Career development for nurses and midwives

Discover research courses, funding programmes and initiatives for nurses and midwives.

Training to support research

Introductory courses and resources for health and care research

Find out about what health and care research is and how you can develop your research knowledge and skills.

Good Clinical Practice

If you support clinical research delivery at the NHS, UK universities and other publicly funded organisations in England, you need to do GCP training.

Writing skills for clinical research nurses and midwives

This writing skills module on FutureNHS is for those who have a study they would like to publish, are looking to establish themselves as an independent researcher or are looking to develop their knowledge or skills to apply for funding.

NIHR Research Masterclass - help to apply for fellowship funding

Sign up to this masterclass if you want to start an independent health services research career. It will help if you want to apply for research fellowship funding. It is a FutureNHS online course that includes webinars, examples of career journeys, discussion forums and case studies.

FutureNHS account and how to join

You will need an account to join the FutureNHS courses.

To set up an account, go to FutureNHS, add your work email address and join for free.

Once you have a FutureNHS account, you go to the links above and 'join' the workspace.

Become a Principal Investigator (PI)

A PI is an individual responsible for conducting research at a research site. Each research site should have one PI.

Associate Principal Investigator Scheme

The Associate PI Scheme aims to develop nurses and midwives who do not undertake research as part of their usual role, to help them become the PIs of the future. The scheme is open to those in the approved specialty areas, willing to make a significant contribution to the delivery of a research study at a local level over a period of at least 6 months.

Principal Investigator Pipeline Programme

Are you a research delivery nurse or midwife who wants to develop their research leadership skills? The Principal Investigator Pipeline Programme aims to address some of the current gaps in career opportunities for research delivery nurses and midwives by supporting them in becoming PIs to deliver NIHR portfolio studies.

Postgraduate courses on leading clinical research delivery

The NIHR and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges have worked with Higher Education Institutions to develop a national framework of Masters level qualifications. These qualifications are a combination of online modules and practical experience, providing healthcare practitioners from any regulated profession with the skills, networks and confidence to lead and support clinical research delivery.

Leadership programmes

Senior Research Leader Programme for nurses and midwives

This 3-year programme aims to develop senior nurses and midwives' research leadership skills. As a senior research leader, you can drive forward meaningful changes within your organisation and beyond.

Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership Programmes

The Florence Nightingale Foundation offers leadership programmes to strengthen your ability to lead and influence.

Future Focused Leadership Programme

This programme helps NIHR Academy Members and leaders develop leadership capabilities and effectiveness.

NIHR Leadership e-learning modules

Our e-learning modules enhance the leadership and management skills for health and care research professionals. The modules cover a range of topics, helping those new to leadership through to seasoned leaders.

Clinical academic career development awards

We offer a range of career development funding to help you combine clinical practice with your career as a public health researcher. Not applicable for doctors.

The Integrated Clinical and Practitioner Academic Programme

Provides research training awards for health and social care professionals, excluding doctors and dentists. Each scheme will enable you to combine research with continued practice as you develop a clinical or practitioner academic career.

Predoctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship

Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship

Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship

NIHR Fellowships Programme

The NIHR Fellowship Programme supports individuals on their trajectory to becoming future leaders in health and social care NIHR research.

Predoctoral Fellowships

Doctoral Fellowships

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award

This flexible postdoctoral award provides funding for up to 5 years for researchers to engage in activities to support career development.

Development and Skills Enhancement Award

This postdoctoral-level funding opportunity aims to support early to mid-career researchers to gain skills and experience to underpin the next phase of their research career.

Advice and more information

For advice on which scheme is right for you, email: academy-awards@nihr.ac.uk or call 0113 532 8444.

Explore more information and resources for Nurses and Midwives