Research active hospitals have better outcomes. Patients have better experience, feel more involved in their care and have greater levels of trust in health professionals. Staff involved in research report greater job satisfaction and are more likely to stay in the NHS. If you want to get started or progress a career in research, read-on for some exciting opportunities.
Research Education Hub
The Research Education Hub has been developed as a central place for research education for all staff across our hospitals. The ‘Research for All’ section offers a wide range of research education opportunities available to everyone at whatever stage of their involvement or ambition for involvement in research. Contact us for more info: [email protected]
Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
GCP is the agreed international standard for conducting clinical research. Good Clinical Practice Training is required for researchers conducting Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPs). Courses are CPD accredited and free. It’s recommended do a refresher every 2-3 years.
You can register to NIHR Learn with your nhs.net email address to browse GCP courses. You need to log in to see them.
Courses for GCP certification:
- Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Introduction E-Learning
- Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Refresher E-Learning
- Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Introduction Consolidation Workshop (Virtual or Face to Face Facilitated Delivery)
For additional support, visit the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) website.
Associate Principal Investigator Scheme
Open to any health and care professional this is a six-month NIHR scheme where you can contribute to the conduct and delivery of a national NIHR study. You work with and are mentored by the Local principle investigator (PI). The PI will help you to understand what the PI role entails and the processes of research delivery from start to finish. You complete a learning pathway on NIHR Learn, including a range of study activities. At the end you will be issued a certificate confirming Associate PI status, which can be added to your training portfolio.
Sign up to NIHR Learn to find the scheme. First time users, click on ‘Create account’ and register with your nhs.net email address.
Please contact associate PI scheme champion, Emma Sexton for more details.
Research Careers
Developing Clinical Academic roles are vital to ensure we have staff who are confident to use, generate and share research evidence. They can help increase the benefits of research in everyday health and care and can act as catalysts for the development of excellent evidence-based healthcare. They are in the ideal place to ask questions, seek answers and develop and share important research findings that impact health and care outcomes for all, so we need more in our workforce.
National opportunities for clinical academic training funded by the NIHR and other funders. Regional NIHR Integrated Academic Training (IAT) for doctors and dentists, include ACF positions, and give 25% research training time. For other health and care professionals the NIHR provides a broad range of training via its range of programmes. Providing local opportunities can also help support our staff to develop their careers while carrying out research that is likely to benefit our Sussex population and help to build collaborations with our local partners in academia and health and care. At UHSussex, developing our people and enabling more health and care professionals to develop research careers is at the heart of our Research and Innovation Strategy.
My Charity (University Hospitals Sussex), the dedicated Trust Charity, has generously awarded significant funding to support development of local researchers, from those new to research to those embarking on PhDs, to provide long-term research capacity to benefit our Sussex population.
Internships
If you are enthusiastic and keen to be more involved in research, but don’t currently have experience or have basic experience and would like to develop this, then the My Charity Research Internship Award might be for you. This 12 month programme provides 7.5 hrs/week of backfilled time alongside your clinical role to support you in developing your research ideas and skills and taking the first steps on a clinical academic career journey.
The programme recruitment commences every autumn, for start in spring of the following year. Recruitment for the next cohort is planned for September 2026.
Learn more about how the My Charity Internship Award helped previous award holders
Helen Crook, Pharmacist, talks about about her Internship research journey looking at improving insulin prescribing to better support patients with Diabetes while they are in hospital.
Clare Fowler, Sexual Health Nurse, talk about her Internship research journey, looking at antibiotic prophylaxis following sexual assault.
Kirsty Clutterbuck, Dietician, talks about her Internship research journey, looking at improving nutrition in patients with high BMI during head and neck cancer treatment.
Accelerator Awards
The My Charity Research Accelerator Award is a personal award for individuals preparing to apply for a doctoral or post-doctoral fellowship. This award includes salary backfill at basic rate for clinical role of up to 18.75hrs per week for 12 months (eligible range AfC B5-8A, Doctors up to ST5). Individuals will have already identified an idea and have experience in research but require time to shape the idea into a robust proposal and assemble an appropriate supervisory team.
The programme intake for the Accelerator Awards is flexible. For more information please contact [email protected]
Learn more about how the My Charity Accelerator Award helped previous award holders
Dr Daisy Woolham – Daisy is a ID/Microbiology Registrar, who has secured a Doctoral Fellowship following completion of the one-year My Charity Accelerator Award looking at Bacteraemias in local hard to reach populations.
Rosie Hesling – Nurse Consultant in Cancer, has secured a My Charity Doctoral Fellowship following completion of the one-year My Charity Accelerator Award looking at Optimising access, diagnosis and experience for patients in the colorectal cancer pathway.
Doctoral Fellowships
Doctoral Fellowship awards are not currently recruiting. These awards are for outstanding individuals to undertake a period of research training towards an MD or PhD. The aim is to increase opportunities for patients and staff at the Trust to participate in research that improves the quality of the care we provide. The scheme creates opportunities to research local priorities to meet the needs of our patients. Fellows are funded to take 2-3 years out of their clinical training and undertake a dedicated period of research, subject to agreement from their training programme director (depending on the specialty most require at least 6 months prior notice), or line manager. These posts are open to health and care professionals professionals employed with UHSussex.
Doctoral Fellows
Dr Jonathan Golding – a Diabetes & Endocrinology registrar, Jonathan is coming to the end of a PhD on Type 1 Diabetes & frailty. Hear more from Dr Jonathan Golding.
Dr Todd Leckie – an anaesthetics and intensive care registrar. Find out more information about Todd’s project. Todd has recently completed an MD and you can read more about digital prehabilitation in patients undergoing major surgery for colorectal cancer. Hear more from Dr Todd Leckie.
Dr Stephen Robinson – an Oncology registrar, Stephen is doing a PhD on liquid biopsy, a simple blood test to detect and monitor brain metastases at the University of Sussex. Find out more about his project and hear more from Dr Stephen Robinson.
Questions about My Charity Fellowships Programmes
[email protected] further information contact: [email protected].
Each of our divisions also has a research director who you can discuss your ideas with or contact the programme team for further discussions at [email protected]