ARC Research and Implementation Fellowships

The ARC Fellowship is aimed at clinicians, health & social care practitioners, voluntary sector staff and managers in health and social care services across the East of England. It is for those who would like to work at the interface of research and practice, develop an understanding of the research environment, and develop skills in research methodology, service redesign, change management and implementing evidence-based improvements into practice.

ARC Research and Implementation Fellowships

The ARC Fellowship was established in 2010. Since then, 141 ARC Fellowships have been awarded. Our fellows have come from a wide range of clinical and non-clinical backgrounds including Registered Nurses, Dieticians, Pharmacists, General Practitioners, Consultant Psychiatrists, Paediatricians and Consultants in Palliative Care, managers in health and social care services and Clinical Psychologists, these are amongst the many professions represented since 2010. We have also hosted 9 NIHR-funded Mental Health Fellowships and 4 Social Care Research in Practice Fellowships. 

The 2024 ARC Fellowship will run from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. Fellows will spend one day a week on their 12 month fellowship. Their organisation is funded by the ARC to backfill the fellow's normal duties (to a maximum of £12,500 per fellow per year). Any applicant interested in applying for a fellowship must ensure that any funding gap in backfill will be covered by their employing organisation. The applicant is asked to provide a letter from their organisation confirming this and that their fellowship time for 12 months will be protected.

Please note that the Fellowship is not open to those currently in an academic post. 

Applicants can apply for either the ARC Research Fellowship or the ARC Implementation Fellowship, but not both. 

1. ARC Research Fellowship

The ARC research fellowship is a 12-month programme, aimed at health and social care professionals and people working in the voluntary sector, who are keen to understand the research environment, and to develop skills in research methodology, service redesign and change management. The focus of the fellowship is on local applied research and evaluation projects, building local capacity for evidence-informed practice, and facilitating networking across health and social care. The ARC Research Fellows will be funded by the ARC for one day a week for a year (to a maximum of £12,500), to carry out a research project during their fellowship year under the supervision of a senior academic or a senior clinician. In addition to doing their research project, the fellows attend workshops which are part of a teaching programme, and an action learning group.

We encourage applicants to have a clear idea of the project that they would like to do, then to draft a research protocol which will be submitted as part of the application. If possible, the applicant should make contact with an experienced researcher to provide advice on writing a research protocol. If they aren't able to do so, then the ARC can suggest one of our academics to advise. Applicants may have someone in mind who could be their project supervisor should their application be successful, however this is not essential, as we will find a project supervisor from within the ARC or from one of our partners HEIs. The proposed research project is a very important part of the application process and it is important that the project is ready to be started at the beginning of the fellowship and is able to be completed within the fellowship year.

The teaching workshops that we offer our research fellows will help to develop an understanding of research and evidence, research methodology, statistics, and theory of change management. These newly acquired skills can then be applied in the workplace to effect real change that ultimately brings about improvements in service delivery.

2. ARC Implementation Fellowship

The ARC Implementation Fellowship is a 12-month tailored programme for health and social care staff who are interested in developing knowledge and skills to implement evidence-based improvements in health and care settings. As with the ARC Research Fellows, the ARC Implementation Fellows will be funded by the ARC for one day a week for a year (to a maximum of £12,500). Thus any applicant interested in applying for a fellowship must ensure that any funding gap to backfill their one day a week fellowship time, will be covered by their employing organisation. The fellowship comprises of attendance at implementation education sessions, and conducting an implementation project (normally in the fellow’s workplace). The project to be implemented must be underpinned by rigorous, relevant evidence but can entail the adaptation of such evidence to fit novel context(s).  An essential requirement of the implementation fellowship is to make it valuable to the employing organisation as well as the individual fellow. 

The ARC East of England is able to draw on a wide range of implementation strategies, tools and techniques to enact change in the most impactful way, taking organisational context, the innovation, and the wider health and care landscape into account. People, teams, and relationships between organisations are critical when implementing research and leading change. The ARC East of England's Implementation Lead, Dr Sarah Robinson, is Director of Delivery at Health Innovation East. This partnership between the ARC and Health Innovation East means that implementation fellows are able to benefit from the breadth of implementation activities that Health Innovation East is supporting across the region – drawing on expertise in change management and implementation science. 

We welcome applications from anyone with an interest in implementation of research and best evidence in the health and social care sectors. We also particularly encourage applications from previous ARC/CLAHRC Fellows who have done a piece of evidence-based research that they would like to receive support to implement.