Incubators to support research careers

The NIHR Incubators address areas where there is a need to build research capacity on a national level. NIHR provides some funding to enable key stakeholders to identify the barriers that exist and to suggest and implement, where possible, solutions to building research capacity in a sustainable and meaningful way.

This initiative aims to encourage early career interest in target disciplines to build identifiable communities through networking and provision of bespoke training and development support. Incubators are virtual, managed across multiple sites and organised by discipline. They provide targeted high level career development support, led by experts in the field and supported by the NIHR. Incubators are bespoke to meet the needs of each area and are developing at different paces.

Current NIHR Incubators

• Applied Health and Care Research Methodology Incubator, led by Professor Dawn Teare
• Clinical Education Incubator, led by Professor Gillian Vance, Professor Janice Ellis and Dr Bryan Burford
• Community Rehabilitation Incubator, led by Professor Lindsay Bearne
• Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiographers Incubator, led by Professor Helen McNair
• Emergency Care Incubator, led by Dr Edward Carlton and Professor Heather Jarman
• Mental Health Social Care Incubator, led by Professor Catherine Robinson and Dr Michael Clark
• Paediatric Critical Care Incubator, led by Dr Padmanabhan Ramnarayan
• Pharmacy Professionals Incubator, led by Professor Debi Battacharya
• Race Equity and Diversity in Careers Incubator, led by Professor Yemisi Takwoingi and Professor Mahendra Patel
• AI & Digital Healthcare Incubator, led by Professor Alastair Denniston and Dr Xiao Liu

Further information about current NIHR Incubators is coming soon. For more information,  please email icbs@nihr.ac.uk.

NIHR also supported incubators in the previous round:

• Social Care Incubator
• Public Health Incubator
• Nursing and Midwifery Incubator
• Incubator for Mental Health Research
• Advanced Surgical Technology Incubator

The NIHR also piloted a regional approach called the Wessex REACH Initiative. REACH was created to facilitate the development of the future generation of health and care-related researchers across a range of disciplines and specialties in the Wessex region.

Further Information

If you wish to receive more information about incubators, please contact icbs@nihr.ac.uk.