Apply Now: £28,000 Funding Opportunity for Social Care Practitioners in North West London to Lead Research and Capacity Building

Are you a social care practitioner in Northwest London? This is your chance to promote research culture within your organisation and make a meaningful impact in social care practice.

About the Role

Funding for one part-time post is available for 14 months for practitioners in the social care sector in North West London (NWL) to take the lead in promoting research values and culture in their organisation and getting directly involved with existing or new research projects on social care.

Open to people currently in employment working in social care, whether in a local authority, private social care organisation or in the voluntary sector.

These posts are an essential part of the overarching ARC NWL Social Care Capacity Building Programme, working in collaboration with Brunel University and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

What’s on Offer?

• Funding: Up to £28,000 (£20,000 for time release and £8,000 for local capacity-building activities).

• Support: Mentorship, training, and links to a wider research network.

• Start Date: 3 February 2025

• End Date: 31 March 2026

Key Responsibilities

The practitioner post will be part of our ARC NWL Social Care Research Team. We will offer the successful post holders’ mentorship, training, support and links to support the work being undertaken in the practice settings. The postholders will be able to do a range of things, which may include some of the following:

• • • Organise workshops and seminars to enhance research skills in social care.

    • Mentor colleagues undertaking research projects.

    • Collaborate with local organisations to embed research culture into practice.

    • Develop partnerships with academic and social care institutions.

    • Promote diversity and inclusion in research, focusing on underserved communities.

Who Can Apply?

Application criteria:

• The applicant works in a social care organisation or social care department in a local authority operating in North West London.

• The strength of the proposal for social care research capacity building.

• Demonstrated interest and commitment to extending the use of social care research within their practice, organisation and building research cultures.

• Clarity on incorporating diversity and inclusion and working with underserved communities.

• Availability to commit time to the capacity building work over the duration of the programme which concludes at the end of March 2026.

• Committing to be part of the NWL ARC Social Care Research community.

• Employees of Brunel University are ineligible to apply for these positions. 

Interested applicants must read the full details in the Guidance Information before applying.

Application Process and Further Information

Full opportunity details and guidance can be found on our vacancies page.

All application forms need to be downloaded, completed and submitted by 4pm on Wednesday, 8 January 2025 and emailed to nihr.arc@imperial.ac.uk. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews (via Microsoft Teams) during the week commencing 13 January 2025.