Health and Care Research Wales Doctoral Fellowship Award (UK)

The Doctoral Fellowship Award aims to support talented individuals to undertake research leading to the completion of a PhD and to support capacity building in health or social care research in Wales.

Applications are invited from pre-doctoral researchers employed within Higher Education Institutes or staff employed by NHS or social care organisations in Wales wishing to undertake a PhD in a health or social care topic. Proposals for PhD by Publication are not eligible for this fellowship.

The Doctoral Fellowship funds PhD projects which provide robust evidence that address the health and/or social care needs of the public, service users, carers and the wider population and/or the organisation and delivery of efficient and effective health and social care services in Wales. This scheme does not support basic research or work involving animals or their tissue.

The Fellowship offers funding for directly incurred salary costs (no overheads or indirect costs allowable) for 3 years full-time funding, or 4- or 5-years part-time funding, PhD tuition fees, and the costs of an appropriate research project and training and development programme.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applications for a fellowship term of up to 3 years (100% Whole Time Equivalent (WTE), 4 years (75% WTE) or 5 years (60% WTE) in duration will be accepted. If the application is successful, a contract for the delivery of the research will be placed with the host organisation and all funds for the research will be issued to that organisation.
• Applicants must satisfy the following criteria:
  • applicants must be based at an institution or organisation in Wales at the time of applying (or be in receipt of a job offer such that they will be based at a host institution in Wales at the time the Fellowship starts)
  • applicants will need to be able to undertake their PhD on a full-time basis over 3 years (100% Whole Time Equivalent (WTE)), or part-time over 4 years (75% WTE) or 5 years (60% WTE). The cost of the whole award will not exceed £300,000
  • applicants must be supported by a named PhD supervisor
  • applicants must be in a position to commence activities by 1 October of the relevant year of the award
  • applications must have the support of the Host Institution
  • where already registered for a PhD (or MPhil with transfer to PhD), applicants should not have been registered for more than 12 months at 100% WTE by the time the award starts
  • applicants must be entirely funded for the duration of the award through the Doctoral Fellowship
  • applications must include a clear and comprehensive training and development programme
  • applicants applying for a full-time Fellowship who are active clinicians or practitioners can dedicate an appropriate proportion of time to ensure maintenance of clinical or practice competencies

Assessment Criteria

• Applications will be subject to examination to ensure fit with the scheme’s remit and eligibility conditions. All applications deemed to be eligible will be reviewed for policy relevance and significance. This will include an assessment of the application’s relevance to broader Welsh Government policy and an assessment of the need and importance section. Applicants not progressing beyond this initial triage will be informed in writing at this stage.
• Applications passing the triage stage will be reviewed by the Health and Care Research Wales Shortlisting Panel that will assess the all-round quality and merit of the application, the applicant, and the proposed host research environment. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview with the Panel.
• The Panel will make funding recommendations to Health and Care Research Wales (Welsh Government). Health and Care Research Wales (Welsh Government) will make the final funding decisions, considering the strength of Panel recommendations and available resources. These decisions are final and are not open to appeal.

Application Requirements

• The Fellowship scheme offers funding opportunities across a broad range of health and social care-related topics. While all applications meeting the general terms of the call are eligible, Health and Care Research Wales places an emphasis on policy, practice and public need. All applicants will need to make a strong case for the need for and importance of their research proposal. This will include:
  • a clear description of the health or care need they are addressing
  • the placing of the research proposed in the appropriate policy or practice context
  • a justification of the importance of that need, in terms of the scale of the problem and/or likely impact on those with the health or care are need
  • a demonstration of a gap in the research evidence
  • a demonstration that the methods proposed are suitable for answering the research question.

For more information, visit Health and Care Research Wales.