Clinical Trials Unit

Education and internships at ARCTU

Group of medical students listening to a presentation from a lecturer

At ARCTU, we train the next generation of clinical trialists – from NHS clinicians designing their first RCT to researchers building careers in trial methodology.

Whether you're an NHS clinician who has never run a study before, a researcher looking to develop specialist methodology skills, or an early-career scientist considering a career in clinical trials, we have a route for you.

 

This two-day intensive course gives clinicians, researchers and health technology professionals a thorough, practical grounding in the design, documentation and delivery of randomised controlled trials in NHS settings.

The course is taught by ARCTU's own clinical trialists, methodologists and trial managers – people who run these studies every day.
Unlike theoretical textbook courses, this programme is built around the practical realities of NHS research: the regulatory framework, the governance infrastructure, the recruitment challenges, and the data quality requirements that determine whether a study succeeds or fails.

Who is the course for?

  • NHS clinicians and allied health professionals planning their first clinical trial
  • Clinical academics at the early stages of a research career needing a practical methodology foundation
  • NHS R&D staff, research nurses and trial coordinators wanting a deeper understanding of trial design
  • Health technology companies and startups who need to understand what running an NHS-embedded study actually involves
  • Postgraduate students in medicine, health sciences, biomedical engineering or data science with a clinical research component
  • Researchers and clinicians considering a NIHR, MRC or Wellcome fellowship with a trials component

Curriculum

Delivered over two days, the course covers the full arc of trial delivery.

Day 1 focuses on design foundations: the research framework, equipoise and trial types, PICO question development, and how early methodological choices shape every stage that follows.

Day 2 moves into practical delivery: writing a robust protocol and sample size justification, managing essential documents and the Investigator Site File, CRF and database design, outcome selection and the Statistical Analysis Plan, quality-by-design and risk-based monitoring, site initiation, health economics, process evaluation, and finally publishing results to CONSORT standards.

All sessions are taught by ARCTU's own trialists, statisticians and trial managers, grounded in the practical realities of running studies inside the NHS.

Course details

The course is available as:

  • open cohort bookings
  • in-house delivery for NHS Trust research teams, academic departments and commercial organisations

Contact our education team at [email protected] to discuss in-house delivery or group bookings.

We offer fixed-term internships for early-career researchers, students and healthcare professionals who want to develop practical skills in clinical trial methodology and management.

Interns are embedded within the ARCTU team, working on live studies under the supervision of experienced clinical trial staff.

What an ARCTU internship involves

  • Protocol and CRF review – understanding how study documents are designed and why
  • Data management – working with eCRF systems and supporting data quality monitoring
  • Regulatory and ethics – supporting document preparation and understanding the governance framework
  • Trial management – site communications, recruitment monitoring, trial master file
  • Statistics and analysis planning – attending methodology discussions and contributing to SAP development where appropriate
  • PPIE – attending patient advisory group or public co-design activities

Who can apply?

  • Final-year undergraduates or postgraduates in medicine, nursing, health sciences, biomedical science, statistics or data science
  • Foundation doctors or junior clinicians seeking a research attachment
  • Early-career allied health professionals interested in clinical research
  • International researchers or students seeking a UK clinical trials placement

Internships are typically three to 12 months in duration.

How to apply

To discuss a potential internship, email [email protected]

Please tell us about your background and what you hope to gain from an internship.

At ARCTU, we actively support researchers developing fellowship applications where the proposed programme has a clinical trials methodology component.

We have experience supporting NIHR, MRC, UKRI and Wellcome Trust fellowship applications.

What we offer to fellowship applicants

  • Letters of support for fellowship applications where ARCTU's expertise is relevant
  • Review and critique of the research design component of applications
  • Mentorship from ARCTU senior staff for fellows in post
  • Co-investigator roles on fellowship-funded studies where appropriate
  • Access to ARCTU's trial delivery infrastructure and NHS and academic networks

Contact us early – ideally before the application is drafted – so we can advise on how to position the methodology and how we can most credibly support the work. Email [email protected]

Relevant fellowship schemes

  • NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) and Clinical Lectureship (CL)
  • NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Award
  • NIHR Advanced Fellowship
  • MRC Career Development Award
  • UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
  • Wellcome Trust Early Career Award
  • Royal College research training schemes
  • Health Data Research UK (HDRUK) fellowships — for AI and informatics-focused applicants