Professional doctorate: clinical research training fellowship

Apply for funding to undertake a PhD.

Your research can focus on any area of Medical Research Council (MRC)’s remit to improve human health.

be a registered healthcare professional

be at an appropriate point in your training to undertake a PhD

show plans to pursue a research career

We will fund your salary and project costs for three years. We will fund 100% of the justified costs.

You may also choose to apply for joint funding from one of the collaborating organisations.

This is an ongoing funding opportunity. Application rounds close every January, April and September.

This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible .

Applications are welcomed from applicants of all nationalities, including those not currently located in the UK, however, this is subject to the fellowship being based at an eligible UK research organisation .

• Check if your organisation is eligible ↗
• eligible UK research organisation ↗

You can apply if you are a healthcare professional who is registered with a statutory regulatory body based in the UK. This includes, but is not limited to:

nurses

midwives

allied health professionals

healthcare scientists

pharmacists

clinical psychologists

doctors

dentists

general practitioners

veterinarians

This funding opportunity is specific to you if you want to undertake a PhD or similar. If you already have a PhD or similar and want to apply for funding to reacquire research skills, see the capacity building: clinical research training fellowship funding opportunity .

This funding supports clinically active healthcare professionals to undertake a higher research degree, such as a PhD or MD.

To be eligible for this funding opportunity you must:

be able to demonstrate ownership of your project and show ambition to follow a clinical academic career

be at an appropriate point in your clinical training to study for a PhD, with clear plans for completing your speciality training

want to request a minimum of 24 months funding full-time equivalent to complete your PhD

have the support of an eligible research organisation

intend to be clinically active in the UK during or after the award

You do not need to have registered for a PhD at the time of your fellowship application.

If you have spent significantly more time than one year on your PhD course, we will consider your application only in exceptional circumstances and you should contact us in advance of submission at fellows@mrc.ukri.org

You do not need to have held a position that includes formal research time, for example, an academic foundation or an academic clinical fellowship.

• capacity building: clinical research training fellowship funding opportunity ↗
• eligible research organisation ↗

We expect you to be undertaking your specialty training and have completed your membership of the Royal College of Physicians’ exams or equivalent.

You should consult your deanery about studying for a PhD and your plans for completing specialty training before you apply for a clinical research training fellowship.

If you are earlier or later in your clinical training, you will need to make a clear case for why now is the right time for you to undertake a PhD. We recommend discussing this with us by contacting fellows@mrc.ukri.org

If you are a GP, you are considered to be at an appropriate career stage to apply for up to three years post-qualification.

If you are a veterinarian, you may apply if you are a registered vet and a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Your proposed project must be relevant to human health.

If you are a clinical psychologist, you must have a professional doctorate-level qualification in clinical psychology that is accredited by the British Psychological Society before starting the fellowship.

If you are a non-medical healthcare professional, such as a nurse, midwife or allied health professional, you must have:

completed your professional training

hold a research master’s degree or equivalent postgraduate research-oriented qualification

Applications are welcomed from applicants of all nationalities, including those not currently based in the UK, however, this is subject to the fellowship being hosted by an eligible UK based research organisation.

You will need to be registered with a UK regulatory body, such as the General Medical Council or the Health and Care Professions Council or have plans in place to hold the required registration by the proposed award start date. You will also need to show plans to be clinically active in the UK during or after the award.

Note that we only cover PhD tuition fees at standard home student rate (set by the research organisation).

You can only have one fellowship application of the same type under consideration by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (which encompasses all fellowship schemes led by any of the research councils or Innovate UK and new investigator awards). If you submit another application while one is being assessed, the new application will be rejected. You should wait until you receive a decision on your current application before submitting another.

You are not eligible to apply if:

you have applied for an MRC fellowship within the last year or twice before

you have applied for another UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) fellowship of the same type, and your application is being assessed

you are not planning to be based at an eligible UK organisation for your fellowship

If you want to reapply within a year, you should request permission from the relevant programme manager before resubmission by emailing fellows@mrc.ukri.org

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

career breaks

support for people with caring responsibilities

flexible working

alternative working patterns

job shares (contact us for further guidance)

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

We are supportive of applicants wishing to combine their research training with caring responsibilities and in that context, our fellowship awards may be held on a part-time basis or within flexible working arrangements .

• committed to achieving equality of opportunity ↗
• offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders ↗
• flexible working arrangements ↗

Further information related to all aspects of the fellowship application process, can be found in the MRC guidance for fellowship applicants .

If you’re unsure whether you are eligible to apply, email fellows@mrc.ukri.org before beginning your application.

• MRC guidance for fellowship applicants ↗

Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘who can apply’’ section

We welcome applications from across all areas of our remit to improve human health. This may range from basic studies with relevance to mechanisms of disease, to translational and developmental clinical research.

We expect your clinical work will help to inform and strengthen your research work.

Our science areas include:

infections and immunity

molecular and cellular medicine

population and systems medicine

neurosciences and mental health

translation

global health

methodology

public health

Explore MRC’s areas of scientific remit .

Please note that global health research and underpinning methodology research should align with our core remit spanning from biomedical discovery research to early translational research.

• MRC’s areas of scientific remit ↗

You must be able to:

explain why a fellowship is the best way to support your plan to pursue a clinical academic research career

show how your skills and experience match those of the training career stage by exploring our applicant skills and experience criteria

You also must have at least one supervisor, who:

is a member of the department where you are applying to host your fellowship

will have academic responsibility for you

has expertise in the research area and acts as guarantor for the quality of the proposed work, suitability of you as a fellowship candidate and the quality of training and development you will receive

You can have additional supervisors if necessary to support all areas of the proposed work and they may be from other organisations.

If your application does not clearly address the requirements, it may be rejected prior to seeking expert reviewer comments

This fellowship provides a competitive salary, giving you the chance to concentrate fully on your research, training and development. You may:

spend up to six hours a week (pro-rated for part-time fellowships) on other commitments such as teaching, demonstrating, or other funded projects

undertake up to two clinical sessions a week (this should be included in the total FTE time and costing of the proposal)

We recognise the challenges faced by clinicians in combining research with the demands of a clinical career.

We operate this fellowship as flexibly as possible. This gives you the chance to negotiate the extent of your clinical commitment depending on your specialty and your research needs.

For individuals in craft specialties including surgeons and fellows undertaking patient-oriented projects where the clinical sessions will be of direct relevance to the research, you may undertake up to four clinical sessions a week.

If you are planning to undertake more than two clinical sessions a week during your fellowship or request more than three years funding, we advise you email fellows@mrc.ukri.org before applying.

Explore the expectations that come with an MRC fellowship .

• expectations that come with an MRC fellowship ↗

Clinical research training fellowships usually last three years but never less than two years.

For patient-oriented projects where additional time is needed to collect patient samples and complete follow up assessments, you may request up to four years funding.

These periods are based on full-time equivalents. You may hold an award on a part-time basis to meet personal commitments, but not because of other professional commitments.

We will consider requests from GPs, nurses, midwives, allied health professions and other non-medic healthcare professionals to undertake a part-time award to continue professional clinical responsibilities during the fellowship.

If you are medically qualified, you may not apply for a part-time award in order to continue higher specialist training during the fellowship.

We expect you to start your fellowship no earlier than October 2027 and no later than January 2028. Any start dates outside of this must be discussed with us prior to the June/July 2027 decision meeting.

There is no limit to the amount of funding you can request. However, all costs must be fully justified and demonstrate value for money.

Your application must be for an amount that:

is appropriate to the project

you can justify in order to meet the objectives of your proposed research

We will fund 100% of the justified costs and all costs must be entered as exceptions in the application resources and cost justification section. If costs are not entered as exceptions, the application risks being rejected.

This fellowship is not subject to full economic costing.

Explore full economic costing .

• Explore full economic costing ↗

This fellowship provides:

a salary appropriate to your level of training

tuition fees at standard home student rate (set by the research organisation) or supervisors’ time

up to £25,000 each year to cover consumables, equipment and travel

Requests for partial years should be costed on a pro rata basis and not at the full annual rate.

For consultants, salaries must be capped within the Level 1 threshold for the duration of the award, reflecting the changing role and return to training.

Supervisor costs can only be requested if you are not requesting tuition fees and are only supported in exceptional circumstances when well justified. The request should not exceed 5% of their time (or a total of 5% FTE across all supervisors if more than one).

Staff costs will only be funded in exceptional circumstances where the delivery of the project requires additional staff costs, these must be requested within the £25,000 each year limit.

You may be able to request extra funding for:

the cost of training at an overseas or second centre or industry placement

the purchase and maintenance cost of animals, excluding experimental costs, related consumables or project licences

the costs associated with healthy volunteer studies, where costs for patient studies would be met by local clinical research networks

the costs associated with human medical imaging such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Computed Tomography (CT), where costs cannot be met by local clinical research networks

Only these costs can be applied for above the £25,000 each year limit which must be clearly identified and justified within the application.

If you are requesting costs above the £25,000 each year limit you should be mindful of the scope and aims of the fellowship, with the proposed project demonstrating an appropriate level of ambition.

The award will also support a period of research overseas, at a second UK research organisation or in industry, whichever is most appropriate. We encourage successful applicants to take advantage of these opportunities to establish collaborative networks and cross-sector development.

You may spend up to 12 months of your award at a second organisation. Applicants intending to spend longer periods overseas must contact us at fellows@mrc.ukri.org before applying.

We will not fund:

estates and indirect costs

publication costs

costs for mentors

We collaborate with royal colleges and charity funders to offer jointly funded clinical research training fellowships.

These awards offer the prestige of having the relevant organisation co-fund your fellowship and may offer additional opportunities to report on your project, present your work at meetings and take part in professional networking.

We are inviting applications for jointly funded clinical research training fellowships with the following charities:

Addiction Healthcare Goals (AHG), led by the Office for Life Sciences (OLS)

The Borne Foundation

Breakthrough T1D (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)

British Journal of Anaesthesia

DEBRA (the butterfly skin charity)

Diabetes UK

Epilepsy Research Institute

Kidney Research UK

Macular Society

Medical Research Foundation

Motor Neurone Disease Association

Multiple Sclerosis Society

Muscular Dystrophy UK

Prostate Cancer UK

Stroke Association

Vivensa Foundation

We will offer all jointly funded fellowships under standard UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and MRC terms and conditions, except where the co-funder has specified additional terms and conditions.

See ‘Additional information’ for further details of the joint funders.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU, who will have an integral role in the proposed research.

You may include project partners that will support your fellowship through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:

staff time

access to equipment

sites or facilities

the provision of data

software or materials

recruitment of people as research participants

providing samples, such as human tissue, for the project

Each project partner must provide a statement of support. If your application involves industry partners, they must provide additional information if the team project partner falls within the industry collaboration framework .

Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles .

• industry collaboration framework ↗
• more about subcontractors and dual roles ↗

Any individual included in your application with a core team role or who is from your host organisation cannot also be a project partner.

Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation. This includes other departments within the same organisation.

• core team role ↗

If you are applying to do research in the NHS, public health or social care you usually need to complete a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool (SoECAT). We are looking for evidence you have taken the appropriate steps and for the full costs of your research to be appropriately attributed.

It is important to complete a SoECAT to be eligible for support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network. You must complete a SoECAT even if you don’t think your research will involve excess treatment costs.

See MRC guidance on who needs to complete a SoECAT .

SoECAT guidance can be found on the NIHR website.

These are the steps you need to take:

Scotland: NHS Research Scotland website

Wales: email research.fundingsupport@wales.nhs.uk

Northern Ireland: HSC R&D division website

Request authorisation of your SoECAT.

• MRC guidance on who needs to complete a SoECAT ↗
• NHS Research Scotland website ↗
• HSC R&D division website ↗

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UKRI Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The fellow is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application. The fellow will need input from their research office for costing the fellowship and submitting the application by the deadline.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be addition steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

Confirm you are the fellow.

Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.

Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.

Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.

Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must:

provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)

insert each new image on a new line

use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:

sentences or paragraphs of text

tables

excessive quantities of images

A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

how applicants use the Funding Service

how research offices use the Funding Service

how reviewers use the Funding Service

• how applicants use the Funding Service ↗
• how research offices use the Funding Service ↗
• how reviewers use the Funding Service ↗

MRC must receive your application by 13 January 2027 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Word limit: 2,000

Why are you the right individual to successfully deliver the proposed work?

Evidence of how you have:

the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to make best use of the benefits presented by this funding opportunity to develop your career

the right balance of skills and aptitude to deliver the proposed work

contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

the appropriate team working or leadership skills (appropriate to career stage)

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word limit for this section is 2,000 words, 1,500 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the R4RI format to showcase the range of relevant skills you have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include specific achievements and choose past contributions that best evidence your ability to deliver this work. You are encouraged to include ORCID IDs for individuals where relevant, as this can help to demonstrate and verify their achievements.

Complete this section using the following R4RI module headings. You should use each heading once, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI . You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills you bring:

contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge, this may include your previous funding and key outputs such as publications

the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships

contributions to the wider research and innovation community

contributions to broader research or innovation, users and audiences, and towards wider societal benefit, including public partnerships

• UKRI guidance on R4RI ↗

Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

References may be included within this section.

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

• career breaks ↗
• roles in funding applications policy ↗

Word limit: 250

Have you registered for your PhD?

If you are not currently registered for a higher degree, then answer ‘No’.

If you are registered for a higher degree, answer ‘Yes’ and state your registration date and the percentage of time you are registered (full time or part time (if part time, you should indicate the percentage)).

Word limit: 500

Do you intend to be clinically active during or after the fellowship and what level of clinical training do you have?

Explain your clinical activities and training and how these relate to the proposed fellowship, including the following points which must all be addressed:

your professional registration number (name of body and registration number, for example, HCPC or GMC 1234567)

your clinical speciality or profession

your current training stage or nearest equivalent (foundation, speciality registrar with grade, consultant)

your completion of training date

Royal College Examination, with name of exam and date or anticipated date

if you intend to be clinically active during or after the fellowship

if you will seek an honorary clinical contract

the percentage of your time you will spend on clinical duties. You may spend up to 20% of your time on clinical duties as part of a full-time fellowship (two clinical sessions a week). However, do not deduct this from your total FTE allocation or cost calculations (example: a full-time fellowship undertaking two clinical sessions per week should be costed at 100% FTE, not 80% FTE)

the percentage of this time that will have direct relevance to your proposed work

Additional guidance will be provided on the Funding Service on how to complete this section.

Word limit: 1,000

Why is this fellowship the right way to develop your career and how will you use it to benefit others?

Ensure that you have identified:

career development goals appropriate to the fellowship funding opportunity

how the fellowship will provide a feasible and appropriate trajectory for your personal development and to achieve your stated career development goals (as appropriate to your career stage and field)

how you will instigate positive change in the wider research and innovation community, for example through Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), advocacy or advisory roles, stakeholder engagement, participation in expert review, influencing policy, public engagement, or outreach

Within the Career development section, we also expect you to describe:

how the proposed work will provide a feasible and appropriate trajectory for you to acquire additional skills, like research, leadership, communication and management

Word limit: 3,000

Provide details of your supervisors and their support.

A statement must be provided by at least one supervisor who has academic responsibility for you. The first supervisor should be from the host department. Include other supervisors if necessary to support all areas of the proposed work, they may be from other organisations.

A supervisor statement should be up to 1,000 words, only use the full word limit if you have multiple supervisors.

A supervisor should have expertise in the research area of the application and will act as guarantor for the quality of the proposed research, suitability of you as a fellowship candidate and the quality of training and development you will receive.

An entry should be included for each supervisor, detailing:

the supervisor’s name and current position

in what capacity they know you

how long they have known you

their views on your research ability and suitability for this fellowship

measures of research activity where you will be based, such as the number of academic staff

the suitability and quality of the support, training and skills that you will receive, including how your research area fits with the priorities of the research environment

their suitability and experience to oversee your fellowship

evidence of their track record in supporting candidates to complete a PhD/MD

Additional guidance will be provided on the Funding Service on how to complete this section.

Word limit: 500

How will you be mentored during the fellowship?

Explain your proposed mentoring arrangements.

If a mentor has been identified, they should be named in the response to this question and provide a statement of support detailing how they will support you.

Word limit: 1,000

How will the host organisation support your fellowship?

Ensure the head of department (of the host organisation) provides you with a supporting statement (which they have written), that includes:

the name and title of the head of department (or equivalent) providing the written statement

evidence detailing how the host will support you, as appropriate for your career development and the vision and approach of the fellowship

how your research environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of suitability of the host organisation and strategic relevance to the project how the host organisation will ensure your time commitment to the fellowship is protected

what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations

what financial or practical support, such as access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment, is being provided and how this strengthens your application

The statement of support provided by your host organisation should be copied and pasted into the text box. You cannot upload the statement of support to this section as an attachment. Your application may be rejected if you upload a host organisation statement of support to the ‘Project Partners: letters (or emails) of support’ section or any other section of your application.

Within the host organisation support section, we also expect you to describe details of the fellowship work to be conducted at another UK or overseas host organisation and how they will support you (if applicable)

Word limit: 1,000

How will the host organisation support your fellowship?

If relevant to your fellowship, you should include a support statement from your second host organisation. Note, your second host organisation can be another eligible research organisation , an international research organisation, an industrial organisation or company, or an enterprise that puts or has intention to put goods or services on a market.

If your fellowship application does not include a second host organisation, you should indicate ‘N/A’ within the text box and mark the section as complete.

The appropriate head of department (or equivalent, if your second host organisation is from industry), must provide a statement of support confirm their commitment to supporting your MRC fellowship, by including:

the name and title of the head of department (or industry equivalent), that has written your supporting statement

evidence detailing how the second host research organisation or industry partner will support you, as appropriate for your career development and the vision and approach of the fellowship

how your research environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of suitability of the host organisation and strategic relevance to the project

how the second host research or industry organisation will ensure your time commitment to the fellowship is protected

what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations

what financial or practical support, such as access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment, is being provided and how this strengthens your application

The statement of support provided by your second host organisation should be copied and pasted into the text box. You cannot upload the statement of support to this section.

Your application may be rejected if you upload a second host organisation statement of support to the ‘Project partners: letters (or emails) of support’ section or any other section of your application.

• eligible research organisation ↗

Word limit: 1,000

If applicable, provide a support statement from your previous head of department.

If not applicable to your fellowship application, you should indicate ‘N/A’ within the text box and mark the section as complete.