Opportunities for undergraduates - University of Birmingham

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has worked with Health Education England (HEE) to create a short informative animated video about research opportunities available as part of the Clinical Academic Career pathway, including the new ICA programme.

Developing a Clinical Academic Career

Transcript

Research can help improve health outcomes by bringing the highest level of innovation, knowledge and skills to improve lives, and the latest understandings of medicine, diagnostics and other clinical areas.

An academic career gives the chance for individuals to get involved in research and develop a better understanding of how to use research in clinical practice. And academic career pathways help the NHS develop the research leaders of the future. That is why health education England has produced a clinical academic careers framework, which includes research programs for all professions funded by HEE, and the National Institute for Health Research. The programmes build the capacity and capability of the current and future workforce to embrace and actively engage with research.

The framework has two strands. The first strand is the integrated academic training programme, which has been established for doctors and dentists to work towards a clinical academic career and includes two schemes. Academic clinical fellowships allow medical and dental trainees in the early stages of training to get involved in research, alongside clinical training, over three or four years. The aim being to obtain a doctoral level fellowship. Clinical lectureships are for those more advanced in specialty training, who already have a research doctorate and who show potential for a career in academic medicine or dentistry.

The second strand is the integrated clinical academic programme, which includes five schemes for non-medical healthcare professionals, ranging from internships to senior clinical lectureships. To allow more non-medical healthcare professionals than ever before to develop a clinical academic career, the eligibility criteria have been extended.

Internships give an introduction to clinical research from trial design, to research in a clinical setting.

Master's programmes include a personal clinical research project that is individually designed with support from a supervisor.

Clinical doctoral research fellowships help clinicians to work towards a PhD with costs, salary and conference attendance included.

Clinical lectureships give post-doctoral clinicians the chance to combine independent research with clinical practice.

And senior clinical lectureships mean that more experienced clinical academics can continue developing a combined senior clinical and research position. Clinical academics all want to promote research and develop so that they're able to respond better to a changing health service and meet the evolving needs of patients.

More information about the Integrated Academic Training Programme at Birmingham.

Intercalated Degrees

As a medical or dental student, you may choose to take a year out from your medical / dental course and study on one of our intercalated Bachelor in Medical Science degree programmes.

Intercalated degrees at the University of Birmingham

Reasons for intercalating

To get in depth scientific training in an area already of interest to you and develop practical research and analysis skills within that discipline.
To develop and conduct your own research (which may lead to publication)
To get an additional qualification of relevance to your future career.
To broaden your medical interests into an area outside the undergraduate curriculum or to take your interest to a higher level than can be covered within core curricula.
To develop and enhance transferable skills such as writing, project management, presentation skills, argument development and debating skills.
To study with students from outside a clinical medicine background (some programmes only)
As an intellectual challenge

Funding for intercalating

Sir Arthur Thomson Trust Intercalating Bursaries

Award outline: The Trust wishes to support talented medical (and dental) students and will provide funding for up to 9 bursaries, each of £4000, to the most able students whom the programme expects are likely to appreciate the value of the research ethos which arises from an extended, in-depth study of a scientific discipline. At least two of the awards are restricted to laboratory-based disciplines. The bursaries will be for one academic year of full-time study in a research environment in the University of Birmingham.

Further details, conditions of the award and how to apply

Conference Fund for Clinical Students

Supported by the Sir Arthur Thomson Trust, this fund has been established to assist undergraduate clinical students (MBChB and BDS) to attend national and international conferences when presenting their own research. Money is available towards registration fees, travel and accommodation.

2024 closing dates are:

Midday - 28th February 2024
Midday - 3rd July 2024
Midday - 6th November 2024

Before submitting an application, please read our privacy policies on how the University of Birmingham uses your data.

Download our 2024 Application Form [Word, 30KB]

Students may submit applications retrospectively if a decision has been made to attend a conference which does not enable application prior to attendance.

Vacation and Elective Scholarships

Vacation and Elective Scholarships offer an early taste of life in research. There are a number of national funding bodies that award both Vacation and Elective Studentships.

Vacation Grants

These schemes give students the chance to work full time on their own research project for a period of 8 weeks over their holidays providing undergraduates with a glimpse of life in a research environment. The experience can be very rewarding, enabling students to sample the joys and frustrations of research.

The Sir Arthur Thomson Charitable Trust Vacation Studentship is a University based, locally funded scheme for Birmingham students. The Trust will support the award of studentships to candidates who are considered able and who would be expected to benefit from undertaking a research project - for full details please refer to the Terms & Conditions.

Students will be expected to contact a supervisor and submit an application. Host supervisors can either be members of the University of Birmingham or from another institution.

The applications will be assessed and awarded by a panel of senior staff with knowledge of both the programme and the students. Preference will be given to research projects with a clearly defined objective, achievable in the time available, and those which give the student scope for thought and initiative. However the criteria by which the grants will be awarded will be flexible to encourage all forms of research.

Students from both the 5 year MBChB and the graduate entry MBChB course will be eligible to apply for the grant.

The deadline for applications for 2024 is 12pm (midday) Thursday 25th April 2024.

Please submit all parts of the application form to mbchb-prizesandawards@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Before submitting an application, please see how the University of Birmingham uses your data.

Download our 2024 Vacation Studentship Application Form

Student Development Scholarships

There are two awards available to apply for as part of this scheme - the more generic Student Development Scholarships or the Graduate Travel Scholarships. You can only apply for one of these awards and the eligibility criteria will vary depending on which award you choose:

The Student Development Scholarships are open to full-time registered students of the University undertaking worthwhile and original vacation projects (in the UK or abroad), which do not constitute an examinable part of their degree programme. The project or activity can be outside the applicant's own specific discipline, can be for academic or cultural purposes and should demonstrate originality and bring credit to the University. Applicants should also demonstrate academic excellence and fully describe and justify the nature of their project. This award is not available to students funded by research council awards.

The Graduate Travel Scholarships aim to meet the expenses, in whole or in part, of University of Birmingham graduates travelling abroad for the purposes of study. The scheme is open to those undertaking study abroad within a period of three years after receiving a first degree from the University. First degree students in their final year at the University may also apply. The award is not intended to fund elective studies.

Further information about the schemes, including the application criteria can be found at Student Development Scholarships.

Elective Grants

Sir Arthur Thomson Bursaries for MBChB Elective Study

Further details and conditions of the award