HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) Programme for Non-Medical/Dental Healthcare Professionals

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1 HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) Programme for Non-Medical/Dental Healthcare Professionals Invitation to Tender for Masters in Clinical Research Studentships Introduction Health Education England (HEE) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) are pleased to announce HEE s intention to fund 100 Masters in Clinical Research Studentships per year for the next three years. This programme will be coordinated by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). English HEIs are invited to tender for up to 30 of these studentships, with a view to offering up to 10 per year for the next three years. This document describes the means by which tenders should be submitted and will be assessed. Background HEE is committed to supporting the delivery of high quality healthcare by ensuring that the workforce has the right skills, values and behaviours, and by ensuring that the right numbers of staff are available at the right time and in the right place. HEE will achieve this by focussing on outcomes, using financial levers and leadership influence to help drive real improvements in workforce planning, education and training. The Mandate from the Government to HEE: April March 2015 sets a clear objective to develop a more flexible workforce that is able to respond to the changing patterns of service and embraces research and innovation to enable it to adapt to the changing demands of public health, healthcare and care services. Specifically, HEE has an objective to 'support clinical academic careers for health professionals and also to seek to increase numbers of staff across all clinical and public health professions with a proper understanding of research and its role in improving health outcomes, including an ability to participate in and utilise the results of research'. The HEE Clinical Academic Careers Stakeholder Group (CACSG) was established in 2013 to direct and oversee delivery of this key objective. After reviewing the research training programmes funded by HEE and administered by the NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre (NIHR TCC), the CACSG recommended the replacement of the NIHR/HEE Clinical Academic Training (CAT) Programme for Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals and the NIHR/HEE Healthcare Science Research Fellowship (HCS) Programme with a new clinical academic training programme for all registered non-medical/dental healthcare professionals. A list of eligible professionals for this new programme can be accessed here: ICAP-Professions.pdf Replacing the CAT Programme and the HCS Programme, the resultant HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) Programme for Non-Medical/Dental Healthcare Professionals has a key role to play in supporting delivery of HEE s Research and Innovation Strategy. By building on, and

2 effectively merging, two separate programmes, the ICA Programme will ensure the best use of funds for improved patient benefit. The ICA Programme: supports all registered non-medical/dental healthcare professionals committed to developing careers that combine research and continued clinical practice; supports the provision of a comprehensive non-medical/dental clinical academic career structure; is fully integrated with clinical practice and/or post registration training; supports research training from early to advanced levels; has flexible entry and exit points; where possible, is trainee centred; and focuses on research within the remit of the NIHR and HEE HEE funds the ICA Programme and works in partnership with NIHR who administer the programme through the NIHR TCC. The ICA Programme comprises five schemes, plus a mentorship scheme: 1. HEE Internships short duration awards with a range of taught and academically supervised interventions that both engage and expose the intern to the clinical academic research environment, and also provide them with the practical skills to undertake a research project; 2. HEE/NIHR Masters in Clinical Research Studentship Scheme enables registered healthcare professionals to gain the necessary research and academic experience and understanding to accessing the further opportunities offered by the programme; 3. HEE/NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship (CDRF) Scheme aimed at registered healthcare professionals who wish to obtain a PhD by research whilst also developing their clinical skills; 4. HEE/NIHR Clinical Lectureship (CL) Scheme aimed at registered healthcare professionals who already hold a research doctorate (PhD) and wish to continue research at a post-doctoral level whilst continuing to contribute to clinical practice; and 5. HEE/NIHR Senior Clinical Lectureship (SCL) Scheme aimed at registered professionals with post-doctoral research experience and a desire to develop their career as an independent clinical academic researcher to the point of being awarded a Chair. The Masters in Clinical Research Studentship Scheme represents the second level of the ICA Programme; suitable for eligible professionals with at least 1 year s experience of post registration clinical practice but little formal research experience or training. Tenders for funding may be made by organisations with an existing course that meets the criteria for support, or by organisations that are developing a suitable course with a view to accepting a first cohort of students in September/October 2015.

3 The funding and its objectives The purpose of the available funding is to support the provision of clinical research masters studentships to registered and NHS employed non-medical/dental healthcare professionals, and, as such, to support the provision of an accessible career pathway for the aspiring and developing non-medical/dental clinical academic researchers and research leaders of the future. Funds are available to support approximately 100 studentships per year for the 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic years, and English HEIs that can offer a masters course that enables its students to manage and deliver research in a clinical setting are invited to tender for up to 10 places per year for each of these academic years. Where appropriate, regional collaborations between HEIs are encouraged if a joint programme will enrich the learning experiences of the students. Funds are provided to cover course management, the students course fees, and the full salary costs required to back-fill the students whilst they are away from their NHS employers. HEIs in receipt of funds will be responsible for advertising their own allocation of studentships, assessing applicants, making awards and arranging for the payment of course fees and salary backfill costs to the students employers. Supported masters courses must be offered on full-time and part-time schedules and: deliver an appropriate level of training in qualitative and quantitative research methods and equip graduates with the skills to manage and deliver research in a clinical setting; provide training that covers: research management and governance; research ethics and applying for ethical approval; patient and public involvement in research; study design and statistics; dissemination of research findings and writing for publication; project design, planning, costing and management; the preparation of a clinical research grant application. demonstrate how research will contribute to one of HEE s Mandate requirements ( _HEE_Mandate.pdf). In addition, students should be able and, indeed, encouraged to access relevant modules in fields including sociology, economics, engineering etc. to develop their multi and inter-disciplinary thinking. All constituent course modules must be credit bearing and capable of leading to a masters level qualification. Funding will only support the award of studentships to registered non-medical/dental healthcare professionals who provide NHS services. Supported masters courses must be promoted to, accessible to, and relevant to all of the eligible healthcare professions. Comprising second component of the clinical academic career pathway afforded by the ICA Programme, there is an expectation that the funded studentships will incorporate components that support the development of competitive applications for HEE/NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowships.

4 Outputs Each funded HEI will be required to submit an annual finance report and a formal annual progress report, detailing the recruitment, progression and destinations of their funded students. Selection Process Tenders will be assessed against the following criteria: the quality and relevance of the research being undertaken in the hosting academic departments; the suitabilities of the academics that will contribute to course provision; the proposed student recruitment strategy; the extent to which the course will afford: appropriate training in research methods; and the skills to manage and deliver research in a clinical setting; the appropriateness of the necessary partnerships with healthcare provider organisations; the potential for course graduates to make competitive applications for HEE/NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowships and develop as clinical academic researchers, taking into account, if appropriate, the post-graduation research activities of existing course graduates. Tenders will be assessed by an expert review panel drawn from the pool of HEE/NIHR ICA Programme Review Panel Members. Timetable Tenders must be submitted by 13:00 on Thursday 29 th January 2015 and will be assessed in the spring of that year Funding is available for 3 annual cohorts of studentships beginning September/October Registering, completing and submitting the tender Registering and completing the tender All tenders must be completed and submitted by the Course Lead via the NIHR TCC online application management system. This can be accessed via: tcci.nihr.ac.uk Before you can start a tender you will be required to register on the system. You will be asked to supply a valid address and complete some basic information. Once this has been submitted you will receive an confirming your registration and providing a temporary password. You should follow the instructions in the to log onto the system. Once logged into the system you will be able to update various personal details and apply to any open competitions. To start a tender you will need to go to My Applications and select New Application. You should then select Masters in Clinical Research from the list provided. Applicants are only permitted to submit one tender to each round of competition. Multiple tenders will not be accepted. After answering the eligibility questions you will be able start completing the online tender form. Please make sure you refer to all available online guidance text and instructions, as well as this document, whilst completing the form. The deadline for the submission of tenders is 13:00 on Thursday the 29 th January 2015.

5 Submitting the tender Applicant (the Course Lead): You will need to complete all of the mandatory sections of the form and enter under the Declarations & Signatories section the names and contact details of your signatories (see below). Once all mandatory sections have been completed and your signatories have confirmed their participation, you will be required to Submit the application to the signatories for final sign off before the closing date. Please note that you will need to read and be aware of the roles of your signatories as described below. You will only be able to Submit the application for final sign off by the signatories when: all mandatory sections of the application form are complete all signatories have agreed to their role Signatories: Once their contact details have been entered in to the declarations and signatories section of the application form by the applicant, the signatories will be invited to log into the system and confirm their participation. After confirming their participation, the Finance Officer will be able to access and edit the finance section which should be completed in conjunction with the applicant. Both signatories must have agreed to participate and have completed their sections before the applicant will be able submit the application for signatory approvals. Required Signatories: Lead Signatory of Host Organisation: In agreeing to participate in this application, the Lead Signatory of the host organisation must confirm that they support this application and, furthermore, confirm that if this application is successful, the proposed programme of work will be managed by the applicant and supported and administrated by the host organisation. Administrative Authority or Finance Officer: The Administrative Authority or Finance Officer must confirm that they will ensure the accuracy of the financial details of the application and that the host organisation is prepared to undertake the proposed activities at the stated costs and to administer the award if made. Once the applicant is ready (see list of required steps under the applicant heading above), they will be able to Submit the application for final sign off by the signatories. At this point, the signatories will be prompted to log back in to the system and approve the finalised application. The application will not be complete until all the required signatories have approved the final version. When the last signatory presses the approve button, the application will be submitted to the NIHR TCC. Please note that all of the steps described here need to take place before the deadline of 13:00 on Thursday 29 th January 2015, no exceptions will be made. Should you require assistance in completing the online form, please contact the NIHR TCC on or by ing Acknowledgement Tenders will be acknowledged by after submission. Applicants should only phone or the NIHR TCC offices with enquiries pertaining to our receipt of the tender if they do not receive this acknowledgement.

6 Contractual Arrangements Financial support is subject to a contract between HEE and the host organisation. Once funding has been discussed and agreed, NIHR TCC will confirm the financial arrangements with the host organisation. NIHR TCC will provide the host organisation with a contract setting out the details of these arrangements. Data Protection Act The Data Protection Act 1998 gives individuals the right to see personal information held about them on computer and in some paper files. NIHR TCC complies with the requirements of the Data Protection Act with regard to the collection, storage, processing and disclosure of personal information. Freedom of Information Act NIHR TCC manages the HEE/NIHR ICA Programme on behalf of HEE and the NIHR. As such the findings of researchers funded by the programme are incorporated into the Department of Health Freedom of Information Publication Scheme: Government procurement transparency regulations require us to publish details of all contracts made with the Department of Health on the Department of Health Website. Confidential information including bank details, staff names and Heads of Department names will be removed from the published versions. Guidance and Advice Please read this document and the associated online guidance carefully. If you require any further information, advice or guidance please contact the NIHR TCC: Tel: ica@nihrtrcc.org.uk NIHR Trainees Co-ordinating Centre Leeds Innovation Centre 103 Clarendon Road Leeds LS2 9DF