NHS Research Scotland Clinician Researcher NMAHP Scheme

Funding to cover protected time to enable experienced non-medical allied health professionals to conduct and lead clinical research while in their post.

NHS Research Scotland is a partnership involving Scottish NHS Boards and the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government. Each year, the CSO allocates £12.7 million to Boards through its NRS Research support budget to meet the time of staff conducting research.

The NHS Research Scotland Clinician Researcher – NMAHP Scheme provides support for experienced NHS Clinical Staff (non-Medical Allied Health Professionals) who currently have no allocated research time and who would like to incorporate research into their post.

The scheme will cover two sessions per week of protected time to enable experienced Clinical staff to conduct and lead clinical research as part of their NHS post. Support is aimed at nurses, AHPs, pharmacists, biomedical/clinical scientists, public health specialists, psychologists and paramedics.

The aim of this scheme is to build non-medical research capacity in the NHS and strengthen the research culture in the NHS while increasing capacity in priority areas.  

The maximum support period is three years (April 2026 to March 2029). It is expected that, on completion of their Fellowship, successful candidates will be able to apply for Researcher Support funding through their local R&D/RD&I office.

The scheme will allow successful applicants protected time to engage in the following activities:

• Clinical research planning and protocol development.
• Grant writing.
• Carrying out clinical research.
• Leading or hosting multi-centre trials as Chief Investigator or local Principal Investigator.
• Participation in commercial research.
• Dissemination of research findings, such as writing papers and presentations at major national and international scientific meetings.