NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Award (DSE)

The DSE Award is a postdoctoral level funding opportunity aimed at supporting early to mid-career researchers in gaining specific skills and experience to underpin the next phase of their research career. 

Please note that applicants are no longer required to be Academy Members. From December 2023 funding is available for a longer duration to support those returning from a break from research. We are particularly keen to see applications from nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, healthcare scientists and pharmacists.

A DSE award provides funding for:

• the salary of the award holder for up to 2 years
• training and development costs up to £5,000 per year
• conference costs up to £1,000 per year
• mentorship costs up to £3,000

Full Economic Costings (FEC) are not covered by this award.

The DSE can support postdoctoral researchers who want to further a career in applied health or care research. We are especially interested to hear from health and care professionals including those that are returning from a research career break, and researchers developing careers in the areas of:

• health data science
• clinical trials
• entrepreneurship and working with industry

All applicants must:

• have completed any relevant pre-registration training (clinical academic applications only)
• have a proposed English host who is an HEI, NHS body, or other provider of health and/or care services
• hold a relevant PhD or MD, or have submitted their thesis for examination at the time of application. Applicants must have been awarded their PhD or MD by the time they start the award
• have not submitted a DSE application in the previous submission window

The DSE is usually open to applications all year round, with 3 review periods.

Please note there are some new changes to the application form from August, aimed at making the application process easier following user feedback:

• Career development programme can be worked on “offline” and uploaded into the application form when finalised.
• A narrative CV upload will be required where applicants can describe their career to date and how it makes them suitable for the award.
• The Head of Department will provide their statement of support via a letter that the applicant can upload into the application form, rather than needed to add it directly into the form.
• Only high level costs are required at the application stage, successful applicants will be asked to provide a detailed budget prior to contracting.