Clinical Research Training Fellowships
The ACO is proud to support Clinical Research Training Fellows (CRTFs) at 911±¬ÁÏÍøith career development guidance and training programmes.
UCL has over a hundred CRTFs at any one time who come from a wide variety of backgrounds including doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs).
What is a Clinical Research Training Fellowship (CRTF)?
- CRTF is a type of grant held by a clinician typically for the purpose of undertaking (OOPR) leading to an award of a PhD.
- CRTF registered for a PhD is undertaking an advanced research degree awarded on the basis of a thesis and oral examination.
- To be awarded a PhD the candidate's thesis must represent a significant and substantial scholarly contribution and they must be able to convey their work in a lucid and scholarly manner.
- A clinician doing a CRTF will have the opportunity to continue to develop their clinical skills by participating in clinics, on-call rotas and clinical meetings as appropriate to their clinical specialty.
The biggest providers of funds for CRTFs in the UK is the and , but several research charities also offer funding for doctors at different stages of their training.
When to apply for a CRTF?
- CRTF could follow on after the Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) or an Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF), which will maximise the opportunities for the trainees to compete successfully for funding for a 3 year CRTF.
- The ACF scheme has protected research time in order to allow the preparation of a proposal to an external funding body for a CRTF fellowship leading to a PhD.
- However, a CRTF can be applied for at any time, if an individual has sufficient research experience, has identified a suitable supervisor at 911±¬ÁÏÍø and written a comprehensive research proposal to apply for funding.
Where to apply for a CRTF?
- UCL trainees have been successful at gaining Fellowship funding from a very large variety of charities and research councils.
Both the larger funders such as the and , but also smaller charities that are often linked to particular diseases or clinical specialities.
Please Note:
After an application is submitted it often takes 4-6 months for a funder to reach a decision on whether to short-list and interview you, so leave enough time before you would like your project to start.