The Health Foundation has launched a new and innovative fellowship programme in the emerging field of Improvement Science which will provide four successful applicants with research funding, leadership development and access to an international network of improvement science experts.
Improvement Science is about building a knowledge base for improving health services and translating knowledge into practice to deliver the best possible patient care. This developing field requires a systematic, scientifically rigorous approach to close the gap between current and best practice and embraces disciplines across health services research, from sociology to statistics, psychology to health economics.
Improvement Science Fellowships will provide funding for up to three years to develop original, applied research dedicated to improving healthcare in the UK. Fellows will receive a full-time salary and funding to develop their research. The fellowship also includes a package of leadership development in addition to expert mentoring.
Applicants must have a PhD in a relevant area, or an MD, and a proven track record in research or healthcare practice that relates to improvement science. Any discipline that supports scientific efforts to improve healthcare, including any clinical or health-related subject, social sciences or appropriate broader scientific fields will be considered.
In addition, applicants must have the active support of an academic institution, and expertise in using appropriate research methods including:
- health services research;
- statistics;
- operational research;
- clinical trials;
- epidemiology; and
- ethnography.
Successful research proposals will:
- be directly applicable to the UK healthcare service;
- demonstrate innovative and original thinking;
- have substantial potential to improve the quality of healthcare, and build new knowledge in the emerging field of improvement science; and
- draw on knowledge from different disciplines within improvement science.
The deadline for applications is 5pm Monday 14 February 2011.
Successful fellows will be announced in April 2011, with fellowships commencing in September 2011.
More information on the fellowship scheme, including details of how to apply, can be found on the Health Foundation website.