Identify investigators and sites for your research
We use our national network and work with partner organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to share basic information about your planned research to potential research sites. This includes NHS sites in:
- secondary care (such as hospitals and Patient Recruitment Centres)
- primary care (such as general practice and dentists)
- wider care environment (such as care homes)
The expressions of interest will return important information to support your feasibility process.
Benefits of using this service
- Inclusive: enables research opportunities to be shared UK-wide
- Comprehensive: find sites from across the entire health and care system
- Easy: minimises the resource required to identify multiple sites
- Reliable: reflects the real-time capability and capacity of the UK research system
- Fast: receive expressions of interest within 15 working days
- Efficient: initiates direct feasibility discussions with interested sites
- Free: all our Study Support Services are free
Timelines for identifying sites
Interested sites will respond within 15 working days, often sooner. This timeline ensures the investigator, study team, and the organisation’s R&D department are cited on the response. We collate the expressions of interest for you or your chosen Contract Research Organisation (CRO) including contact details. You decide which sites to engage for more in-depth feasibility and selection discussions.
Why this service makes your site selection more inclusive
By using this service, you're providing an equal opportunity for all UK sites to express their interest in bringing your research to their patients. This inclusive approach helps ensure that the people taking part in your clinical trials are representative of those most in need.
It is the only UK-wide site identification service that can cover all publicly funded health and care providers. This is possible because we are funded by the UK government.
If you have pre-selected some of your sites you can still use this service to identify further sites to make your site selection more process inclusive.
Read how we worked with Moderna and Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) to increase accessibility of an international trial of the world’s first personalised mRNA cancer immunotherapy for melanoma. We helped to identify sites in geographically remote areas of England, allowing for people living in the southwest of England and East Anglia to more easily access the trial.
How to request this service
Used the service before?
If you have used our services before, use your account details to log in to (CPMS) and request our ‘Site Identification’ service.
First time user?
Please contact us for advice:
Need more help accessing this service?
This service is part of the NIHR Study Support Service - a specific set of these tools and support to help you plan, place and deliver research. Our helpful 10-step user guide for our Study Support Service explains how to access the right support, at the right time.
10 step guide: Study Support Service for the life sciences industry
You may also find our Life Sciences Industry Learning Centre useful. It contains resources that will help you to understand and optimise support available via the NIHR Study Support Service. Log in to NIHR Learn with your existing Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS) details, or create a CPMS account.
What happens if I decide not to use this service?
If you choose not to use this service, and instead use pre-selected sites, you will still need to inform us about those sites in CPMS. Logging site details in CPMS is the only way you can generate site-level costs via the UK’s National Costing Value Review process.
If using pre-selected sites, ensure you are confident about their capacity and capability to deliver your research.
The studies we support must have clear value to the NHS, as explained in our Eligibility Criteria. Studies that are not progressing can have a negative impact on NHS capacity to deliver other research. This can result in a breach of the Eligibility Criteria and NIHR support may be withdrawn. This approach enables resources to be reallocated to ensure the flow of research participation opportunities to patients is maintained.
In the UK, new measures were introduced to help us to work.
Ask clinical and delivery experts to review your protocol
Before seeking sites, access relevant experts to advise if your research will work in the UK health and care system. This free service has been designed for commercial sponsors to support your feasibility processes. The experts we engage may also indicate their interest in becoming an investigator for your research.
Experience the benefits of selecting an NIHR Associate PI Scheme site
Register your study for the NIHR Associate Principal Investigator Scheme as part of your site selection process. This will help us to train future investigators and build research capacity. Trainees are mentored by existing Principal Investigators. You will receive increased support at a site level.
Use our research activity data to inform your site selection
We collate real-time research activity data from across the UK. It helps us to optimise all the capacity in the system to deliver research quickly and efficiently. Learn how you can use this data to support your study feasibility, planning and placement.
Siteless, decentralised and out-of-hospital delivery
Our Agile Research Delivery Teams are experts at path-finding non-traditional approaches to research delivery. These teams of experienced professionals can span organisations, care settings, medical specialties and geographies. Explore our support for research delivery beyond the hospital.
More information
Discover our full range of services:
Services and support for the life sciences industry
You can also contact us to discuss your needs:
