City St George's receives NIHR funding to inspire students into research

The School of Health & Psychological Sciences at City St George’s (CSG), University of London has received funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to provide research training and engagement programmes for students and early career researchers.

The funding is for three years and supports institutions to deliver engagement programmes to attract people into research careers, and fully-funded research master's places to train those new to research.

The NIHR has funded universities across 12 regions in England with a total of £33.2m. SHPS at City St George’s is leading the North London region along with its collaborating academic partners Queen Mary University of London and the University of East London. The School of Health and Medical Sciences (formerly St George’s) at CSG has also received funding in the South London region as a partner along with lead institution King’s College London and fellow partner London South Bank University.

In the North London region, CSG has been awarded £3.1m and 90 funded master’s places over three years, which will enable students and recent graduates to gain research training and experience. It will also provide research internship opportunities and support students towards a broad range of careers from research delivery to academia. By funding places regionally, it helps individuals across England irrespective of location.

The funding is part of the new INSIGHT: Inspiring Students into Research scheme. It aims to attract students in health and social care into the full range of research careers. This includes professions without much exposure to research during their professional training. It also aims to build partnerships between organisations and develop local student networks.

Professor Eamonn McKeown, Associate Dean (Postgraduate Taught Studies & CPD) of SHPS and lead applicant in the North London region, said:

The NIHR INSIGHT programme provides opportunities for early-career health and social care professionals to develop research skills and clinical academic careers through a range of master’s courses and research internships. As the lead organisation for the North London region, the School of Health & Psychological Sciences at City St George’s is delighted to have the opportunity to work with our partners at Queen Mary and UEL, and our clinical partners, to help support the development of the next generation of clinical academic researchers.

We are proud to lead this initiative in North London. This funding will not only provide invaluable research training for health care professionals, but it will also foster partnerships and develop local networks that will have a lasting impact on health and social care research.