Introduction
The NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement award (DSE) is a post-doctoral level funding opportunity that supports the acquisition of skills and the undertaking of experiences that will enable the next phase of an awardee’s research or clinical/ practitioner academic career.
The award can support an awardee’s salary for up to 2 years whole time equivalent, and the costs of the training and development programme.
The career development supported through a DSE will be in one of the following areas:
- Applicants that need to develop specific skills or undertake specific training/ experience to be competitive for their next grant or fellowship funding application
- Applicants that have been developing clinical/ practice leadership roles and need to develop specific skills or undertake specific training/ experience to develop their next funding application whilst continuing their role as a research, system or clinical leader.
- Applicants returning from a research or practitioner academic career break
- Applicants aspiring to enter a research/ academic career (e.g. industry partners coming to academia)
- Applicants developing skills in knowledge mobilisation and/or implementation science
We are particularly interested in receiving applications from individuals that are developing skills and experience within the following strategic themes:
- Health and Care Professionals developing practitioner academic careers
- Health Data Science as applied in clinical, biomedical or population health settings
- Clinical Trials
- Entrepreneurship and working with industry
- Knowledge Mobilisation and/or Implementation science
Please see Strategic Themes below for further details.
Who is the award for?
The DSE supports early to mid-career post-doctoral researchers who are developing careers in applied health and care research.
Eligibility Criteria
- The proposed Host Organisation must be an English HEI, NHS body, or other provider of health and/or care services (see Host organisation below)
- For clinical academic applications: completion of relevant pre-registration training.
- Applicants must hold a relevant PhD or MD, or have submitted their thesis for examination at the time of application. Applicants must have been awarded their PhD or MD by the time they start.
- Applicants must demonstrate how this award will directly support the development of skills that are required and relevant to making them competitive for their next NIHR personal award or NIHR research grant. For further information see NIHR’s remit.
- Applicants must not have submitted a DSE application to the previous submission window.
- Applications to develop skills that are suited to research outside NIHR's remit are not in scope for the DSE award.
Applications to the NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Award must be based in the UK at their contracting organisation for the duration of the award, except for travel for research, training or development activities as outlined within the proposal. Applications in which the fellow is living overseas from their contracting organisation will not be supported.
Applicants would usually be early to mid-career post-doctoral researchers (individuals who have recently been or about to be awarded a PhD up to individuals with several years of postdoctoral experience). Whilst not ineligible, individuals that are already established as an independent researcher, especially those that have previously held an NIHR post-doctoral research training award, would not normally be considered for this scheme. If an established researcher applies, a clear justification should be provided to explain why the support is required and why it is not already available through the contracting organisation.
Contracting and Partner Organisations
All applications must propose a contracting Organisation that will be the contractor if the award is funded. The contracting Organisation must be capable of fulfilling the role of research sponsor as set out in the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research. Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of a research sponsor can be found on the Health Research Authority’s (HRA) website.
Applicants may choose to be employed by the proposed contracting Organisation or to be employed by another suitable organisation (as detailed below) for the duration of the award. If the applicant will be employed by an organisation that is not the contracting Organisation, the employing organisation must be named as a Partner Organisation in the application and the applicant must ensure they will hold an honorary contract for the duration of the award with the proposed contracting Organisation.
This means, for example, if an applicant is currently working in a clinical/practice setting e.g. NHS Trust, and the proposed contracting Organisation is a HEI, then the applicant can choose to continue to be employed by the NHS Trust or move employment to the HEI, however there must be an honorary contract in place for the duration of the award with whichever organisation is not the substantive employer.
Suitable contracting and Partner Organisations:
- A recognised HEI based in England
- an NHS body based in England
- an English provider of publicly funded health and/or social care services
- a provider of third sector publicly funded health and/or social care services (for example, a commissioned social enterprise, local authority or hospice)
The decision on where to host a personal award and the subsequent employer for the duration of the award is down to the applicant in discussion with their supervisors, line managers and mentors. The decision should be made based on what is best for the applicant, their career development and the research and training they are proposing to undertake.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will enter into a contract with the contracting organisation. Government procurement transparency regulations require the publication of all contracts made with the DHSC to be made available on the DHSC website. Confidential information including research proposals, detailed finance information, bank details, and departmental staff names (other than the award holder’s name) will be removed from the published versions.
Funding and Support available
A DSE award provides funding for:
- The salary of the award holder for up to 2-year whole time equivalent (WTE)
- Training and development costs up to £5,000 per year (WTE)
- Conference costs up to £1,000 per year (WTE)
- Mentorship costs up to £3,000
DSE award costs will be funded at 100% and Full Economic Costs (FEC) will not be covered.
DSE awards can be held for 12, 18 or 24 months Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) in duration and can be undertaken on a part time basis of between 50 and 100% WTE.
The DSE has been designed to be flexible to meet the needs of individual applicants, however this means that careful thought is needed as to the amount of support and duration of the award being requested. Requests should be justified and evidence based, and demonstrate the desired impact the award will have on the applicant’s career trajectory.
It is important that the applicant and contracting Institution fully justify the timeframe and WTE being requested and that is proportional to the training programme being proposed . 2 years WTE is the exception but can be justified in terms of disciplines who have historically had less opportunities, such as HCPs and those transitioning between research areas or sectors.
Although the DSE can be used to fund development and leadership skills within a clinical setting, practice time will not be supported.
Please see Annex F for award duration options
Training and Development
Competitive DSE applications will include a detailed training and development plan and a clear articulation of the new skills and experience the applicant will gain by undertaking the proposed training and development and how it will benefit their future career in research.
Examples of training and development that can be supported through a DSE include (but are not limited to):
- Expanding networks and forming new collaborations (e.g. building Industry collaborations, engaging with research leaders and research groups)
- Formal training courses (which could include MSc level modules)
- Informal training courses
- Placements spending time in clinical research settings (e.g. at clinical trials units, hospitals, research centres, shadowing clinical academic/clinical leadership staff, working with research infrastructure)
- Training in or development of skills to undertake Patient and Public Involvement
- Knowledge mobilisation and/or implementation science
- Any other development of skills or experience which would benefit future applications and longer-term research or practitioner academic career plans
- Applicants can also consider wider development training (eg. Leadership).
The DSE award should not be used solely to spend time writing and preparing an application for future funding.
Mentorship
Applicants are required to identify individuals that will provide mentorship during the award and to clearly describe how the proposed arrangements will support their overall development. Applicants should also provide an initial assessment of the time that will be allocated to the mentorship process.
The mentor will provide the applicant with support throughout their award both in their research endeavours and their overall career development. It is a two-way process that may be challenging for both parties. For this reason, choosing who will provide mentorship will require a great deal of thought.
The individuals identified for mentorship should have a clear understanding of the research process, and the demands that the chosen area of training and development are likely to place on the applicant and their particular strengths and weaknesses.
Applicants are advised to consider expanding mentorship beyond current supervisory teams and to consider expertise in the field/area their career is developing into. Proposed mentors may or may not be based at the contracting organisation.
If you are developing a practitioner academic career, you may want to include a practice mentor and/or a leadership mentor (e.g. regional leadership roles/ NHS senior management)
The appropriateness and proposed support from the mentor(s) will be assessed.
Strategic Themes
Although open to all eligible applicants developing careers in the areas noted in the above introduction, we are particularly keen to hear from applicants that are developing skills and experience in the following areas:
- Health and Care Professionals (HCPs) developing Practitioner Academic Careers
The DSE can be used to support the academic or practitioner academic career development of Health and Care professionals (HCPs), including aspiring researchers who have been engaged in roles related to research delivery or capacity development and seek to advance their own research or practitioner academic careers.
For further information see Annex B.
- Knowledge Mobilisation and Implementation Science
Knowledge from research that NIHR funds is not always taken up where it is most needed, which limits the realisation of its potential value. In order to address this, one of the uses of the NIHR DSE is to enable awardees to develop skills in knowledge mobilisation and Implementation Science.
Applicants are encouraged to explore training and development options that will help them better grasp the concepts of knowledge mobilisation and implementation science. They should also consider activities that promote system-wide influence for the adoption of research findings. Additionally, applicants might want to collaborate with established groups that excel in knowledge mobilisation or are actively researching in this field.
- Health Data Science
The DSE award can be used to develop skills in data science as applied in clinical, biomedical or population health settings and may be used to fund MSc level modules or full courses in HDS. For further information see Annex C
- Clinical trials
The DSE award can be used to support individuals who would benefit from further training within the setting of a Clinical Trials Unit (CTU). The collaboration should offer the applicant the opportunity to experience all aspects and stages of clinical trials and should not be limited to one study. A list of potential UKCRC registered CTUs is available. For further information see Annex D.
- Entrepreneurship and working with industry
NIHR aims to increase the number of researchers and clinical academics who are equipped with the skills to work at the interface of academia, the NHS and industry, and therefore able to contribute to the translation of ideas into new treatments and products from which patients can benefit.
By using a DSE award to increase skills and training in entrepreneurship combined with the experience of working with industry partners it is hoped successful applicants will contribute to this aim and go on to become research leaders able to confidently engage and collaborate with the life sciences and med-tech industries throughout their career. It is also hoped that individuals will develop skills, experience, and make useful networks which would allow them to develop their research ideas and outcomes into business opportunities.
For further information on the core elements your training could include see Annex E.
Start Dates, Duration and Submission Deadlines
The DSE has three possible submission windows throughout the year.
Awards must start on the first of the month.
| Submission Window | Review Period | Start Dates |
|---|---|---|
| 14 August 2024 - 22 November 2024 (1pm) | December - February | April 2025 - July 2025 |
| 2 December 2024 - 28 March 2025 (1pm) | April - June | August 2025 - November 2025 |
| TBC April 2025 - TBC July 2025 | August - October | December 2025 - March 2026 |
Application Deadlines
Please make sure your application is submitted by 1pm on the last day of the submission window in order to be considered in that round of reviews.
The signatory (Head of Department or Senior Manager) must have approved your application by this time using the Academy Research Awards Management Information System (ARAMIS) online application system.
All components of your application must be submitted by the deadline. No additional supporting documents will be accepted after the deadline.
Please give yourself sufficient time to obtain your signatory’s approval before the deadline. No exceptions will be made.
Assessment Criteria
DSE applicants will be expected to demonstrate a continued commitment to a research career in an area of relevance to NIHR and a clearly articulated plan for how the award will support an application for future funding, including the skills and experience they hope to gain by undertaking the award.
The DSE Selection Committee will assess each application based only on the information provided in the submitted application form against the following criteria:
Applicant
- Applicant clearly articulates their future career plans and how the award will support them to reach the next stage of their research or practitioner academic career
- Applicant is on a trajectory to become a future health or social care research leader;
- Applicant demonstrates how this award will directly support the development of skills that are required and relevant to making them competitive for their next NIHR personal award or NIHR research grant. For further information see NIHR’s remit.
The Selection Committee would normally expect applicants to have research outputs from their PhD at the point of application
Training and Development
- Applicant has clearly detailed the training and development they propose to undertake and provided clear justification for the specific activities proposed
- Applicant has clearly articulated the skills and experience they will gain by undertaking the proposed training and development programme
- Applicant has clearly described how the proposed training and development programme will enhance their chances of achieving their career goal
- The quality and relevance of the training and development proposed
Site and Support
- Appropriateness of the proposed support and mentorship
- Clear articulation of the support that will be provided by the proposed mentor(s)
- Contracting Organisation has a demonstrable track record in training and supporting people who have gone on to develop successful research or practitioner academic careers (as appropriate)
- Applicant will be supported by the provision of a strong research environment (and for PAs, a strong practitioner academic environment)
- Additional support that will be provided by the contracting organisation to enable the progression of the applicant’s research or practitioner academic career;
- Evidence of the contracting organisation(s) commitment to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive research culture, including evidence of commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and research integrity.
Application Procedure and Selection Process
Please note there are some changes to the DSE application form from August 2024, aimed at making the application process easier following user feedback:
- The career development section can be worked on “offline” and uploaded into the application form when finalised.
- A narrative CV upload will be required where applicants can describe their career to date and how it makes them suitable for the award
- The Head of Department will provide their statement of support via a letter that the applicant can upload into the application form, rather than adding it directly into the form
- Only high level costs are required at the application stage, successful applicants will be asked to provide a detailed budget prior to contracting. The detailed budget is expected to be aligned to the budget at submission and the total budget cannot be increased from the high level budget submitted at application stage.
- NIHR Academy can advise on eligibility and remit enquiries, and answer queries you may have when completing the application form.
- Following the submission deadline, NIHR will check applications for eligibility and completeness.
- Following this, applications are reviewed by the Selection Committee in advance of a funding recommendation meeting at which the committee discuss the applications and make recommendations for funding to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
- See details of the Selection Committee membership.
- The final decision as to which applications will receive funding rests with DHSC. Once confirmed, the funding decisions will be communicated to applicants.
- Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by email when all required processes are complete.
- The selection process and subsequent management of the Awards will be managed by NIHR
- All documents must be submitted in English and PDF format.
- Awards cannot be deferred, without the consent of the NIHR.
- If applicants are successful in being awarded a DSE award while simultaneously being involved in another NIHR research training award competition, they will be asked to decide which funding opportunity they would like to continue with and will be withdrawn from the other.
Guidance on completing the application form
Registering
All fellowship applications must be completed and submitted via the online application system ARAMIS.
Before you can start an application you will be required to register on the system. You will be asked to supply a valid email address and to complete some basic information. Once this has been submitted you will receive an email confirming your registration and a temporary password. You should follow the instructions in the email to log onto the system.
Once signed into the system you will be able to update various details including your CV (in ‘manage my details’) and apply for any open applications. To start an application you will need to go to ‘My Applications’ and select ‘New Application’. You should then select Development and Skills Enhancement Award from the list provided.
After answering all the eligibility questions you will be able to start completing the online form. Please make sure you read all available guidance text including this document as well as any online instructions thoroughly whilst you are completing the form. You can at any stage download a PDF version of the application which can be useful for sharing applications with others.
1. Application Summary Information
Scope of Fellowship Employment Options
- All applications must propose a contracting Organisation that will be the contractor if the award is funded (the Contracting Organisation). The contracting organisation must be capable of fulfilling the role of research sponsor as set out in the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research (.PDF). Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of a research sponsor can be found on the Health Research Authority’s (HRA) website
- Applicants may choose to be employed by the proposed contracting organisation or to be employed by another suitable organisation (as detailed below) for the duration of the award. If the applicant will be employed by an organisation that is not the contracting organisation, the employing organisation must be named as a Partner Organisation in the application and the applicant must ensure they will hold an honorary contract for the duration of the award with the proposed contracting organisation.
- This means, for example, if an applicant is currently working in a clinical/practice setting e.g. NHS Trust, and the proposed contracting organisation is a HEI, then the applicant can choose to continue to be employed by the NHS Trust or move employment to the HEI, however there must be an honorary contract in place for the duration of the award with whichever organisation is not the substantive employer.
A partner organisation also required:
If applicants will be undertaking clinical/ practice time that is funded through the award. If the organisation at which they will be undertaking their clinical/ practice work is not the proposed contracting Organisation then this organisation must be named as the Partner organisation.(Doctoral level applicants only) if the proposed contracting Organisation is not the HEI at which the PhD will be registered . The HEI at which the PhD will be registered must be named as the partner organisation If the PhD will be registered at a different organisation to the proposed contracting organisation.
Suitable contracting and Partner Organisations:
- a recognised HEI based in England
- an NHS body based in England
- an English provider of publicly funded health and/or social care services
- a provider of third sector publicly funded health and/or social care services (for example, a commissioned social enterprise, local authority or hospice)
The decision on where to host a personal award and the subsequent employer for the duration of the award is down to the applicant in discussion with their supervisors, line managers and mentors. The decision should be made based on what is best for the applicant, their career development and the research and training they are proposing to undertake.
Read more guidance and considerations around Host Organisations and employment options.
Contracting Organisation
Please give details of the organisation who will be the contractor if the award is funded.
Please also bear in mind that:
The contractor is expected to respond to annual financial reconciliation exercises, provide the final financial reconciliation statement for the project and to provide ad hoc requests for financial information during the lifetime of the project.
In the same way, the contractor is expected to respond to any queries relating to Intellectual Property, commercialisation and benefit realisation.
If the name of your contracting organisation does not appear in the pre-populated list please email academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.
Partner Organisation (if applicable)
Please give details of the partner organisation who will be supporting this application.
Start Date
Please note the month and year that you would like to start your award. This must be one of the available start dates published in the Applicant Guidance Notes. Please note that awards will start on the first of the month regardless of whether this is a working day or not. Please be realistic about your possible start date taking account of the necessary contracting, and staff recruitment prior to starting your project.
Duration
Please enter the award duration you are requesting. Duration options are available via Annex F: DSE Award Duration Options.
% FTE commitment
Please select the FTE that you would like to take up the award. For available FTE uptake options please refer to Annex F: DSE Award Duration Options.
Percentage of award time undertaking practice/clinical work
It is not possible to request funded practice time through this award. Please select “0.00” in this section.
Has this application been previously submitted to this or any other funding body?
Select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to indicate whether this or a similar application has previously been submitted to this or any other funding body. This must include any previous submissions for an NIHR Career Development award, even if the programme of work has changed.
Please detail:
- the grant reference of any previous submission(s)
- the funding organisation
- the outcome or the date this is due if a decision is pending. If the application was unsuccessful please indicate why and detail how this application differs from previous submission(s) and how any feedback received has been used to inform this application.
Partnership Fellowship
There are no partnership Fellowships available for this Funding opportunity. Please leave this section blank.
2. Lead Applicant
Please note some of the responses to these questions are automatically pulled through from information you have entered in the ’Manage My Details’ page.
The ‘Publication Record’ section of the form is automatically populated from publications added into the “My Research Outputs” page of your ARAMIS account.
ORCiD
The NIHR is an ORCID member and encourages all researchers to obtain this persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You must include an ORCID iD in your application. Without it, your application will not be validated and you will not be able to submit. For more information and to register please see the ORCID website.
Degrees and Professional Qualifications
Please give the full details of any key qualifications completed and, where relevant, the full details of any key qualifications you are currently undertaking.
This information can be edited in the ‘Manage My Details’ page of your ARAMIS account.
Present and previous positions
Please give the full details of any relevant present and previous positions.
This information can be edited in the ‘Manage My Details’ page of your ARAMIS account.
When entering details of your current and previous positions please indicate at what percentage (WTE) in each post you were undertaking research. For example, if you were a Clinical Lecturer and undertook research for 2.5 days a week and clinical work for 2.5 days per week; please enter 50% for that position. If you have worked part time at 60%, and undertook research for half of that time, please enter 30% for that position.
Research grants held
Please give the details of all relevant grants obtained in the last five years, including personal research training awards or fellowships, plus any additional previous grants relevant to this application. Please indicate clearly any co-applicants and provide brief details of the nature and full extent of your involvement (e.g. project design, project management, day to day running, data collection, data analysis, writing papers for publication, etc.).
Please also include in the ‘Role in Research Grant’ box for each entry: registration number and name of registry and the DOI of the main related publication. Where the study is still ongoing or final results have not yet been published, please provide an estimated publication date. This is in line with the NIHR policy on clinical trial registration and disclosure of results.
Please note that your research grant record must be completed within the application form and not via the CV section on ARAMIS.
Publication Record
The publication record is automatically populated from the information added to the “Research Outputs” section of your ARAMIS account. To update, please “save and close” your application, return to the “home” screen and select “Research Outputs” from the left-hand menu.
When publications have been added, the Lead Applicant name can be edited to show in bold within application forms via the “Assign Grant Contacts” option.
To ensure publications display correctly, with all of the required information, applicants are strongly advised to use the “import” function and import their publications from Europe PMC.
Do not include abstracts, conference proceedings or articles in preparation. If relevant, details of these may be included in the ‘Applicant Research Background’ section. Details of articles which are in press and have been accepted as final by the publisher may be included. Depending on professional background and expertise, applicants are not necessarily expected to have an extensive list of publications.
Only publications relevant to your application should be included.
Relevant Prizes, Awards and other Academic Distinctions
Please provide details of any awards or distinctions that are relevant to your application including details of what the award was for. For example, travel bursaries for a conference, presentation prizes etc.
Professional background
Select the one option which best describes your professional group. This will determine the options that appear below for your professional background.
Professional Registration
Please provide details of any current registration you hold with a professional body. This is mandatory if registration is listed in the eligibility criteria for the scheme.
Research Degree Status
Please select from the drop down list the option which best describes the status of your PhD or MD and answer any subsequent questions relating to the status of your PhD or MD.
Contextual Factors
Please use this section to detail any factors that may have impacted the development of your research career or outputs from your research career to date. NIHR requests information on such circumstances so that the Committees may take them into consideration during the assessment of your application. Contextual factors could include:
- Career breaks due to parental leave, or periods of illness.
- Reduced time spent undertaking research activities (including research outputs), due to disability or to caring responsibilities. This may include physical or mental health related impairments or conditions, which have impacted your opportunities to undertake research activities
- Reduced opportunities for career support e.g. mentorship, and limited opportunities to undertake prior research and training.
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your research career
Please also use this section to detail any other factors that may have impacted your research career not listed in the examples provided. The impact on your career to date will be specific to your particular circumstances but could include such impacts as limited opportunities to obtain grant funding, or fewer publications. In general terms, contextual factors should be significant, and relevant.
NIHR acknowledges that you may be reluctant, or uncomfortable disclosing relevant information that is sensitive. However, you should bear in mind that we are unable to take into account factors that you do not disclose. Please be assured that information provided by you is sensitive and will be treated confidentially and in line with General Data and Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Completion of the contextual factors section of the application form does not automatically comprise a request for reasonable adjustments, and if adjustments are required we recommend that applicants reach out to the relevant programme team directly.
3. Support and Mentorship
Please detail the proposed mentorship for the award.
The individuals you list here must also be added as participants in the ‘Participants and Signatories’ section of the application form.
The mentor will provide the applicant with support throughout their award both in their research endeavours and their overall career development. It is a two-way process that may be challenging for both parties. For this reason, choosing who will provide mentorship will require a great deal of thought.
The individuals identified for mentorship should have a clear understanding of the research process, and the demands that the chosen area of training and development are likely to place on the applicant and their particular strengths and weaknesses.
Applicants are advised to consider expanding mentorship beyond current supervisory teams and to consider expertise in the field/area their career is developing into. Proposed mentors may or may not be based at the contracting organisation.
Applicants who are developing a practitioner academic career can include details of an individual(s) who will provide professional practice mentorship.
Please provide details of the support that the supervisor or mentor will provide.
This should include:
- The expertise the individual will provide and why it is required for this award
- The individual’s experience of providing research mentorship
- An initial assessment of the time that will be allocated to the mentorship process.
Careful thought should also be given to:
- maintaining contact,
- the potential for difficulties of communication and conflicting opinions and advice when there are more than two mentors or supervisors.
4. Budget Summary
You are requested to provide a summary of the costs requested to undertake the award. If the application is successful, you will be requested to complete the “Detailed Budget” section of the application form.
Please note that, if successful, the total value of funding requested at the application stage cannot be increased when submitting the subsequent detailed budget. You must ensure that you have worked with your finance teams to determine the costs of the proposed award accurately. Even though a detailed budget is not required at the application stage. Increases in budget if awarded will not be supported other than in highly exceptional circumstances.
Lead applicant – salary costs for the lead applicant.
Training and Development – should include costs for training and development and mentorship.
Travel and Subsistence and conference fees – should include any travel and subsistence costs associated with the training and development and costs for conference fees.
This award provides:
- Salary costs for the applicant for up to 2 years
Use current rates of pay and build in any known annual increments (again at current rates).
The DSE does not fund clinical time.
- Up to £5,000 towards training per year
- Up to £1,000 towards conference/meeting related travel expenses per year
Applicants will be able to choose a 12,18- or 24-month DSE option. Regardless of extensions in duration due to a lower WTE%, the below limits apply.
12 Month - £5k training costs and £1,000 conference/meeting.
18 Month - £7.5k training costs and £1,500 conference/meeting.
24 Month - £10k training costs and £2,000 conference/meeting.
- Up to £3,000 towards the costs of mentorship
This funding can be used freely to facilitate the time spent with mentors or supervisors. It may cover various expenses related to mentorship such as travel expenses, meeting costs, mentor fees, professional development events.
Please refer to “Finance Guidance” below for further information to support accurate costing of the award.
Justification of summary budget
Please describe the type of costs you are requesting and why. Give as much detail as possible about how you have arrived at particular category costs.
NIHR Fellowships are not project or programme grants; therefore, extensions to the duration of awards to allow for completion of training and development are not permitted. This doesn't affect suspensions of awards to allow for periods of maternity, paternity, adoption or sickness leave.
5. Detailed Budget
You will not be able to edit this section of the form. If your application is successful, the form will be returned to you to complete this section at this stage.
6. Uploads
The following sections of your application should be submitted via uploads. This enables applicants to work on sections of the application offline and upload once the content is finalised.
Templates are provided as Word but must be converted to PDF files before uploading into the application form.
Please ensure you have not exceeded the page limit for each upload. Any additional pages will be removed from your application and not shared with the Committee that review the application.
All uploaded documents must be written in Arial and use Font size 11.
Research plan
Although this award does not fund a research project, the reviewers of your application will need to understand the area of research or the discipline in which you wish to develop your research career. This will support them to assess the suitability of your career development programme and the proposed support/ mentorship.
Please use this section to detail the area of research in which you will develop your research career.
Page limit: 2 pages (500 words)
Career Development Programme
Please use this section to detail the training and development you will undertake as part of the award.
It is important that the training and development programme is tailored to your specific needs and overall career goals.
We understand that there may be additional support required to undertake a programme of career development activities. This could include support towards additional care costs (for you or any direct dependents) or additional support required to remove barriers you would otherwise face as the result of a disability or health condition. Additional costs can be requested to support such additional support requirements. Please see the Detailed Budget section of the guidance notes for further information.
Page limit: 4 pages (1,600 words)
Gannt Chart or Project Plan Document
Please include a Gantt chart of your planned award to aid the selection committee members in understanding the timeline of your training and development programme.
References
Not required for this award. Please do not upload anything into this section.
Letters of support
Please upload a letter of support from the contracting organisation and a separate letter from the partner organisation (if there is one).
The letter should detail how the organisation will support the applicant to successfully complete their award. This letter must be tailored specifically to the applicant, their research and training needs, and include how the organisation intends to support the applicant to develop their research career in the long-term.
NIHR sees the responsibility for training the next generation of research leaders as a joint enterprise with contracting organisations. Therefore information should also be provided on the organisation’s track record of supporting early career researchers, such as evidence of bridging or other support provided to fellows upon completion of an award.
The letter must also describe the contracting organisation’s approach to creating and maintaining an inclusive and supportive research culture for all. The letter should provide evidence of how the organisation values and supports equality, diversity and inclusion as well as acknowledging the organisation’s responsibilities with respect to research integrity.
Statements may wish to refer to the principles and best practice outlined within relevant Charters and Concordats in these areas, such as the Researcher Development Concordat and Advance HE’s Equality Charters. It should be noted that being a signatory to Concordats or holding bronze/silver status from the Equality Charters isn’t a requirement of funding and evidence can be provided through other means.
Host Organisations are expected to comply with the relevant Principles and Obligations for clinical academic training and it is recommended that both contracting and partner Organisations read these documents, where relevant, before completing the statement of support. Please read the documents for medics and dentists and for all other professions.
NIHR expects that all commitments made to the applicant within this statement will be honoured for the lifetime of the award.
Narrative CV
All applicants must upload a narrative CV as part of their application. The narrative CV should provide a written description of your contributions and achievements, providing more context than can be conveyed through a traditional CV.
The narrative CV must be completed using the template provided within ARAMIS. The template provides a flexible framework that allows you to showcase relevant skills and experience to support your application and demonstrate your ability to successfully deliver the proposed work. The template contains five modules.
- Contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge.
- Contributions to the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships.
- Contributions to the wider research and innovation community.
- Contributions to broader society.
- Additions: Your suitability for the award
Relevant skills and experience will differ depending on the opportunity to which you are applying. You should describe a selection of past contributions that best evidence your ability to carry out the proposed work. Please refer to the guidance for each module to inform the content of your narrative CV. Please highlight any previous experience or contributions related to inclusion across the 5 modules.
The page limit for your narrative CV is 4 pages with a word limit of 1,500 words. Within this word count, you can include as much information as you like within each module.
Module 1 – Contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies or knowledge
Please describe how you have contributed to the generation of new ideas and hypotheses. Which key skills did you use? How did you communicate your ideas to develop ideas and test these hypotheses?
Please highlight:
- Contributions made and skills acquired from previous roles and research projects. For early career researchers, this may include prior experience of audit, evaluation or quality improvement programmes.
- funding you have won
- awards received
- a small selection of key outputs explaining why they are of particular relevance. Where outputs have a DOI please only include this.
Module 2 – Contributions to the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
You may wish to include experiences from:
- Project management
- supervision
- mentoring
- line management
You may also wish to include:
- contributions to the success of a team or team members
- establishment of collaborations
- examples of exerting strategic leadership in shaping the direction of a team, organisation, company or institution.
- expertise you provided which was critical to the success of a team or team members
Module 3 – Contributions to the wider research community
Please highlight activities that you have engaged in to support the wider research community e.g.
- Committee memberships
- Editing and reviewing
- Contributions to the evaluation of researchers and research projects.
You could also highlight contributions to increasing research integrity and improving research culture (inclusion,gender equality, diversity, mobility of researchers, reward, and recognition of researchers)
Module 4 – Contributions to broader society
Please provide examples of your societal engagement and knowledge exchange e.g engagement with:
- with patients and the public and service users
- With industry/ across private sectors
- across public sectors
Please describe how you have ensured that research reaches and influences relevant audiences e.g. contribution to policy development or public understanding, and other impacts across policy, practice and business.
Module 5 - Your suitability for the award
Please use this section to detail the research career that you would like to develop or that you are developing, and how the experience described above has supported this career aspiration.
A personal career development award should provide you with a step change in your career trajectory. Please describe the potential impact of this award on your career and how it will support your stated aspirations.
Page limit: 4 pages (1,500 words)
Flexible Upload
Where you are working with a CTU or industry please include a supporting letter here.
7. Participants and Signatories
A number of participants and a signatory are required to be added to your application and, where applicable, to complete sections of it. Details of the required individuals are provided on the online application form along with details of how they should be added.
8. Acknowledgement, Review and Submit
Conflict checks
Please declare any conflicts or potential conflicts of interest that you may have in undertaking this award, including any relevant, non-personal and commercial interest that could be perceived as a conflict of interest. Please check with your supervisor if unsure.
Agreement to terms and conditions
Please click the check box to confirm you agree to the Terms and Conditions of submission as detailed on the application form.
Finance Guidance
A detailed budget is not required at the application stage however please use the guidance below to ensure the costs provided in the budget summary are accurate.
General Information
The information entered in this section should provide the total funds requested to undertake the award proposed.. These costs will be used to assess value for money.
It is in the best interest to undertake a thorough, realistic and accurate costing. You must provide a clear and full justification for all costs.
Costs must be provided at current prices. An adjustment for inflation will be made annually thereafter at rates set by DHSC. Whilst allowances for incremental increases should be included on the form, nationally or locally agreed pay increases should be excluded.
Years should be calculated starting from the anticipated start date of the proposed award. For example, if your award is expected to start on 01 April 2024 then its second year starts 01 April 2025.
Further itemisation of costs and methods of calculation may be requested to support the application at a later date.
Payments will be made to the contracted organisation only and the contracted organisation will be responsible for passing on any money due to their partner organisation(s).
Appropriate sub-contracts must be put in place for any element of the award which is to be paid to another organisation.
All applications are expected to have appropriate NHS, HEI, commercial and other partner organisation input into the finance section of the application form.
This award does not cover Full Economics Costs therefore all prices should be entered at, and will be paid at, 100% regardless of the type of organisation (NHS, HEI or Other).
If the Employing host organisation is a Higher Education Institution, please select the “other” option when entering the “Type of Cost” to prevent costs being submitted at 80%.
Immediate promotion to a higher grade as a result of securing a fellowship will not be funded.
The Apprenticeship Levy can be included in the salary costs from 1st April 2017 where relevant.
1) Salary costs
Use current rates of pay, and build in any known annual increments (again at current rates). You will not be able to claim for pay awards retrospectively, once your award is underway.
Please note the salary figures need to be calculated using the current annual costs, %WTE and number of months.
2) Conference fees
There is a £1,000 per WTE year limit on the amount that can be spent on conference related costs (including all related travel and subsistence as well as conference fees).
3) Training and Development.
Any travel and subsistence associated with training and development should not be included here and should be included in the travel section of the form.
Details of mentorship/supervision costs up to £3,000 should be included here under ‘other’. This can include clinical/ practice mentorship for applicants developing a Practitioner or clinical academic career
Completing and submitting the form
Please see Annex A for flow diagrams of the application submission process.
Applicant:
You will need to complete all of the mandatory sections of the form and enter under the ‘Participants and Signatories’ section the names and contact details of participants and a signatory (see below). Once all other parties have made their contribution, you will be required to ‘Submit’ the application to the signatory for final sign off before the closing date. Please note that you will need to read and be aware of the roles of participants and signatory as described in these guidance notes.
You will only be able to press the ‘Submit’ button, which will send the application for final sign off by the signatory when:
- all mandatory sections of the application form are complete;
- all participants have agreed to be part of your application;
- the signatory has agreed to their role;
Please note; when completing the application form, you are advised to validate your application as you go. You will find a Validation Summary button in the left hand menu. This section will detail any points within your application that are either incomplete or incorrect. Failing to validate your answers may result in you being unable to submit your application by the required deadline.
Participants:
You are required to supply the names and email addresses (if not already registered on the ARAMIS application system) of the individuals who will be undertaking ‘participant’ roles as part of your application. Everyone named in this section will be acting as a ‘participant’ to your application and will need to agree to be part of this application. Participants are required to review the declaration for the role before confirming participation as part of the one-click ‘confirm’ process.
By confirming participation, participants are acknowledging their involvement and input into this application and agree to be involved in it before it is submitted. You must ensure all participants are happy for your application to be submitted before submitting it on the online system.
Required Participants (if applicable):
- Mentor (maximum 4): The individual(s) providing mentorship must confirm that they have read the application and the guidance notes and are willing to act as your mentor for career development and agree to abide by the conditions under which an award may be granted.
- Practice Support: Applicants who are developing a practitioner academic career can include details of an individual who will provide professional practice Support/ Mentorship during the award.
- A maximum of four mentors/research participants can be added to the application in ARAMIS. If you are working with more than four, please provide a statement of support in the uploads section to clarify this.
- Administrative Authority or Finance Officer: The Administrative Authority or Finance Officer for the contracting organisation must confirm that they will ensure the accuracy of the financial details of the application and that the contracting organisation is prepared to host and administer the award, at the stated costs, if made.
- Partner Organisation Representative: The representative of the Partner Organisation must confirm that they support this application.
Participants must confirm their participation in your application before you will be able to press the submit button. They will have no further action to take in the submission process. It is recommended that you contact your participants as early as possible to ensure they understand any action they must take before you can submit the application.
Signatory:
You are required to supply the names and email address (if not already registered on the ARAMIS application system) of the individual who will be ‘signing off’ your application. Once their contact details have been entered, the signatory will be invited to log into the system and confirm their participation. Details of what is required and expected of the role can be found below.
The signatory will be required to agree to the role being asked of them in the application before the application is submitted by the applicant, and then approve the final version of the application after it has been submitted via the online system.
The Signatory must approve the application after the applicant has selected the SUBMIT option but BEFORE the application submission deadline.
Please see the 'Application Submission Process Flow Diagram’ (Annex B) for further information. The final signatory approval will result in the application being fully submitted to the NIHR. All parties (applicant, participants and signatory) will be notified of this via an automated system generated email.
NIHR will not accept any applications unless fully approved by your signatory prior to the 1pm deadline, no exceptions will be made.
Required Signatory:
- Head of Department or Senior Manager: You will be required to include the Head of Department from your contracting organisation. The Head of Department from the contracting organisation (in which this award will be based) must confirm that they support this application and that, if funded, the research and training will be supported and administered in the named organisation and that the applicant for whom they are responsible will undertake this work.
Once the application is ready (see list of required steps under the ‘applicant’ heading above), you will be able to ‘Submit’ the application for final sign off by the signatory. At this point, the signatory will be prompted to log back into the system and approve the finalised application. The application will not be submitted to the NIHR for consideration until the required signatory has approved the final version. When the Head of Department or Senior Manager presses the approve button, the application will be submitted to NIHR.
Please note that all the steps described here need to take place before the deadline of 1:00 pm on the final day of the submission window, no exceptions will be made.
Should you require assistance in completing the online form, please contact the NIHR Academy at 0113 532 8410 or by emailing academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.
Additional Supporting Information
Plagiarism in NIHR funding applications
NIHR expects all content within applications for funding to be original material of the applicant's own work, with the exception of sections that other participants are required to complete. Whilst we anticipate and expect that applicants will get help and advice from various sources when putting together an application, including on occasion input from those previously awarded funding, care must be taken to ensure this does not lead to plagiarism of either published work or other previous applications. If an allegation of plagiarism is raised against an application this will be investigated in accordance with the NIHR Academy’s policy on plagiarism, a copy of which is available on request from academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.
NIHR Privacy Policy
Our purpose for collecting information is to communicate with you about your application and have the necessary information to evaluate you for a fellowship. The data we collect here is collected in the public interest. Information provided here may be subject to Freedom of Information requests.
The NIHR Academy is part of the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The contracting agent for the NIHR Academy is the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust (LTHT). The DHSC is the Data Controller and LTHT is the Data Processor under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) EC 2016/679. DHSC NIHR respects the privacy of individuals who share their data and processes it in a manner that meets the requirements of GDPR. The DHSC Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at data_protection@dhsc.gov.uk)
The NIHR privacy policy includes further information including ways we may use your data, our contact details and details on your individual rights regarding how your data is used. Your data may be shared across the NIHR, including with other coordinating centres, to allow the application to be managed and for statistical analysis, and with external grant reviewers as part of the process for managing the allocation of a grant. Information collected from you will not be shared outside the EEA without your consent.
This notice is under constant review and will be updated and / or revised based on that review as appropriate.
Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information
NIHR is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in research and asks applicants to provide Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information (age, sex, ethnicity and race, and disability). By answering these Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information questions, you will help us to better understand the different groups of people that we fund and their experiences of being funded – particularly the groups protected by UK equality legislation. Although it is mandatory to answer these questions, it is possible to select “prefer not to say” as a response. However, the more information you provide, the more effective our monitoring will be. This information will not be used to make decisions about funding.
NIHR Carbon Reduction Guidelines
Researchers applying for NIHR funding are asked to consider the carbon footprint of their research and take steps to reduce carbon emissions where appropriate. Advice on how to do this can be obtained from the NIHR Carbon Reduction Guidelines.
Transparency Agenda
In line with the government’s transparency agenda, any contract resulting from this tender may be published in its entirety to the general public. See further information on the transparency agenda.
Ethics / Regulatory Approvals
Guidance on the application process for ethical and other approvals can be found on the HRA website. Please note that if your study is led from England and involves the NHS in England you should apply for HRA approval.
If you are using patient information from an existing database, you should check whether the patients have given their consent for their data to be included in that database for research purposes, or if not whether the database is exempt under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006. Where exemptions are not already in place, approval to use confidential patient information without consent must be requested from the HRA who make decisions with advice from the Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG).
NOTE: NIHR is interested in taking advantage of the growing utility of routine data (such as HES, GP records etc.), and would like investigators, where appropriate, to ask study participants to consent to long term follow up (e.g. beyond the outcomes to be collected in the funded trial) using routinely collected data, and appropriate linkage to allow this data to be best used.
Contractual Arrangements
Financial support under an NIHR Fellowship is subject to a contract between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the contracting organisation.
Once funding for a Fellowship has been discussed and agreed, NIHR will confirm the financial arrangements with the contracting organisation. NIHR will provide the host organisation with a contract setting out the details of these arrangements.
The contracting organisation will be expected to issue the individual with an employment contract commensurate with their experience and seniority.
Government procurement transparency regulations require publication of details of all contracts made with the DHSC on their Website. Confidential information including research proposals (Plain English Summaries will be published), detailed finance information, bank details, and departmental staff names (other than the award holder’s name) will be removed from the published versions.
Freedom of Information Act
The NIHR Academy manages the NIHR Fellowship Programme on behalf of the DHSC. As such the findings of researchers funded by the programme are incorporated in to the Department of Health and Social Care Freedom of Information Publication Scheme.
Equal Opportunities and Diversity
NIHR is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in research and asks applicants to provide Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information (age, sex, ethnicity and race, and disability). By answering these Equality and Diversity Monitoring Information questions, you will help us to better understand the different groups of people that apply to us for funding and their experiences of the funding process – particularly the groups protected by UK equality legislation. Although it is mandatory to answer these questions, it is possible to select “prefer not to say” as a response. However, the more information you provide, the more effective our monitoring will be. This information will not be used to make decisions about funding.
Guidance and Advice
Please read these Guidance Notes carefully. If you require any further information, advice or guidance please contact the Personal Awards team by calling 0113 532 8410 or email academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk
Annex A: Submission Flow Diagram
Image description: Outlined are the steps for submitting an application. The applicant starts the application and adds participant and signatory details. The participants and signatories can then log in and confirm their participation and signatories can complete the sections of the form as directed. The applicant can continue entering data and completes all relevant sections of the form (step 3). The applicant then presses the ‘Submit’ button. Once the applicant submits, signatories will receive automated emails to approve the application. However, automated ‘out of office’ replies to these emails will not be relayed to the applicant. Once all signatories have approved the application, it is automatically submitted to NIHR for consideration. Rejection of the application by any individual at this stage will return the application to step 3.
Strategic Themes
Annex B: Health Care Professionals
Practitioner Academics
The term “Practitioner Academic” is used in these Applicant Guidance Notes and in the application form to encompass both those developing a clinical academic career and those eligible individuals developing a career combining research and other practice or policy roles.
The Development and Skills Enhancement Award (DSE) can be used to support the academic or practitioner academic careers of Health and Care professionals (HCPs).
Support for HCPs pursuing research or practitioner academic careers can include:
- Aspiring researchers who have been engaged in roles related to research delivery or capacity development and seek to advance their own research or practitioner academic careers.
- Individuals in the process of developing clinical academic or practitioner academic careers.
- Professionals who have transitioned from clinical practice to academia and aspire to cultivate a practitioner academic role
In their applications, all candidates are required to outline the specific skills or training experiences they require to enhance their competitiveness in future funding applications. Additionally, applicants have the flexibility to propose a part-time DSE to continue their research delivery, capacity development, or clinical academic responsibilities while participating in the training program.
While the DSE does not fund practice time, applicants are encouraged to suggest training and development activities that will facilitate the growth of their practitioner academic careers. This may include opportunities like shadowing clinical academic and clinical leadership staff in NHS settings to gain insights into effectively managing a combined clinical and academic role.
Competitive practitioner academic applicants will have collaborated closely with their host organisations to establish support for their clinical academic role development during and after the DSE. The Host Organisation Statement of Support should articulate the host's commitment to the applicant's clinical academic career post-award, including a well-defined job plan that integrates both clinical and academic components.
Annex C: Health Data Science
This award can be used to support post doctoral researchers who wish to develop their skills in data science as applied in clinical, biomedical or population health settings. Health Data Science (HDS) is a recently established inter-disciplinary field whose importance to all aspects of health research will continue to grow. The three pillars of HDS are: statistics; computation; domain knowledge. The first two of these are underpinning methodologies, the third is context-specific, ranging from molecular to whole-population studies. It is rare to find this combination of expertise in a single individual. Hence, HDS is best approached as a team science endeavour in which each member of the team is an expert in one of the three pillars but conversant in all three. NIHR Academy is interested in applications from individuals from all types of professional and research background who are seeking to develop skills in HDS.
Below is a list of key skills that are relevant to HDS. The list is broader than could be covered in any single award. Applicants should propose a training programme that balances breadth and depth in a way that reflects their current skill-set and their future career development goals. The double listing of machine learning is deliberate. A key characteristic of data science is that many of its methodological underpinnings bridge the traditionally separate disciplines of statistics and computer science.
Statistics
- Study design principles: formulating the research question, validity, efficiency, controlling for extraneous variation
- Choosing a study design: observational, interventional or randomised trial
- Probability: quantifying uncertainty in data, and in conclusions drawn from data
- Inference: turning data into evidence - testing, estimation or prediction?
- Critical appraisal of research evidence
Machine learning
Computing
- Data collection, processing and management
- Programming
- Machine learning
- Reproducibility of data-driven research
- User-interfaces
Domain knowledge
- Biology
- Epidemiology
- Public health
- Health services
Generic
- Multidisciplinary team science: leadership, networking, collaboration
- Communication: within and beyond the research team
- Governance, including regulatory requirements and research ethics
- Patient and public involvement
Annex D: Clinical Trials
This award can be used to support post doctoral researchers with an interest in, and/or experience of, working with clinical trials who would benefit from further training within the setting of a CTU. The award should expose the applicant to all aspects/stages of trials and should not limit individuals to one study. A list of potential UKCRC registered CTUs is available, which you could collaborate with.
NIHR does not dictate what the training within an award should be or how it is delivered as it should be bespoke to an individual’s needs and requirements. However it is very important that the trainee experiences all elements of clinical trials from idea to dissemination. It is particularly important for example to ensure training in patient and public involvement and health economics (where needed) is included early in the lifecycle of a training award to ensure these elements can be utilised right from the inception of the study.
Below is a list of key skills that applicants should consider when putting together an application focussed around clinical trials. The list is intended to cover all aspects of clinical trials that future health research leaders competent in clinical trials should be knowledgeable in and it may not be necessary for a training award to encompass all these elements depending on the skills and experience the applicant already has.
- Evidence based medicine and critical appraisal of clinical trials
- Systematic reviews
- Basic statistics for clinical trials including power calculations
- Clinical trial design and protocol design
- Complex interventions and intervention development
- Randomisation
- Blinding
- Governance including; GCP, regulatory requirements, ethics.
- Recruitment
- Data collection, processing and management
- Data analysis
- Trial reporting, dissemination and impact
- Patient and public involvement
- Outcome measurement
- Health economics
- Priority setting and question development
- How to reduce bias and research wastage
- Funding for pilot and feasibility work
- Multidisciplinary working encompassing leadership, networking, and collaborating
- Ideas generation
In order to experience all the elements of a clinical trial as described above it may also be beneficial to gain exposure to the following:
- Trial development groups
- Trial management groups
- Data monitoring and ethics committees
- Trial steering groups
- Dissemination meetings
For more details see our Clinical Trials Guide.
Annex E: Entrepreneurship and Working with Industry
This award can be used to support post doctoral researchers with an interest in, and/or experience of entrepreneurship and working in industry. NIHR does not dictate what the training should be or how it is delivered as it should be bespoke to an individual’s needs and requirements. However it is important that the awardee experiences enough aspects of entrepreneurship and working in industry which would allow them to work successfully in this area in the future. Some of these core elements should involve:
- People and Leadership- HR framework, policies, goals, team dynamics, role of the board and business pitch.
- Clinical Need- health economics, patient benefit, product definition and competitive advantage.
- Market analysis and strategy-market structure, routes to market, quantifying patient benefits, commercial potential and value proposition.
- IP/Route to market- IP strategy and overview, protection, contracts, product roadmap, technical risks, project plan and product adoption.
- Manufacturing- Scalability of process, process development, project plan and contracts and licences.
- Regulatory- Compliance framework, milestones and approvals, risk assessment and management, pre-clinical development and clinical development
- Funding and Finance- Finance basics, financial models, valuation, sources of funds, funding strategy and elevator pitch.
- Business plans- Purpose, content and presentation.
It is expected that applicants who are using the DSE to gain skills in entrepreneurship and working in industry will collaborate with an SME or an industrial partner. Below is a list of organisations who could facilitate finding an appropriate business to collaborate with, if you would like specific contact information please get in touch with the NIHR Academy.
- Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) - Represent innovative research based biopharmaceutical companies, large, medium and small, leading an exciting new era of bioscience in the UK.
- Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI)- is the UK's leading industry association for health technology (HealthTech). ABHI supports the HealthTech community to save and enhance lives.
- The British In Vitro Diagnostic Association (BIVDA) - is the national industry association for the manufacturers and distributors of in vitro diagnostic products in the UK.
- NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI) - NOCRI is a unique resource for the global life sciences industry - improving the quality, efficiency and success of translational research.
- NIHR Medtech and In vitro diagnostics Co-operatives (MICs)- build expertise and capacity in the NHS to develop new medical technologies and provide evidence on commercially-supplied in vitro diagnostic tests.
- Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN)- Innovate UK’s network partner and also provides innovation networking for other funders in line with its mission to drive UK growth
- Academic Health Science Network (AHSN)- As the only bodies that connect NHS and academic organisations, local authorities, the third sector and industry, we are catalysts that create the right conditions to facilitate change across whole health and social care economies, with a clear focus on improving outcomes for patients.
NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme
Alongside placements with industry partners it is possible to take advantage of already established training programmes, such as the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme. The programme is the biggest entrepreneurial workforce development programme of its kind. Open to both clinical and non-clinical NHS staff, the programme aims to provide the commercial skills, knowledge and experience needed to successfully develop and spread innovative solutions to the challenges facing the NHS. The curriculum covers all aspects of setting up and running a small business, including attracting investors, applying for funding, and ensuring appropriate corporate governance. A dedicated programme in how to build a start-up – and how to operate in this highly-charged environment – is delivered as a series of educational events attended by industry mentors. The programme aims to allow entrepreneurs to pursue their innovation without having to leave the health service, providing a wider benefit to economic growth through inward investment in the health, social care and life science sectors. As such, the programme currently offers mentoring, networking, bespoke commercial education, customer matching, resources and development tools to over 500 individuals including Doctors, Dentists, Healthcare Scientists, Nurses and Midwives, Allied Health Professionals and Pharmacists. More information can be found on the NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur Programme webpage.
Annex F: DSE Award Duration Options
Below are the available durations available for the DSE Award.
12 months DSE award duration
| % FTE | Duration in Months |
|---|---|
| 100 | 12 |
| 90 | 13 |
| 80 | 15 |
| 70 | 17 |
| 60 | 20 |
| 50 | 24 |
18 months DSE award duration
| % FTE | Duration in Months |
|---|---|
| 100 | 18 |
| 90 | 20 |
| 80 | 23 |
| 70 | 26 |
| 60 | 30 |
| 50 | 36 |
24 months DSE award duration
| % FTE | Duration in Months |
|---|---|
| 100 | 24 |
| 90 | 26 |
| 80 | 30 |
| 70 | 34 |
| 60 | 40 |
| 50 | 48 |