We offer internships annually, in collaboration with NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Wessex, for health professionals interested in developing a clinical academic career.

We are pleased to announce the launch of this year's internships on 18th November 2024. They close at 11pm on 13th January 2025.

These are aimed at all health professionals interested in a clinical academic career, including nurses, midwives, pharmacists, health scientists and allied health professionals.

Webinar

ARC Wessex will be holding an open live Q&A session on 9th December, 4:30 – 5:30pm on Teams to answer any questions about the application form or the internships themselves.

A member of the SoAR team will be at this session and it will be recorded. Join here

The awards

SoAR internships are individual awards offered at two levels:

1. Getting Started – Aimed at health professionals getting started in research. 

2. Develop and Progress – Those who fit the eligibility criteria below AND have recently completed (usually within the last four years) or will soon be awarded a PhD, but haven’t yet established themselves as an independent researcher. Applicants must have been awarded their PhD by the time they start their award.

Eligibilty criteria

To be eligible for a SoAR internship award you need to:

• Hold a substantive full or part time contract with the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

• Have current registration to practice in the UK as a health and social care professional (excluding doctors and dentists) with one of the appropriate regulatory and professional bodies from this list.

• Have approval from your manager and your spending plan approved by the UHS Research Grants team prior to submission. This can be done by contacting researchgrants@ uhs.nhs.uk. The amount awarded (max £10,000) will be paid directly to your NHS employer.

Anyone who meets the SoAR eligibility criteria will automatically be considered for one of these awards. 

You will have the same opportunities during the internship as ARC awardees, with additional support and oversight from the SoAR team.

If you are not eligible for a SoAR internship, ARC Wessex has a comprehensive offer of internships this year, for individuals and teams to explore how to use and engage with research. Further details are available on the ARC Wessex website.

How to apply

You can find out more and apply via the ARC Wessex Website. 

Please contact SoAR if you have any queries at SOAR@ uhs.nhs.uk.