Phase 3: Launchpad Internships
We understand how challenging it is to fit research activity alongside all the other commitments of your role. Having time bought out to undertake research activity can be a solution. For the next three years the Launchpad Programme will be offering annual Research Internships (up to £10k) to undertake research activities of your choosing.
Applications can be for an individual or you can apply as a team.
The internships can be used at two different levels depending on the experience of the applicant, these are:
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Getting started: Individuals/teams who are interested in beginning to explore how to engage with research and implement it into their practice.
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Develop and progress: Individuals/teams who have already undertaken research or research career development activities and need time to plan their next steps. related to a specific project or career pathway.
About internships
Internships are flexible and can be tailored to your interests and the needs of the service you work within. Under each stream the internship could be used for a variety of activities depending on your needs.
They could include any, or a combination, of the following:
• Undertaking a small-scale quality improvement or research project, or analysing existing data.
• Exploring the current evidence base and undertaking a review of the literature.
• Implementing research findings within teams/services.
• Undertaking patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) to identify research issues and priorities, or inform future work.
• Exploring research delivery opportunities such as working alongside delivery teams on different study activities.
• Shadowing principal investigators (PI) in different health and social care settings or undertaking training to become a PI.
• Exploring and building collaborations or networks with research active individuals and academics in a relevant field, or across different settings, such as with local authorities or community groups.
• Initiating or progressing a clinical/practitioner academic career through the development of a pre doctoral fellowship application.
• Exploring and mapping research needs and opportunities within their clinical team/service.
• Writing up and disseminating findings from a project.
Below are some examples of how different people might use the internship funding and combine some of the activities above.
A team leader might recognise the value of adopting research approaches and partnerships and use this internship to develop greater understanding of how to access the evidence base, build collaborations with academic teams and support participant recruitment into larger research studies co-ordinated by their local R&D team.
A research delivery practitioner might be attracted by the idea of learning about the process of protocol development or considering ways to broaden inclusion and diversity within their participant recruitment strategies. They might use the internship to undertake training, explore the demographics of their local population, engage with patients and the public and develop an improvement approach.
A trainee advanced practitioner may wish to develop the research pillar of their advanced practice by working alongside research delivery teams, shadowing existing Principle Investigators (local research leads) and completing an NIHR PI training scheme, to initiate a portfolio of studies delivered within their service.
A social worker might be interested in developing a new initiative and would like to learn how this has been implemented elsewhere. They could use the internship to review the evidence base, develop relationships with service users to review evidence-based options, and then work together to design, test and implement the ideas.
A Nurse, midwife or AHP may wish to explore and progress a clinical academic career. They could use the internship to develop a pre-doctoral or doctoral funding application, taking time to review the evidence base, engage with patients and the public and think about how clinical academic roles would fit within their current team.
Internship support
We’re committed to supporting the Launchpad interns throughout the duration of the programme and beyond.
We hope to build a network of research interested/active HCPs across the South Central region, who can support each other and promote and develop research within their individual organisations. This will involve:
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An Online Intern Forum for coaching, peer support, and shared learning
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Drop-in Sessions will be available for ongoing guidance
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Showcase Events will be held to celebrate achievements and build networks
Application process
The application process for Launchpad internships will open on 8th December 2025 and you will be able to apply through this website.
Please note that applications will be required to be fully costed and agreed with your line manager, and the finance team at your employing organisation.
Additional support
To help develop your application an online support pack will be available to support you with describing the aims and outcomes of the internship, identifying a supervisor/mentor, setting out any training you might need and costings the application properly.
If you need more help we will be running a special internship application drop-in session on Thursday 18th December from 12pm to answer any questions. You can register for this session here.
If all this sounds interesting but feels a bit beyond your current knowledge and skills, you could come along to our ‘Getting Started in Research’ training course which provides two days of online training to help think about what research in your career could look like. This course also provides information about internships as well as other routes to research.
You don’t have to attend this course to apply for an internship.
