Grants
Clinical Research Training Fellowship
Grant amount:
Salary plus up to £20,000 a year
Grant deadline:
26 July 2023
Clinical Research Training Fellowships are designed to help promising clinically qualified candidates gain the research experience and skills necessary to apply for advanced Fellowships.
This provides funds for up to three years of salary (at Speciality Registrar level or equivalent university scales), and a contribution toward research and travel costs.
Duration: Up to three years.
This scheme provides a means for clinically qualified candidates to obtain the research track record and skills required to compete for full Clinical Fellowships through Alzheimer’s Research UK or elsewhere, either through a PhD or independent research programme. Prospective candidates that already hold a PhD should instead apply through our Clinical Research Fellowship scheme.
Deadlines
Applications open
May 2023
Deadline
Wednesday 26 July 2023, 5pm
Funding outcome
Mid-Feb 2024
The Clinical Research Training Fellowship is for clinically qualified candidates, such as trainee Old Age/General Psychiatrists, Neurologists, Clinical Psychologists or similar specialists with limited research experience and who do not hold a PhD. Prospective Fellows that hold tenure are not eligible for funding through this scheme.
The prospective Fellow 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. Prospective Fellows should be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in pursuing a career in dementia research and show enthusiasm for developing a “tool-box” of skills that will serve as a strong basis for future independent research activity. For a detailed description of the skills and training you will be expected to demonstrate, please read our Early Career Researcher Framework. Data collected during a Clinical Research Training Fellowship is expected to provide a basis for a future application to Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Clinical Research Fellowship scheme, or equivalent schemes from other funders.
The lead applicant and point of contact must be based in a UK academic/research institution. However, the application can include researchers or institutions outside the UK.
Prospective Fellows require at least one Supervisor, a senior established investigator in the institution where the Fellowship is to be held. At least one Supervisor must be clinically qualified (UK MRCP, MRCPsych, BPS accreditation, or equivalent) with an honorary clinical contract. At least one Supervisor, preferably the lead Supervisor, must have a contract (fixed term or tenure) with the host institution covering the proposed duration of the Fellowship. If the lead Supervisor does not hold either a fixed contract or tenure, the application must include a co-Supervisor that does. The Supervisors agree to provide the required facilities, have oversight of the Fellow and their research programme, and contribute actively to the training of the Fellow.
Clinical Research Training Fellowships should preferably be applied for by the prospective Fellow. However, prospective Supervisors without a nominated candidate and who plan to recruit a Fellow following a conditional award offer from Alzheimer’s Research UK may apply directly. Any Fellow recruited in this manner will still be expected to attend interview with Alzheimer's Research UK’s Grant Review Board.
Note that a Clinical Research Training Fellowship can be used to fund a full PhD programme. However, Alzheimer's Research UK can only cover the tuition fees costs associated with UK/EU 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.
If the project requires ethical approval and/or Home Office licences, the award is dependent upon the requisite approvals being granted.
Clinical Research Training Fellowship award holders are eligible to apply for a fast-tracked visa via the Global Talent Visa fast-track Fellowship Route. The grant holder may apply for the fast-tracked endorsement up to 5 years after the end of their fellowship.
For more information, and to apply, please visit GOV.UK or the UKRI website.
See our Eligibility Guidelines for further information.
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.
View an example Clinical Research Training Fellowship application form.
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
Grant Review Board (GRB) members are asked to read a subset of applications related to their area of expertise and provide a score based on whether an application should proceed to the next stage of review.
External review
Applications requesting funding of over £50,000 per year are subject to external peer review. Applications are sent to researchers in the UK and worldwide who specialise in the area of the application, but who do not have a conflict of interest and are not a member of the GRB. The comments made by the external reviewers are made available to the GRB members. The external reviews and rebuttals will be discussed at a GRB meeting alongside the other Major grant applications in that round.
Lay review
Applications for research studies that involve human volunteers require lay review. Applicants are requested to complete a lay summary of their application which is sent to lay review volunteers for comments. The comments made by lay reviewers are fed back to the applicant for rebuttal and are also made available to the GRB members.
Discussion in meeting
Each application is allocated to two GRB members, based roughly on their areas of expertise. The two members will present the application to the rest of the board, including any relevant information from external reviews or applicant responses. A short discussion will follow before the GRB score the application and decide whether or not to call the prospective Fellow to interview.
Interview
Interviews normally take place in the fortnight following the GRB meeting. The interview panel comprises a subset of the GRB and the Director of Research at ARUK. The prospective Fellow will be asked to give a 15-20 minute PowerPoint presentation on their work.
Trustee meeting
Those applications recommended for funding by the GRB are presented to the trustees for final approval.
The terms and conditions of grant differ for each grant scheme and contracts are drawn up individually once the grants have been awarded.
View an example award letter and contract for a Clinical Research Training Fellowship grant.
Monitoring
All grant holders are required to report on the progress of their project on a regular basis. Read more about our reporting requirements on the measuring progress and 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.
