How to apply for an NIHR Academy Award

If you’d like to discover which award or programme is right for you, please visit:

• Current funding opportunities
• NIHR Fellowship Programme
• NIHR Research Professorship
• HEE-NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Programme
• Academic Career Development in NIHR Infrastructure and NIHR Schools
• Integrated Academic Training
• NIHR Local Authority Academic Fellowship Programme and Associated Opportunities
• NIHR Senior Investigators 

Details of award rounds that are open for application are available in career development funding opportunities.

Apply online

NIHR Academy Awards comprise both personal awards, which can be applied for directly, and institutional awards which should be applied for through the host institution.

Most of our training awards are personal awards. This means your application should be made through ARAMIS (Academy Research Awards Management Information System).

However, the Integrated Academic Training programme funds Academic Clinical Fellowships and Clinical Lectureships (CL) for doctors and dentists undertaking specialty training or working in general practice, and these posts are hosted by IAT partnerships. Therefore, applications to these awards should be made to the partnership through Oriel, or for CL posts outside of London, via the appropriate Higher Education Institute.

Senior Investigator applications are made through a different route. Therefore, if you are interested in this scheme and you would like to be notified when the next Senior Investigator competition dates are announced, please register your details. 

Advice for applicants

Applicants are encouraged to read the guidance notes for their award round carefully before submitting their application.

The Research Design Service (RDS) offers free and confidential advice and support to researchers to develop competitive applications to the NIHR.

You may also find useful our advice on how to prepare a strong application for project funding.

How do I conduct clinical trials?

The NIHR Academy Clinical Trials Guide has been developed for members in the early stages of their careers. It holds information on how to go about developing and leading a clinical trial.

Through collaboration with experts across the NIHR and conversations with existing members we have put together a list of questions and answers that we hope you will find useful, as well as a list of useful links to resources for further information.

Anyone proposing to include a clinical trial, feasibility study or research relevant to clinical trials in a research training award application is strongly advised to also read the additional guidance for applicants before completing an application.

Host organisations of personal award holders

Organisations that host our Fellowships enter into a contract with the Department of Health. Examples of these contracts are available to view:

• Higher Education Institute standard contract
• NHS standard contract

In January 2017 the NIHR, along with a number of other funders of health research, set out a number of principles and obligations for UK institutions and clinical trainees in receipt of nationally competitive funding for clinical academic research training. As part of NIHR’s role to ensure institutions commit to these obligations, from April 2017 contracts for NIHR research training awards will require institutions to agree to a new clause which protects certain accrued employment rights. Contracts used for schemes launched before April 2017 are available on request from academy@nihr.ac.uk.

In April 2021 the NIHR published a set of principles and obligations to support clinical academic training for nurses, midwives, AHPs and other health and care professionals. This statement sets out the key principles and obligations for those responsible for, supporting or undertaking clinical academic careers to ensure researchers are appropriately supported at critical stages and through the most important transitions in their careers.