Chairs' Report for Round 4 (2021) of HEE/NIHR ICA Pre-doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship Scheme

Introduction

PCAF Round 4 Competition (2021) 

Observations and Advice for Prospective Applicants

Research and practice experience to date

Applicants must clearly describe:

• the relevant academic skills and experience they have developed to date
• the relevant clinical (or practice) skills and experience they have developed to date 
• how they will ensure the continuation of their profession practice development (their career in their stated profession) while undertaking the award 
• their plans for the continuation of their practitioner/clinical academic career post-award
• the impact this Fellowship will have on their career, justifying how the fellowship will provide a step change in their career trajectory 

Applicants with limited Research Experience/ limited links with Research Groups

Terminology

Applicants must ensure that they use the correct terminology when describing their research involvement/experience (e.g. ''leading a trial'' or a local Pl). The Selection Committee would expect the proposed supervisory team to identify any terminology errors prior to application submission.  

Research Outputs

Training and Development Programme

The training and development programme proposed in a PCAF application should address any gaps or weaknesses that would currently prevent the applicant from submitting a competitive doctoral fellowship application.

The training proposed must be tailored around the applicant’s demonstrable training needs and should reference the research experience and training to date (see above). Applicants are also encouraged to detail how they developed the training and development programme. There are a number of tools available that can support the identification of training needs, which applicants may find useful.

It is possible to build in research activities (including PPl) as part of the training and development programme, if research experience is identified as a training need, although applicants should be mindful that the award itself would fund the awardee’s time only and not the research costs.

PCAF Bridge applicants only – if no additional training is required, applicants can request time to develop a doctoral level application only. The reasoning behind this decision should be discussed in the application, however.

Full Masters

The completion of a formal academic qualification, such as a Master’s degree, can be supported as part of the training plan if appropriate to the developmental needs of the applicant. Applicants proposing a full Master’s must ensure that they have provided a full and clear justification as to why this is required (as opposed to e.g. Master’s modules) and that they detail how the components of the full masters each contribute to the PCAF training and planned future PhD application.

If proposing a Master’s degree, it is possible to request a supplement to cover the Master’s course fee if over and above the £5,000 limit for training. Costs for any training in addition to the Master’s could not be funded through the award if this qualification exceeded the £5000 limit.

Area of research interest

Applicants need to have a clear idea of the research area in which they will be developing their practitioner academic career (and therefore their doctoral fellowship proposal). The research area will inform the proposed training plan and the proposed supervisory team and should align with the applicant’s clinical work.

The Selection Committee expect applicant’s clinical work/ professional practice to be in the same area as their research interest (the area in which they will be developing their doctoral research proposal). If the applicant’s current clinical work is not in the same area as their area of research interest, the applicant will need to clearly demonstrate how they will work towards such alignment to support a competitive doctoral fellowship application.

Doctoral Fellowship Development

At the end of a PCAF award, applicants should be in a position to submit a competitive doctoral fellowship application.

Applicants are advised to clearly articulate in their application their plans for submission of a doctoral fellowship application and how the support they will receive over the course of their PCAF will be managed to facilitate this.

There are many routes to doctoral funding. In addition to the NIHR Doctoral Fellowship and HEE/NIHR ICA Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship, applicants may wish to consider the opportunities available through disease-specific charities and professional bodies.

Scale and Scope

Over the course of their award, Fellows are required to complete the training and development as described in their application and to develop a doctoral fellowship application.

Applicants are advised to consider carefully the amount of training and development proposed and the feasibility of undertaking this in addition to the development of a doctoral fellowship proposal.

Supervisors

• Availability of the supervisor
• Time commitment from the supervisor
• Fit of the supervisor’s expertise with the stated area of research
• Record of conversion of Master’s to PhD students.
• Doctoral supervision experience
• Plans for meetings with supervisors

The Selection Committee use this information to assess the suitability of the support proposed and without it will not be able to undertake a full assessment of your application.

Statement of support

This statement is completed by the Heads of Departments of the named health/care Organisation and the academic organization.

The statement should detail the experience of the organisation in supporting Master’s students to progress to doctoral level research and the organisation’s support for non-medical clinical academic careers.

The statement must also clearly describe how the institution will support the applicant and what arrangement will be in place to ensure protected time for the Fellowship. Statements must be tailored to the applicant.

PCAF or PCAF Bridge

The primary outcome for both a “standard” PCAF and a PCAF Bridge is the submission of a competitive doctoral fellowship application. Applicants to the PCAF Bridge are expected to be demonstrably closer to doctoral level application submission, and therefore requiring less training time. In considering whether the “standard” PCAF or the PCAF Bridge is the most suitable award to apply for, applicants should consider the following:

• Research Outputs – please see above. If research outputs need strengthening, will there be sufficient time and sufficient data to do this over the course of a PCAF Bridge?

• Doctoral research question – “full” PCAF applicants should have a clear idea of the research area their doctorate will be developed around but will plan to develop this over the course of their award into a research proposal. PCAF Bridge applicants are required to already have a well-developed research question, which can be refined over the course of the PCAF Bridge award.

Patient and Public Involvement 

Useful Resource for Prospective Applicants

• The Round 4 (2021) PCAF Applicant Guidance Notes are available from the PCAF web pages. These provide details of the PCAF scheme, including the eligibility requirements, the funding available, the required employment arrangements and the assessment criteria used by the PCAF Selection Committee when reviewing applications. The Applicant Guidance Notes should be read in full before starting an application.
  

  Please note – Updated Guidance Notes will be published with the launch of the Round 5 competition. Applicants must ensure that they are referring to the most recent Applicant Guidance Notes when making an application.

• The HEE/NIHR ICA Programme Approved Regulatory Bodies and Regulators are available via the ICA web pages.

• The Applicants Guidance Notes for the HEE/NIHR ICA Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship and the NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship schemes are also available via the NIHR web pages. The guidance details the questions on the doctoral fellowship application form and the eligibility requirements for the scheme.

• Award holders are listed on the NIHR web pages and may be a useful resource for prospective applicants wishing to link in with other practitioner academics.

• ICA Programme Bridging Scheme supports non-medical practitioner academics to build on their previous academic training and to develop proposals for a doctoral or post-doctoral award, and to take the next step on their practitioner academic pathway. Information on the bridging support in your region is available through the Health Education England Clinical Academic Careers web pages.

Annex A 

''Standard'' PCAF Application and Awards Summary 

*an additional 4 awards were offered subsequently due to an identified underspend.

PCAF Bridge Application and Awards Summary 

Round 4 ''Standard'' PCAF Applications and Success rate by Region

Round 4 PCAF Bridge Applications and Success rate by Region

Round 4 ''Standard'' PCAF Applications and Success rate by Gender

Round 4 PCAF Bridge Applications and Success rate by Gender

Round 4 ''Standard PCAF'' - Applications and Success rate by Profession

Round 4 PCAF Bridge - Applications and Success rate by Profession