Our NIHR Senior Investigator award recognises the most prominent and prestigious researchers of applied health and social care. Senior Investigators help shape the direction of health, social care and public health research in the UK.
Senior Investigators will receive a discretionary award of £15,000 per year for 4 years to fund activities that support their research.
New for this cohort
Applications for our NIHR Senior Investigator award will now be open to researchers from Northern Ireland. We plan to appoint up to 2 Senior Investigators from Northern Ireland as part of this cohort.
In addition, Senior researchers in England (NIHR Senior Investigators), Scotland (NHS Research Scotland Network Leads) and Wales (Health and Care Research Wales Senior Research Leaders) will now be brought together as a community of Senior Investigators.
As part of the Senior Investigator community, they:
- influence national research plans
- act as mentors and role models for early-career researchers
- lead impactful health, and social care and public health research
- act as ambassadors across health, social care and public health systems
- help develop research capacity and talent in underrepresented groups, specialities and areas of geography
Eligibility
We welcome applicants from diverse professional backgrounds. This includes, but is not limited to, those with an interest in:
- social care research
- nurses
- midwives
- allied health professionals
- pharmacists
- healthcare scientists
- methodologists
Applying if you are based in England
To apply, you should be a leading researcher funded by the NIHR and based in England. To be eligible, you must:
- have made a substantial contribution to the NIHR with ongoing contribution planned
- have part or all your salary funded as a research cost from the NIHR
- have current, active and eligible NIHR funding at the time of application, which must extend beyond 30 June 2026
- be employed by an organisation based in England
- be undertaking high-quality and internationally leading applied health, public health or social care research
You are eligible to apply if you are an NIHR Research Professor or a Global Health Research Professor and your term ends before 1 April 2026, as long as you meet the other eligibility criteria.
If your salary is being funded as a core cost, in-kind, or matched funding by an organisation in association with an NIHR infrastructure award, please contact us to discuss your eligibility.
Applying if you are based in Northern Ireland
You can apply for a Senior Investigator award if you are a senior researcher leading applied health, public health or social care research based in Northern Ireland. This is a change in eligibility for this cohort.
You must demonstrate how you have made, and continue to make, a meaningful contribution to the delivery of Northern Ireland’s strategy for Research and Development in Health and Social Care Research or to the NIHR.
If you are based in Northern Ireland, please contact Dr Sorcha Finnegan before starting an application: Sorcha.Finnegan@hscni.net. Submitted applications and applicant details will be shared with the HSCNI office following the submission deadline to confirm eligibility and throughout the review and award period.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/senior-investigators-cohort-19/2025345)
