The Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF) scheme funds individuals based within local authorities and supporting services to undertake a PhD and professional development during a sabbatical from their existing role.
The DLAF is a three year award (up to six years if undertaken part time), of which:
- approximately 80% is spent working and developing academically, and
- approximately 20% is spent in practice and undertaking professional development.
Applicants require the support of an English local authority or supporting service and an English university, and must plan to hold a contract of employment with one of these organisations for the hours and duration of the fellowship.
DLAFs are available to individuals of any profession (excluding doctors or dentists) and so represent a particularly exciting opportunity for individuals who are not eligible for support through the HEE/NIHR ICA Programme, but wish to develop a practitioner academic career.
The fellowship funds:
- full salary at the awardee’s existing rate
- PhD tuition fees
- the costs of an appropriate research project, and
- the costs of tailored professional and academic training programmes.
Competition timetable
The timetable below details the key dates in the selection process.
Competition opens: 5th September 2023
Competition closes: 7th December 2023
Interviews for short-listed applicants: Spring 2024
Start dates of awards: September 2024 to March 2025
Contact
There is more information on the NIHR website.