Impressions of the Fourteenth NIHR Doctoral Camp 2023

 In our latest guest blog we hear from Francesca Dakin and Said Syed who are both School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) Trainees. They recently had the opportunity to attend the NIHR doctoral training camp. Here's what they thought of it. 

The doctoral training camp is a 3 day annual face to face event which provides guidance and practical experience to learn how to put together a successful application for funding.

A key aspect of a career in research is the ability to know how to put together a successful application for funding. This years training camp offered delegates access to workshops, inspirational speakers and practical experience in preparing grant proposals.

The focus of the Training Camp was the development of a funding application for a fictitious research programme. Delegates were able to work in small, mixed professional groups over three days to prepare a proposal to present to a panel of experts. Each group was appointed an experienced health/care researcher as a mentor and a public contributor and have access to an open office of experts.

Francesca shared some of her reflections of the event;

“I recently took part in the 14^th Annual NIHR Doctoral Training Camp as one of three representatives from the SPCR’s doctoral cohort. I was really proud to be chosen to represent the School alongside Saif Syed and Kerstin Saupe.

The camp was fantastic, challenging, and fast-paced. Putting together a grant application (and then defending it in front of a panel and a crowd) was a steep learning curve that rapidly built strong foundational skills and confidence in writing a grant application with a multidisciplinary team.

My group put together a project that looked at young people’s attitudes towards vaping and its risks – we called it ‘ACTION for Young People’. Thanks to a respectful and results-focused team dynamic, we were able to rapidly determine whose skills fit where, and designate leads for each section of the application.

This helped immensely in the panel defence and allowed us all to engage with the panel. All the teams presented really impressive projects, and we were thrilled to be chosen as the overall winners of the camp and be awarded the (fictional!) grant.

I would strongly recommend any SPCR doctoral candidates to apply to take part in the NIHR camp. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the NIHR infrastructure and opportunities, meet your peer cohort, develop a network for real future applications, and fine-tune your grant writing and defence skills.”

Saif shared some of his thoughts about the day:

"The training camp was intense with a tight schedule and some good networking opportunities throughout the camp. It was a great learning experience as the talks covered key areas of the grant along with the first-hand experience of collaborating with a team to write up a grant and then to defend that in front of a panel."

Registration for future training camps is only open to delegates nominated by Biomedical Research Centres and Units, Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, Patient Safety Translational Research Centres and the Three Research Schools. Two places are available for SPCR trainees. Application is by invitation only.

Have you been on a similar camp? What were your thoughts? Let us know via Twitter – @NIHRSPCR