The GM PSRC is committed to making health and care safer by identifying and developing the next generation of patient safety researchers within the Northwest and East Midlands regions. We build capacity in patient safety research in collaboration with health and care partners by aiming to: 

• Provide tailored opportunities for people to pursue their interest in patient safety research and develop their careers, 

• Support clinicians and non-clinicians considered under-represented in research roles to develop as patient safety researchers across all career stages, and 

• To build up and retain a diverse and inclusive community of future patient safety research leaders. 

Our new Patient Safety Research Development Award scheme aims to build capacity in patient safety research by supporting applicants in preparing competitive and successful applications for future NIHR Career Development Awards/Fellowships or equivalent research awards. We aim to attract the brightest clinicians, practitioners, methodologists and professionals with a passion to improve patient safety in their area of work to develop their knowledge and skills. We recognise that it can sometimes be difficult for busy professionals working in health and care (or related) services to find protected time to pursue their interest in research and prepare funding applications, and this Award helps to address this challenge. 

We welcome applications from across health, care and other professional settings from individuals from diverse backgrounds who may have some experience in research but are at different stages of their patient safety research journey.  

The primary aim of the GM PSRC Patient Safety Research Development Award is to support successful applicants in preparing competitive and successful applications for future NIHR Career Development Awards/Fellowships or equivalent research awards. These Fellowships and Awards are available for individuals to apply for across different levels of their research career. These include: 

• Pre-doctoral Fellowships designed to advance your research career at Masters level. These include opportunities specifically for clinical and practitioner staff, methodologists, and health and care professionals . 

• Doctoral Fellowships to complete a PhD, including opportunities across health care, social care and local authorities. 

• Post-doctoral level opportunities for health, care and local authority professionals.   

• Senior Investigator and Professorship Awards for established senior researchers and future leaders.  

Applicants must have regular employment in place in the Northwest and East Midlands regions, with the support and agreement of their line manager to undertake a 1–2 day per week placement with the NIHR GM PSRC. Payment will only be made to the employing organisation, not to individuals. Applicants should also be able to commence their placement before the end of January 2026.

We welcome applications from non-medical clinicians and non-clinicians considered to be under-represented in research roles by the NIHR, currently working at different career stages and across diverse work settings. These include the following groups: 

• Nurses and midwives
• Pharmacy professionals (including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) 
• Allied health professionals (including dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, osteopaths, paramedics, physiotherapists, podiatrists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists), 
• Health care scientists
• Social work and public health professionals 
• Researchers in methodology, and 
• Local Authority professionals. 

This Award is designed to recognise that applicants such as yourself may be working in different sectors at varying stages of your career and who already possess some research experience. However, you may be at different stages of your journey into the patient safety specialty – you may be early in your journey undertaking your first patient safety research projects, you may have already led projects and want to make this a bigger part of your role, or you may be working at post-doctoral or senior investigator level looking for opportunities to develop yourself as an independent patient safety research leader. This Award is designed to support you no matter what stage you are at in your patient safety research journey. 

If you are successful, the Award will fund your salary up to 1-2 days per week over a time period of up to 12 months, which will be determined according to your development needs and preferences. This will enable you to be released from your usual duties in order to dedicate your time with us on placement at the GM PSRC to prepare your funding application for an NIHR Career Development Award/Fellowship (or equivalent scheme) . Each Development Award will provide up to a maximum of £15,000 to support your salary (as backfill), relevant training activities and public and community involvement and engagement (PCIE)costs. 

Whilst preparing a competitive career development award funding application is the main aim of your placement with us, there are types of activities that you might also spend your funded time during placement with the GM PSRC which could include examples below. Carrying out these activities may also support development of your funding application. 

• Contributing to ongoing research projects within the GM PSRC research themes, such as evidence review and synthesis, data collection and analysis, and supporting writing of project materials and publications, 

• Developing / carrying out your own patient safety research project with support from GM PSRC members and partners, 

• Contributing to other research funding applications in partnership with members of the GM PSRC as a collaborator, co-applicant or lead applicant, and 

• Building networks and contacts in patient safety research in order to discuss and share ideas (e.g. for your career development funding application). 

• Tuition fees for academic study, e.g. degrees or postgraduate courses 

• Salary costs for more than one person 

• Equipment costs 

Before submitting your application, we ask that you explore our NIHR GM PSRC Research Themes using the links below to identify which align with your interests. You must then contact the relevant team leads and co-leads via email to discuss a potential placement as part of the Award. This step is essential, as your application must include the name of the team and the staff lead or co-lead you wish to work with during your placement with us. 

To proceed with your application, please submit the following supporting documents to gmpsrc@manchester.ac.uk by 5pm on Monday, 20 October 2025. 

1. Completed application form (download here) 
2. Your current CV 
3. A letter from your organisation confirming their support for your release from regular duties to undertake this Patient Safety Research Development Award. Please see suggested template here. 

The deadline for submitting your application is 5pm on Monday, 20 October 2025.  

Following submission, candidate applications will be shortlisted for interview and those who are successful will be informed of their interview by Friday, 7 November. Interviews have been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 18 November 2025. 

Below is a list of the leads and co-leads of the NIHR GM PSRC teams that you can contact and seek advice from to prepare your application:  

• Developing safer health and care systems
  • Professor Caroline Sanders: caroline.sanders@manchester.ac.uk
  • Professor Tom Blakeman: t.m.blakeman@manchester.ac.uk
• Enhancing cultures of safety
  • Professor Carolyn Tarrant: carolyn.tarrant@leicester.ac.uk
  • Professor Nicola Mackintosh: nicola.mackintosh@leicester.ac.uk
  • Professor Natalie Armstrong: natalie.armstrong@leicester.ac.uk
• Improving medication safety
  • Professor Tony Avery: anthony.avery@nottingham.ac.uk
  • Professor Darren Ashcroft: darren.ashcroft@manchester.ac.uk
• Preventing suicide and self-harm
  • Professor Nav Kapur nav.kapur@manchester.ac.uk
  • Professor Roger Webb roger.webb@manchester.ac.uk
• Health economics 
  • Professor Rachel Elliott: rachel.a.elliott@manchester.ac.uk
• Behavioural Science
  • Professor Chris Armitage: chris.armitage@manchester.ac.uk
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Dr Penny Lewis: penny.lewis@manchester.ac.uk
• Academic Career Development and Medication Safety in Mental Health or Prison Health Care Transitions
  • Dr Richard Keers: richard.keers@manchester.ac.uk)
• Academic Career Development and Patient Safety in Primary Care Transitions and/or Workforce Impacts on Patient Safety:
  • Professor Maria Panagioti: maria.panagioti@manchester.ac.uk

Once the deadline for applications has passed, reviewers will judge applications for the Award according to the process outlined below. The deadline for submitting your application for the Award Round 2 call is 5pm on Monday, 20 October 2025.  

Following submission, your application will first be appraised using a standardised process in order to determine which candidates will be invited to interview. At interview, candidates will be expected to deliver a short 5 minute presentation and answer questions from the panel.  

Applications and interviews will be judged upon how well the following criteria are met: 

1. The individual is from an under-represented professional group currently working in the Northwest or East Midlands regions. Please refer to the above section for details of these under-represented groups. 
2. The application is supported by the current line manager(s) in writing, including a commitment to release the applicant from usual duties for the requested time. 
3. There is a clear rationale for the application including interest in pursuing a patient safety research career alongside current professional role. 
4. There is a clear description of plans to prepare a named NIHR Career Development Award/Fellowship or equivalent research award application during the placement. 
5. There is a clear description of current knowledge and experience in patient safety research and how the Development Award will enhance this. 
6. The application includes selection of GMPSRC research team/staff members and there is alignment of candidate research interests with at least one team. 
7. There are learning objectives/goals stated that have been discussed with the relevant GM PSRC research team lead/co-lead.  
8. There is clarity concerning the length of placement required and time per week allocated to it, which is supported by the applicant’s line manager. 
9. There are plans to undertake further research training and  public and community involvement and engagement (PCIE) work, with ideas articulated of what this may involve.   

Applicants will be notified whether they have been invited to interview by November. Interviews will then be held online via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday, 18 November 2025. Feedback will be provided to unsuccessful applicants. 

Successful applicants will be sent an offer letter with the terms and conditions of the Award. Awards will be expected to start by the end of January 2026 following successful ‘sign off’ from applicants, their line manager(s) and the GM PSRC.  

If you are successful with your application, you will work in partnership with your team supervisor(s) and other relevant PSRC staff/students during your placement. You will work with your supervisor(s) to agree your objectives and activities for your placement, and they will provide you with regular supervision and support. During your placement you will be expected to prepare an NIHR Career Development Fellowship/Award (or equivalent research award) application, which may be at pre-doctoral, doctoral, post-doctoral or senior investigator level career stages (as described above) depending on your development needs and preferences. You will have access to GM PSRC team meetings and events, including Academic Career Development Training Seminars and national PSRC SafetyNet training opportunities. Many of our team also have backgrounds in health and care which may be helpful if you are interested in balancing research and practice in future a clinical academic career, and require mentoring or further support. 

You will continue to be supported after you have submitted an application to the NIHR for a Career Development Award/Fellowship. You will be invited to provide your feedback on your Award experience before it concludes using a survey and/or short informal interview. It is important for us to evaluate the Patient Safety Research Development Award scheme to find out if it is meeting the objectives and expectations of the recipients and supervisors, and whether it is facilitating the development of NIHR Career Development Award applications. 

At the end of the placement, you will also be asked to deliver a short presentation outlining your placement experience at an upcoming GM PSRC event.