Opportunities
The School has several funding opportunities for those who want to start or continue their career in primary care research. Currently there are annual competitions for PhD Studentships, Seedcorn and Bridging Awards and Undergraduate Internships.
Wellcome-funded PhD Programme for Primary Care
QMUL leads the Wellcome-funded PhD Programme for Primary Care Clinicians. We build upon the success of the last Wellcome-funded flagship programme which supported 5 years of enrolment from 2017-2025. The scheme is aimed at supporting the most promising medically qualified clinicians who wish to undertake rigorous research training, leading to the award of a PhD. Applications close in December for awards commencing the following October.
Seedcorn and Bridging awards (no external webpages)
This award is provided every year and can be used to support researchers from any professional background for short periods of time, usually up to a maximum 1-year duration, while they develop applications for national training awards or external grant funding. Recipients should use the funded time to focus on their career development, building networks and working with local supervisory teams/mentors. The amount available is £10,000 for Seedcorn and £10,000 for Bridging each year. Applications close early in the calendar year (Feb/March) for awards commencing the April onwards (all funds must be spent by the March of the following year).
This funding supports internships for undergraduate students. Students from a number of disciplinary backgrounds are able to apply as long as they can demonstrate an interest in primary care research. These are short term internships over the summer months. They normally comprise of a particular piece of work that academics or practitioners have designed which take place in a research environment.
Oxford International Primary Care Leadership Programme
International universities are invited to nominate one suitable candidate for this prestigious programme. The programme combines theory and practice and enables primary care future leaders to reflect on their own individual research setting. It also assists with the development of personal leadership skills and ways of working which are relevant to individual's research careers.
This is delivered over three sequential residential meetings in Oxford, held over a three-year period. Across the three meetings, participants will experience seminars from leading experts, masterclasses, practical learning, small group reflective work, action learning sets and one-to-one coaching. More details are available here
Funding from previous years of Phase IV of the School
Please note the last year for applying is 2024 and this PhD place has now been allocated. QMUL had allocated funding to support one studentship per year 2021-2024. These Studentships offered traditional project-specific training in areas of particular importance to primary care and were awarded to applicants from diverse academic backgrounds including e.g., medical statistics, social sciences, health economics, and health psychology.
Please note there are no more of these fellowships funded in 2024-2027. QMUL put forward candidates for these Postdoctoral Fellowships. Candidates entered into a competitive process with applicants from the other eight members of the School. These awards covered a 24 months fellowship period. Applicants were required to have a strong academic record and to have shown development in their careers in primary care research. The fellowship offered scope for career progression by providing the opportunity to: design an independent research project, conduct the research, analyse data, publish the results and prepare for grant applications to secure future funding. Allied health professional staff were encouraged to apply.
SPCR Primary Care Clinicians Career Progression Fellowship
Please note there are no new fellowships of this type to be funded. From 2021 - 2023 QMUL could put forward candidates for these Primary Care Clinicians Career Progression Fellowships. Candidates entered into a competitive process with other applicants from the other eight members of the School. These awards covered a 12 month fellowship period and took up 0.5 FTE to allow clinical work to continue.