Creating a common and visible national clinical research career pathway (phase one)

For the first time, funders across the UK have mapped out where clinical researchers can access funding at different stages of their careers.

Download the resource: Cross-funder Mapping

The role of clinical research

Clinical researchers help to improve health outcomes and boost economic growth. Their research will be crucial to building an NHS fit for the future, by making new discoveries and finding innovative solutions. Research active hospitals consistently deliver better patient outcomes, while every £1 invested in medical research delivers a further 25p return for every year thereafter.

Clinical researchers are key to bridging the gap between scientific discovery and better patient care. These staff create connections between academia, the NHS and industry. Their research helps to prevent illness, develop new treatments and attract private investment. They also help to train the health research leaders of the future.

Their contributions are vital to meeting the ambitions of the recently published Industrial Strategy, 10-Year Health Plan for England and Life Sciences Sector Plan.

Why funders are taking action

The number of clinical academics is in a worrying state of decline. In January 2025, a report - commissioned by the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) was published - called “Clinical researchers in the United Kingdom: Reversing the decline to improve population health and promote economic growth”.

The report set out the importance of clinical academics, provided data analysis of the decreasing numbers, and noted reasons for this decline. One of these reasons was the uncertain and inflexible career pathways.

The solution

A recommended deliverable from the report was to “create a common and visible national clinical research career pathway across funders to provide a visible coherent UK offer”.

In response to this, funders from across the UK have convened to map out funding for clinical researchers and develop proposals for simplifying career pathways.

The first step was to map offers across several major UK funders to identify overlaps and gaps in the funding landscape. The second step was to capture scheme information across funders to identify opportunities for alignment and simplification. The result is a simplified framework with broad agreement on career phases and guiding funding principles.

We (the funders) are delighted to share this mapping for phase one, which is outlined in the [PDF document / images] below.We hope that this will provide greater clarity about the funding opportunities for clinical researchers across different career stages, from pre-doctoral to independent researchers.

Next steps

The map is very much a work in progress. We will continue to iterate this map so that further funding opportunities are includedincluding for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals where not already included. Please do get in touch if there are other opportunities for us to include. Longer-term, we will improve the accessibility and interactivity of the map.

We would also like to further align schemes where possible, for a more coherent UK offer. A great example of this is where MRC, NIHR, CRUK and BHF have coordinated funding opportunities for Clinical Future Leaders Fellowships, with Wellcome’s Career Development Awards also aligning their offer.

The group will continue working together to address the other funder facing deliverables of the report. This includes tackling challenges facing clinical academics from health specialties, including nurses, midwives and allied healthcare professionals (NMAHPs), noted in the latest report commissioned by OSCHR.

As funders, we are committed to developing more attractive, streamlined and visible career pathways for a vital part of the health research community.

The framework: Clinical Research Careers and the ‘Research Clinician Track’ 

A simplified framework has been established with agreement on five defined career phases. The framework outlines the types of fellowships or personal awards which may be offered at each career stage, aiming to allow flexible entry with increasing degree of research experience, independence, leadership. The purpose of which is to provide clinical researchers at any level of seniority with visibility of the funding pathway in the UK.

Proposed funding principles

In consultation with several national funders, guiding funding principles have been broadly agreed and summarise the aim of funding support across the career phases. Guiding principles cover the funding and duration which may be provided to benefit and support each career phase (including suggested research time, salary support, and other costs) most appropriately. This will provide clinical researchers with awareness of the type and structure of funding support available at each career stage. These principles will be expanded to nurses, midwives and allied health professionals as a next phase.