FAQs

1. Who can apply?

This scheme is open to all healthcare professionals, including allied healthcare professionals (AHPs), medical doctors, dentists and general practitioners, healthcare scientists, midwives, nurses, pharmacists, and clinical psychologists.

The applicant (prospective fellow) must:

• Be registered with the appropriate healthcare professional body with a licence to practice and be clinically active. Healthcare scientists without a registration must commit to registering as part of the fellowship.
• Be released from any training and/or clinical requirements for the duration of the fellowship.
• Plan to register for and complete a PhD at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) or the School of Health & Psychological Sciences at City St George’s, University of London (City St George’s).

Prospective fellows who are already registered for a PhD are not eligible for this scheme.

2. Am I eligible to apply if I am registered as a health professional in other countries but not in the UK/RoI?

To be eligible to apply you must have a qualification that allows you to practice clinically and be registered with a regulatory body in the UK/RoI.

3. Who can be my primary and secondary supervisor?

Supervisors will need:

• A contract of employment at QMUL or at City St George’s.
• To meet the requirements to supervise PhD students set by QMUL or City St George’s.

4. Can I have collaborators?

Yes, additional collaborators can be identified to support the work proposed and can be based at any organisation.

5. How do I apply?

All details on how to apply including the application form can be found here.

6. Are the interviews held online or in person?

The interviews will be held in person and will consist of 2 or 3 small panels with different focus points. More information on this will be sent to shortlisted applicants. For anyone who cannot attend, they should advise Bijal Tailor in advance so alternative arrangements can be made.

7. Can I propose my own project?

Yes. Applicants can propose their own research project. Students who develop their own projects are strongly advised to discuss their proposed studies with their proposed supervisors and must have agreement from their proposed supervisors upon submission of the application. Please note the project must align with the HARP ethos.

8. How can I be competitive for a PhD fellowship in this Programme?

We appreciate that not all health professionals have access to a period of funded research during their training. To take this into consideration, we encourage fellows to consider the Pre Doctoral route. As outlined in Q1, this scheme is specifically designed to be relevant to all health care professionals, we welcome applications from all.

9. What kind of research experience do I need before applying?

Applicants are likely to have previously undertaken research, either through an Academic Clinical Fellowship or equivalent (medical and dental graduates), via an alternative route such as the NIHR fellowships, or a Master’s degree with relevant modules. Practical research experience is desirable, specifically demonstrating that you have been involved in the research cycle including design, implementation, analysis, write-up and dissemination of findings.

10. I left university some time ago, what can be accepted for an academic reference?

An academic reference can be from anyone that knows you in an academic context, it does not need to be from your own degree(s) or a current lecturer or degree supervisor. If you work at a university or school, you can provide a reference from a colleague or line manager who knows your work there.

11. How many years of clinical experience do I need to be eligible?

Different health professionals have different clinical training pathways/clinical experience, therefore we do not set out years of clinical experience as eligibility criteria. We encourage applicants to think about when in their career trajectory doctoral training is most appropriate and feasible.

12. How many times am I eligible to apply if I have previously been unsuccessful?

Applicants are eligible to apply up two times for our fellowship.

13. What funding does the Programme offer?

Funding covers salary, travel, and training costs, full UK university PhD tuition fees, research/consumables/materials/PPIE costs.

14. How long does the funding last for?

The standard duration of a PhD fellowship funding award is three years (or part-time equivalent) from the date of registration at your host institution.

15. I am an overseas applicant, can I apply?

This scheme will fund tuition fees based on the ‘home’ rate, applicants will be required to pay the difference. Oversea applicants are also required to be registered with regulatory body in the UK/RoI (as stated in Q2).

16. Can I do the PhD on a part-time basis?

Yes, you can do your PhD on a part-time basis, but only to balance this with caring responsibilities, not at the same time as carrying out other salaried employment. We follow Wellcome policies related to flexible research careers. See question 16 for further details on clinical work.

17. How much clinical work am I allowed to do while studying for my PhD?

You are permitted to undertake up to one day a week (to 0.2 FTE) of clinical work if appropriate to your training or helpful for your research question. For craft specialists (e.g. surgeons or midwives), this is increased to 0.4 FTE. A craft specialty is defined as a specialty or profession where manual skill and dexterity is central to the delivery of care, and individuals require dedicated time in an operating theatre environment (or equivalent) to maintain these skills. However, the emphasis of this is on your research training and this should not be compromised.

18. Can I retain my NHS employment?

You will be employed by the university where your PhD is registered and be a member of staff in the corresponding salary grade. To carry out any clinical work if required, you will be asked to obtain an honorary contract with your NHS or Social Care employer. The independent funding provided as part of this fellowship ensures that you remain supernumerary to the NHS or Social Care and thus not subject to the demands of service provision during their research training.