Integrated Clinical Academic Schemes
The ICA programme offer is ending this year as it is being recommissioned by the NIHR as the HCP Internship Programme and will no longer be managed by NHS England, LSBU and Kings.
Details of the new programme that is currently being procured can be found on the NIHR website (NB: This is not open for applications yet – this is an organisational tender process to determine who will host the programme).
We recommend looking at the NIHR website for the full range of offers to help you determine which scheme is most appropriate for you.
Fully Funded Research Schemes for Health and Social Care Professionals Outside of Medicine
If you're a health and social care professional outside of medicine considering or currently doing academic research, you can access funded learning to establish yourself as a future researcher. This scheme is funded by Health Education England and offered by London South Bank University in collaboration with King's College London.
Three Schemes for Future Research Professionals
Scheme 1: Internship
The internship scheme is designed to assist successful applicants to provide a starting point on a clinical academic career pathway and to acquire pre-Masters level experience.
The scheme will provide for a two-day per-week (or equivalent) secondment for successful applicants to undertake an internship scheme with the explicit aim of providing ‘interns’ with the requisite skills, knowledge and competence to enable access to a postgraduate research scheme in London.
HEE will make a direct training allowance contribution to seconding NHS Trusts towards employer costs of £5,000 per awardee.
Scheme 2: Pre-Doctoral
The Pre-doctoral scheme is run by King’s College London in collaboration with London South Bank University (LSBU). The ICA Pre-doctoral scheme aims to support nurses, midwives, pharmacists, and allied health professionals to prepare a competitive application for a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellowship or other equivalent research training award.
Participation in this scheme will enable development of a clinical academic career along the HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) pathway.
HEE will make a direct training allowance contribution to seconding NHS Trusts towards employer costs of £5,000 per awardee.
Scheme 3: Post-doctoral
This scheme aims to support nurses, midwives and Allied Health Care Professionals (AHPs) who meet the eligibility criteria to prepare a competitive application for a NIHR Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Advanced Fellowship (ACAF) or other relevant award, that enables them to continue to develop a clinical academic career along the HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) pathway.
HEE will make a direct training allowance contribution to seconding NHS Trusts towards employer costs of £5,000 per awardee.