NIHR internships in the South West Peninsula for health and care professionals

Apply for a funded research internship
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Internship opportunities designed to serve one of four career-development related themes will be available to start in September 2025:
  • Stepping into research (12-month duration)
  • Growing into research (6- or 12-month duration)
  • Delivery leadership in research (12-month duration)
  • Practitioner-academic leadership in research (12-month duration)
Each cohort is anticipated to commence in September annually but with flexibility of absolute uptake time for individuals where necessary. Each cohort will offer internships to 23 applicants through a competitive application round.
Successful interns will each receive £10,000 to support engagement and training activities and salary backfill.
Internship applications rounds will take place annually in advance of each September intake.

Internship outcomes
This programme aims to serve those with research-related career aspirations across the full range of options, i.e., from a desire to increase research awareness within clinical practice up to and including providing individuals with a strong foundation on which to build research related careers.
In line with NIHR programme aims, we will provide post-registration, pre-doctoral, tailored learning and development to the full range of eligible health and care professions (excluding doctors and dentists).
The programme provides ringfenced time to undertake one of the four advertised internship themes. Each internship provides training, support and opportunities to practically engage in research. This could be at any stage of the research lifespan: engagement, design and planning, implementation and analysis.
At the end of the internship, you should have developed knowledge and skills and developed a desire to engage in future research opportunities.

How the internship could benefit your career
Research should be 'everybody's business' in health and care sectors and, as such, this should directly benefit your career. Depending on the theme of research adopted, you will become aware of future career opportunities relative to research and even get the chance to explore these options within the scope of the award. You may even undertake short courses that are credentialled or credit-bearing with higher education institutions.
There is not an expectation to move your career into a research role or apply personally for research funding at the end of the award but we hope the experience will inspire you to think about integrating research into your career in some shape or form.

Your time commitment to the internship
As an internship awardee, you will be expected to work to protect your ringfenced time to get the most out of the funded opportunity. This will broadly equate to one day per week for the duration of the award.

Application criteria
Applicants must be professionally registered with a United Kingdom regulator and working in the South West Peninsula for an institution that offers health or care that is free at the point of access to service users to be eligible for this award.
Doctors and dentists cannot be funded by this scheme, as they have other opportunities available for research development (such as the NIHR Clinical Academic Training programmes). If you are not yet working for a service provider (but are entering a profession in the next year) or are at a very early career stage, you may instead wish to consider applying for the NIHR INSIGHT South West Peninsula opportunity.
During your internship, you may have to organise backfill of personal responsibilities, such as caring for a loved one, or new travel arrangements to a location other than your workplace. The costing of the award can accommodate these additional costs, and applications from people who require access funds are welcomed.
Finally, when thinking about this opportunity, think about what it would mean for you – there is no person 'type' that would or would not 'fit' this opportunity. We welcome applications from underserved communities, including people from professions associated with low research outputs to date, people from minority ethnicities or international backgrounds, people with carer responsibilities and people with disabilities.

Benefits of the internship to your employer
Your employer needs to satisfy immediate and longer term business needs while remaining mindful of the benefits that research-aware and -active employees bring to service.
Research-aware employees strive to use the best available evidence to optimise service user care and workplace conditions. Better care leads to better working lives and the whole system reaps the rewards of this investment.
Those active in research transcend these benefits by enabling research to take place in and around the workplace. Their efforts push the boundaries of health and care, enabling effective innovation, evidence-driven policy and system changes, and inspiring others to pursue change for good. Once rigorously trained in research delivery or leadership, staff can attract funding into services from external sources, potentially paying dividends from the initial investment in the longer term.
Collaborative partnerships between employers and networks between organisations are welcomed within internship applications.

How to prepare for your application
Early conversations with your line manager are essential to ensuring positive outcomes from your application. Equally it is helpful to know what information your manager will need to know to best inform these conversations.
Our advice for your next steps is to find out who your local research champion or advocate is. Before you apply or organise a meeting with your line manager, you may wish to explore ideas with an impartial person. If you are not sure who your research champion is, you could consider contacting a South West Clinical Schools representative, a research active academic or a Community for Allied Health Professions Research (CAHPR) research champion. Alternatively, you could contact a member of the NIHR Internships South West Peninsula team at plh-tr.nihrinternshipswp@nhs.net.
 
Apply for an internship

Submit your application or express your interest as an applicant or employer.
Contact the NIHR Internships support team at plh-tr.nihrinternshipswp@nhs.net if you have any questions about your application.
We are committed to providing a positive and inclusive research culture within health and care services through this initiative. We welcome any feedback or suggestions you might have: send us your feedback.
This initiative strives to better serve those who have been underserved to date, facilitating more individuals from ethnically diverse communities, professions and parts of the health and care sector that have been underserved to be part of this internship programme.
To make an application or join a mailing list to find out more about this opportunity, as an employer or as a potential applicant, please complete the application form.
 
 
 
 

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