The NIHR Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award (SCPRA) provides up to 3 years of funding for senior clinicians and practitioners at postdoctoral level to spend protected time on research. Cohort 4 is now open and closes at 1pm on 24 November 2026. The award is for registered senior clinicians and practitioners who already hold a PhD or MD and want time within their current role to build their research and develop as academic leaders. It is a flexible personal career development award, and dementia is one of the strategic themes for this round.
Who can apply
To apply, you must:
- be a registered senior clinician or senior practitioner
- have already been awarded a PhD or MD
The NIHR will prioritise applications from:
- nurses and midwives
- allied health professionals
- healthcare scientists
- pharmacists
- general practitioners
- dentists
Medics are not eligible for this award. The NIHR points them to other postdoctoral support instead, such as the NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Award or the Pre-Application Support Fund. If you hold a Professional Doctorate, you must contact the NIHR at ipps@nihr.ac.uk before you start your application so they can confirm your eligibility. Applications are especially welcome from people who are typically underrepresented in research, and from a range of backgrounds and communities, including those working in community, local authority, primary care and public health settings. If you work in another underrepresented area or discipline, use the ‘Contextual factors’ section of the application form to explain why this award would benefit you. Full eligibility details are in the ‘Who can apply?’ section of the SCPRA award page.
Rules for host organisations
To support underrepresented professions, extra criteria apply at organisational level:
- 60% of the applications from any single organisation are expected to come from the priority professions listed above
- awards must be based in an NHS organisation, local authority, other organisation delivering health and care services, or a higher education institution in England
If your contracting organisation is part of a local or regional partnership or consortium, the share of priority applications is worked out from the organisations named in your application, not across the whole consortium. Organisations with only a small number of applications may not be able to meet this, and should contact the NIHR to discuss it.
Strategic themes
The NIHR is particularly interested in applications that will develop skills and experience in:
- strategies and interventions for de-prescribing
- lobular breast cancer
- prevention
- work and health
- compound pressures
- brain tumours
- motor neurone disease
- dementia
- oral and dental health
Applications under a strategic theme still have to meet the same quality threshold. But if there are more fundable applications than the NIHR can support, those under the themes will be prioritised.
Webinar
The NIHR is running a webinar on Monday 19 October 2026, from 3pm to 4pm, covering the award and the changes for Cohort 4, with time for questions. Register for the SCPRA Cohort 4 webinar.
Key dates
- Opening date: 23 September 2026
- Webinar: 19 October 2026
- Closing date: 24 November 2026 at 1pm
- Funding committee review: December 2026 to March 2027
- Award start dates: 1 May to 1 September 2027
How to apply
This is a single-stage application made through the NIHR awards management system. You will need to create an account if you do not already have one. Applications received after 1pm on Tuesday 24 November 2026 will not be considered. You must provide the following uploads:
- Research area of interest
- Career development programme
- Gantt chart of your award plan
- Letters of support
- Narrative CV
Across these uploads, set out clearly your FTE commitments, the exact hours or sessions split between practice and academic research, and what will happen to any active funding if you are successful. If you have not written a narrative CV before, our podcast on how to create a narrative CV is a good place to start. You can only have one NIHR Academy personal career development award application under consideration at a time. If you already have one in, wait for the outcome before applying, as a second application will be ruled ineligible. The exception is the Senior Research Leader programme: you can apply to both at once and hold both awards, as long as your time and costs across them do not overlap. Before you start, read the application form guidance, the SCPRA assessment criteria, the finance guidance for applicants and the research inclusion guidance, which is worth considering when planning what training you need. Our blog on the characteristics of a great Postdoctoral Award application also has advice that carries across to the SCPRA.
Support with your application
If you are based in England, the NIHR Research Support Service offers free, confidential advice on developing career development funding applications, from refining your research question and methods to involving people and communities and building inclusive research. Find out more about the Research Support Service. The NIHR is committed to removing barriers for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. Include any reasonable adjustment costs in your budget, but do not give detailed information about them in your application. To discuss adjustments to the application process or the award, email ipps@nihr.ac.uk. For help with your application, contact ipps@nihr.ac.uk. Looking for other options? Browse our latest funding calls.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/senior-clinical-and-practitioner-research-award-cohort-4/2026487)
