The NIHR HCP Internship Programme will provide 3 years of funding and support for organisationally-led regional programmes. It will support them to develop and deliver innovative internship programmes that engage health and care professionals at the predoctoral level in research.
The scheme aims to attract and benefit all registered health and care professionals (excluding doctors and dentists). It is open to applicants from a wide range of backgrounds and with a wide range of career aspirations.
Background
The NIHR works in partnership to fund, enable and deliver world-leading health and social care research through partnership with patients, service users, carers and other stakeholders in different communities.
Across the NIHR we are passionate about people and developing careers in research. NIHR develops and coordinates academic training, career development and research capacity development through the NIHR Academy’s awards and programmes.
We play a pivotal role in attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future and complement additional NIHR investment in world-class research facilities and a skilled research workforce. NIHR aims to develop a highly skilled research workforce capable of advancing the best research which improves health and care, and benefits society and the economy.
The NIHR HCP Internship Programme is based on the previous ICA Internship Programme but with a revised and expanded eligibility and scope as part of the NIHR Academy’s expanded portfolio of career support for health and social care professionals.
The NIHR HCP Internship Programme, directed at predoctoral applicants, will be delivered on a regional basis and follow the configuration of the 12 NIHR Research Delivery Networks (RDNs). Applicants will be asked to state the region in which the proposed NIHR HCP Internship Programme will be delivered.
The funding will provide 3 years of support for organisationally-led regional programmes to develop and deliver innovative internship programmes that engage health and care professionals at the predoctoral level in research. The programme aims to attract and benefit all registered health and care professionals (excluding doctors and dentists) from a wide range of backgrounds and with a wide range of career aspirations.
HCP Internship Programme competition
The HCP Internship Programme will allow organisations to apply for funding to support organisational-led regional programmes that deliver:
- innovative programmes which deliver an expanded scope compared to current ICA internship programmes. These will range from short duration awards for those with little or no research experience or more extensive experience of research that
- grow leadership in research towards achieving organisational culture change
- expand skills and knowledge in research delivery leadership or
- build on established clinical academic internship programmes
- flexible and individually tailored programmes of learning designed to meet the needs and aspirations of each intern
The HCP Internship Programme will play an important role in increasing the level of research awareness amongst the health and care professions and where appropriate providing individuals with a strong foundation on which to build a research related career.
Scope of the NIHR HCP Internship Programme
Internships offered via this programme should be available to all registered health and care professionals (excluding doctors and dentists) at any stage in their clinical/practice career and organisations should demonstrate capability to target underrepresented groups and professions.
The NIHR HCP Internship Programme regional structure
Each regional NIHR HCP Internship Programme will comprise of:
- a lead organisation. This should be a registered NHS or health and care provider organisation.
- partner organisations. These should be organisations involved in the training and/or delivery of health and care within England. This includes but is not limited to HEIs (universities), NHS trusts, local authorities, industry and research institutes. N.B. All applications should include at least 1 partner HEI.
The programmes are expected to be collaborative to foster the development of partnerships between organisations and networks at a regional level. While programmes of activities should have a focus within the region stated in the application form, partner organisations may be located outside of this area.
Applications are expected to comprise one lead organisation and at least one other partner organisation. The number and suitability of partner organisations will be taken into account by the funding committee when assessing applications and making funding decisions.
Applications will include a lead applicant who will be responsible for the submission of the application, as well as the delivery of the programme of activities if successful.
Programme delivery
NIHR HCP Internship Programmes are expected to deliver innovative programmes that cater for and attract applicants from a wide range of professions and research aspirations. Not all applicants may be interested in being fully immersed in a research career but may use the opportunity to become more familiar with research and its delivery to enhance their practice.
Programmes of activities should engage the full range of registered health and care professions (excluding doctors or dentists) and aim to reach as broad an audience as possible. Activities should be delivered across the region within which the HCP Internship Programme will be based, paying particular attention to attracting individuals from and conducting activities in geographies/organisations within the region which have traditionally not seen high levels of research activity.
Building collaborative partnerships between organisations and networks is a key aim of the scheme, and as such collaborative activities that engage applicants across multiple organisations and professions are expected.
Training and learning materials should be developed to serve the full range of intern requirements from basic introductions to research and research awareness through to building strong foundations for those who wish to follow a more clinical academic career focused pathway.
It is expected that all interns are provided with access to robust and appropriate supervision for which additional funding is available where required.
Eligibility criteria
Applications will need to meet the following eligibility criteria:
- supporting the development of careers involving research within the NIHR remit
- contain a lead organisation that is an NHS or health and care provider organisation based within England
- contain at least one partner organisation N.B. At least 1 HEI partner organisation is required
- include provision to cater for the full range of applicant needs and aspirations as detailed within the programme delivery section
- include clear plans for collection and analysis of monitoring data both during and after completion of the internship, including tracking of completed interns and their next career steps
- include the provision of robust and appropriate supervision
Programme aims
The key aims that underpin the HCP Internship Programme are to:
- provide predoctoral tailored and bespoke learning and development to the full range of health and care professions (not including doctors and dentists) across the full range of research related career aspirations 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 a research related career
- develop collaborative partnerships and networks between organisations at a regional level
- embed a positive and inclusive research culture within health and care services
Scope of funding
The funding will support HCP Internship Programmes located across 12 regions in England. It is anticipated that 1 HCP Internship Programme will be supported per region, although this will depend on the recommendations of the funding committee who are assessing applications.
The geographical basis of HCP Internship Programmes will follow the configuration of the NIHR Regional Research Delivery Networks (RRDNs) from April 2024. Further information on the geographical configuration of these regions can be accessed on the RRDN website.
This is also available on request via academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk.
HCP Internship Programmes will last for 3 years, starting September 2025. During the 3-year period, applicants will receive the following funding and support:
- salary backfill and support – on average £10,000 per year per intern to support engagement activities and salary backfill.
- supervision, programme delivery and infrastructure – up to £62,500 per year per region.
National funding will be equally divided between the 12 regions with the expectation of 23 internships being successfully completed per region per annum.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/health-and-care-professional-internship-programme-round-1/97036)
