NIHR SPHR Fellowships in Public Health Research

Qualification type: pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships

Location: Nationwide

Funding amount: specified in guidance

Funding for UK students and those who have ‘right to work visa’

Hours: Flexible, Full or Part Time

Closes: 12 Noon Monday 23^rd October

The NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) is funding up to 10 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral launching fellowships as part of its initiative to build capacity in public health research.

The fellowship competition has opened today, offering a flexible opportunity to undertake either a pre-doctoral or post-doctoral fellowship on a full-time or part-time basis. Applications are invited from individuals who wish to pursue an academic or practice academic career in public health research. We also welcome applications from those that may have worked or are currently working within public health practice. Our goal is to recruit outstanding and diverse candidates across the full range of fellowships. We are committed to a supportive, inclusive, caring and positive community and welcome applications from under-represented groups.

About the School

The SPHR aims to build the evidence base for effective public health practice by bringing together England’s leading public health research expertise in one virtual organisation. The School conducts applied public health research to increase the volume and quality evidence on cost-effective interventions and supports local public health practitioners and policy makers to engage with research and seek out research evidence to inform their decisions.

Established in April 2012 and renewed from 2022–2027, SPHR is a partnership between nine leading centres of academic public health research excellence across England. Members of the School are the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter and Sheffield; Imperial College London; The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); the LiLaC collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool and Lancaster; Fuse, The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, a collaboration between Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside Universities; and PHRESH, a collaboration between the Universities of Birmingham, Warwick and Keele.

The fellowships are expected to begin in April 2024 and will be available across the nine members of SPHR.

Fellowships will be aligned to the SPHR research programmes:

• Health inequalities
• Public mental health
• Healthy places, healthy planet
• Children, young people & families

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are a priority in the SPHR. We feel strongly that a diverse community of researchers in public health is needed to meet the needs of policy makers, practitioners and the public to improve public health and reduce health inequalities. No one should face barriers when applying for a fellowship at the NIHR SPHR, and we are keen to make sure the application process is fair and accessible to everyone. If you would like us to make adjustments during the application process, please contact us on sphr.training@ncl.ac.uk. Find out more about EDI in the School.

About the fellowships and how to apply

The NIHR SPHR pre-doctoral fellowships in public health research are open to individuals with a Master’s degree, for up to 24 months, offering those appointed the opportunity to consolidate and build their CV and prepare an application to undertake a PhD in public health. We are also keen to encourage applicants who may also have worked or be working within public health practice but wish to pursue an academic or practice academic career. To access the full advert and application form please see this PDF or HTML format. Find out more about our current cohort of pre-doctoral fellows here. 

The NIHR SPHR post-doctoral launching fellowships in public health research are open to individuals with a PhD, for up to 24 months, offering those appointed the opportunity to consolidate and build their CV and prepare funding applications to secure future funding (e.g., NIHR Advanced Fellowship). To access the full advert and application form please see this PDF or HTML format. Find out more about our current cohort of post-doctoral fellows here. 

These fellowships are not appropriate for FPH registered Public Health Trainees. The NIHR Academy have a number of fellowships that you could consider, for example, the ICA or PCAF schemes. You can view these on the NIHR Academy website here.

The closing date for applications to both schemes is 12 noon Monday 23rd October 2023.

Find out more from current fellows

You can find out more about the career journey’s of our current pre-doctoral fellows here and post-doctoral fellows here. 

Dr Ruth Plackett, SPHR post-doctoral launching fellow, talks about her role in the SPHR Public mental health programme here.