, along with other useful tips for potential applicants, on our fellowship FAQs page. Do get in touch if we can support you in the application process by applying reasonable adjustments. All requests will be treated in confidence.

Contact us

Find out more

Barts Health staff talking

Recently awarded fellows

We share information about the healthcare professionals who were recently awarded a Clinical Research Training Fellowship to undertake PhD training in health-related research.

Man speaking at a business meeting

Introducing our new Clinical Research Training Fellows for 2023/24

Our Clinical Research Training Fellows for 2023/24 have now been appointed. Seven healthcare professionals from a range of different disciplines and backgrounds will be undertaking PhD training and delivering innovative research to help improve the health of people living in East London.

Interview with a Fellow

Dr Elen Williams works as a General Practitioner within the borough of Tower Hamlets and is the co-lead of a City St George’s, University of London project, working within the Bromley-By-Bow community to provide better healthcare access to people with severe mental illness. She was recently awarded a Barts Charity Healthcare Professional Clinical Research Training Fellowship for 2023/24.