NIHR Faculty Members

There are four types of  Faculty members all of whom have their salary partly or fully funded by the NIHR through Projects, Programmes, Units and Centres, or from the Department of Health's Policy Research Programme (PRP). Faculty members must be employed by an English NHS organisation, a university or a registered charity.

NIHR Investigators
NIHR Investigators are Faculty members who are directly engaged in undertaking NIHR or PRP funded research. This includes all research staff working on a research project including lead researchers, other senior researchers, and research assistants. 

NIHR Senior Investigators
The college of NIHR Senior Investigators is drawn from the most pre-eminent NIHR-funded researchers selected through annual competitions. 

NIHR Associates
NIHR Associates support research led by others. They undertake such  activities as enrolling patients in studies, collecting or processing data and analysing tissue samples. Associate members include clinical and clinical support staff, and scientific, laboratory, technical and administrative staff.

NIHR Trainees
NIHR Trainees are award holders of NIHR research and career development training schemes. The NIHR supports:
  ·   Academic Clinical Fellows, Clinical Lecturers and Clinician Scientists
  ·   Research Fellows at all stages of a research career from pre-doctorate, doctorate, post-doctorate to independent scientist.

Benefits of Faculty Membership

The NIHR is a national research system and membership of the Faculty brings with it the prestige of belonging to a vibrant community of researchers.   

Members, through their NIHR funding, will have dedicated research time and opportunities to satisfy academic curiosity. The NIHR has developed research training pathways for a variety of professions which creates career development opportunities as well as offering free training to those employed to support research in the Clinical Research Networks.   

The NIHR has developed a range of events that allow members to network, share information and develop their skills. The NIHR Faculty portal enables members to share information securely, gives access to NIHR resources and the opportunity to participate in online forums.

For newer Faculty members the NIHR provides relevant experience for a long-term research career. For established Faculty members, the NIHR provides bespoke training programmes to support for their development as future research leaders.

As a nominating body for the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards (ACCEA), the NIHR can support Faculty member ACCEA applications through nominations and citations.