Grants
Doctoral Clinical Fellowships
Grant amount:
Doctoral Clinical Fellowships – up to £400,000
Grant deadline:
15 October 2026
Our Doctoral Clinical Fellowships provide funding for clinicians with limited research experience and who do not hold a PhD. The aim of this award is to help clinicians study towards a higher research degree (typically a PhD but can be other independent research plans) to provide them with the research track record, experience, and skills necessary to compete for advanced Fellowships, either through Alzheimer’s Research UK or elsewhere.
Deadlines
Applications open
July 2026
Deadline
15 October 2026
Funding outcome
Spring 2027
Overview
Applicants should:
- Be registered healthcare professionals, including but not limited to neurologists, old age psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses and allied health professionals.
- Demonstrate an upward trajectory, with some evidence of outputs from previous research project(s), such as publications and/or conference presentations.
- Be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in pursuing a career in dementia research and show enthusiasm for developing a “toolbox” of skills that will serve as a strong basis for future independent research activity.
Detailed skills and training you will be expected to demonstrate are described in our Early Career Researcher Framework.
We welcome applications from individuals who have taken a break from research and wish to return.
These awards will support basic through to translational and clinical research projects that align with the Alzheimer’s Research UK strategy, focusing on treatment, diagnosis and prevention of dementia. At this time, we are particularly interested in applications proposing to involve interventional clinical trials and samples. We welcome applications from those wishing to gain experience within a clinical trial alongside research as part of a Fellowship. Applicants with queries concerning their eligibility or project suitability for this grant call are encouraged to contact the Alzheimer's Research UK Clinical Research Team at research@alzheimersresearchuk.org.
Grant Amount: Awards cover the applicant's salary (at Speciality Registrar level or equivalent university scales) along with justified research, training and development costs, travel and subsistence to support conference and meeting attendance, and patient and public involvement. Justified Clinical Practice time may be requested by applicants (up to 0.2 FTE for Doctoral Clinical Fellows). Costs must be justified, and we expect the total amount not to exceed £400,000 for the entire duration of the fellowship.
Duration: We expect fellowships to be completed within four years full-time. The duration may be extended for up to six years for part-time applicants.
Clinical Trial Placement Pilot Programme
Alzheimer’s Research UK is pleased to offer an optional clinical trial placement opportunity as part of our Doctoral Clinical Fellowship scheme, in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) UK Dementia Trials Network (UKDTN).
This exciting opportunity is designed to give aspiring clinical academics hands-on experience in dementia clinical trials, with the aim of developing future leaders in clinical trial research.
Many early-career clinical researchers have limited exposure to the design, delivery, and oversight of clinical trials. This placement offers opportunities for tailored training and direct trial experience to support your development as a clinician-researcher, and to help build capacity in dementia trials across the UK.
We offer flexible funding of up to £15,000 per placement. If you require additional funding, please contact ARUK to discuss your needs before applying.
If you opt in, you can choose from the following models:
- Model A: a 3-year Fellowship, followed by a 1-year full-time clinical trial placement.
- Model B: a 4-year fellowship with a clinical trial placement integrated over the duration (up to 0.25 FTE over 4 years).
- Model C: an alternative model; up to 4 years full-time. Please provide details in your application with appropriate justification.
During the placement, you will gain experience in areas such as:
- Trial design and protocol development
- Regulatory and ethics submissions
- Participant recruitment and informed consent
- Data management and outcome measurement
- Trial management and delivery
- Interdisciplinary team collaboration
Applicants can opt in at the time of application to be considered for a placement experience. You are encouraged to:
Submit a placement plan, co-designed with a supervisor, based within a UKDTN centre. This plan should include:
- Key aims and objectives of the placement
- Details of the clinical trials you plan to be involved in (including phases if known)
- Details of the proposed supervisor(s) and supervision plan
- Description of the host institution or trial site(s) and any partnerships involved
- Description of your training and development programme to support your future career in dementia clinical trials
- How you will gain experience across different aspects of trial delivery (e.g. recruitment, consent, data collection, trial design, etc.)
- Planned milestones and timeline
- Justification for the proposed duration, costs (up to £15,000) and placement model (i.e.1-year or up to 0.25 FTE over 4 years)
or;
- Submit an expression of interest in the placement without a detailed plan. Once the Fellowship is awarded, ARUK and UKDTN will support successful applicants ( if required and not already provided in the placement plan) by matching them with appropriate supervisors, trials and sites based on the information provided in the expression of interest. Funding for the placement will then be awarded by ARUK subject to review of an appropriate placement plan and costs.
If you would like to chat informally about the placement, please contact ukdtn.ctf@newcastle.ac.uk
All applicants to the Doctoral Clinical Fellowship scheme are eligible to apply for a UKDTN placement. The fellowship project does not need to be clinical or trial-based, though your interest in a trial placement opportunity must be appropriately outlined and justified. Successful Doctoral Clinical Fellowship applicants, who have opted in for a UKDTN placement experience, if haven’t submitted a placement plan during application, will then be matched to appropriate supervisors, depending on availability, to develop a suitable placement plan. Please note that opting in or not, does not guarantee a placement and will not affect any part of your fellowship application review.
For more information, please see this webinar recording from the UK Dementia Trials Network:
Applicant information
Eligibility
The Applicant:
- Applicants must be clinically qualified and active in the UK, as relevant to their discipline.
- As described above, applicants should be able to demonstrate an upward trajectory, with some evidence of outputs from previous research project(s), such as publications and/or conference presentations.
The Project:
- Research projects must align with Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Research strategy, focusing on treatment, diagnosis and prevention of dementia.
- Awarded grants will be dependent on requisite approvals (Ethics and/or Home Office Licences) and commitment to Alzheimer’s Research UK Research Policies.
Host Institution, Supervision and Mentorship:
- Applicants are required to have secured a Supervisor, an established investigator at the prospective Fellow’s institution (Host Institution) who will provide the facilities required for the research programme, oversight of the Fellow and their research programme and active contribution to training.
- The Host Institution must be UK-based however the application may include collaborators outside of the UK.
- Joint funding between Alzheimer’s Research UK and the applicant’s Host Institution may be proposed, and clearly explained in the Application Form, Costings and Institutional Letter of Support. If this applies to you, please contact us to discuss this before you apply.
- A letter of support from the Host Institution is required to confirm support for the application, in addition to letters of support from any collaborating organisations.
- Note that a Doctoral Clinical Fellowship can be used to fund a full PhD programme. However, Alzheimer's Research UK can only cover the tuition fees costs associated with Home candidates. International candidates are welcome, but funds to cover the extra cost of international tuition fees must be sought from elsewhere. The scheme is not designed to cover funding gaps for students who have already started their studies.
Applications are made via our grant application website.
Grant schemes only appear on this website when the round is open and we are accepting new applications.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities and follows their guidelines for best practice in peer review. Grants are awarded entirely on scientific merit in relation to Alzheimer’s Research UK's remit and on the basis of open competition. The quality of the application and applicants is the key determinant of outcome, although the strength of the dementia research environment within the institution is also considered.
Triage
Three expert panel members from our Clinical Committee (CC), who are not conflicted, carry out an in-depth assessment of the applications drawing on their specific areas of expertise, and score each application. Applications are triaged based on score, to determine which applications move forward in the review process and invited for interview. Scoring and Review criteria are available here.
Rebuttal Opportunity
Before final review, applicants are given the opportunity to respond to the feedback from the CC members. This rebuttal stage allows applicants to address any concerns or questions raised by the reviewers, providing clarifications or additional information to support their application. For prospective fellows, this will be in the form of live rebuttal during the interview process.
Lived Experience Review
All applications are sent for Lived Experience Review. As part of the application, applicants are required to write a Plain English proposal, which are sent to volunteers from the Lived Experience Involvement Group, alongside with proposed PPI plans, for comments, and for scoring. Representatives from the Lived Experience Involvement Group sit on the CC and the lived experience reviews are made available to all CC members to ensure they are incorporated into the discussion at the committee meeting.
Fellowship Interviews
As part of our review process, for successfully triaged applicants, interviews will be conducted at the CC meeting. The interview panel will consist of scientific members and members with lived experience of dementia.
During the interview, prospective Fellows will be asked to deliver a 5 minute PowerPoint presentation outlining their work. This presentation provides an opportunity to showcase their research, respond to review comments, and discuss the proposal’s potential impact.
Final Funding Recommendations
Based on the in-depth discussions and assessments, the CC makes final recommendations for funding.
Success rate
In the last three years Alzheimer’s Research UK has received 19 applications for the Clinical Research Fellowship. 4 of these projects were awarded funding.
The terms and conditions of grant differ for each grant scheme and contracts are drawn up individually once the grants have been awarded.
Monitoring
All grant holders are expected to report on the progress of their project on a regular basis. Read more about our reporting requirements on the measuring impact page.
For more information about any of the grant schemes or the application process please contact the Research Team research@alzheimersresearchuk.org or 0300 111 5555
All applications submitted to Alzheimer’s Research UK are subject to the policies found in Research guidelines and policies. Please ensure you familiarise yourself with these policies and contact research@alzheimersresearchuk.org with any queries.