NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowships at a Glance

Welcome to NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship recruitment at NHS England – North West

We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best with your application!

There will be no face to face interviews, all interviews will be held virtually.

Applications and interviews will be integrated across the following North West Universities:

• Lancaster University
• The University of Manchester
• The University of Liverpool
• Edge Hill University
• University of Central Lancashire

2026 ACF Round 1 Re advert  Recruitment Timetable (Medical)

Integrated Clinical Academic Training (ICAT) and ACF Programmes

ICAT is a programme of training and support, designed for clinicians undertaking academic careers. It provides undergraduate opportunities and postgraduate professional career pathways in both medicine and dentistry.

These pages are about recruitment to Academic Clinical Fellowships.

NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs) are tailored training posts, which incorporate components of academic training. ACFs are designed for clinically qualified candidates who can demonstrate outstanding potential for a career in academic medicine or dentistry.

Fellows spend 75% of time undertaking specialist clinical training and 25% in research or educationalist training. A fellowship lasts for a maximum of 3 years (4 years for General Practitioners).

A fellow develops their academic skills, alongside being guided and supported through the Research Training Fellowship application process, to apply for funding to undertake a higher research degree (usually a PhD); or supported to gain a place on an educational programme (leading to a higher degree).

You can find out more about the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and ACFs in general via their website - https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding-and-support/funding-for-training-and-career-development/training-programmes/integrated-academic-training-programme/integrated-academic-training/academic-clinical-fellowships/.

Specific information about the 2026 recruitment process is available via NIHR's (Awaiting NIHR Guidance)

In the North West, we offer Academic Clinical Fellowships in conjunction with four universities: Lancaster University, University of Liverpool and University of Manchester and Edge Hill. You can find out more about specific opportunities with each of these universities by navigating to the relevant page above.

ACF posts all attract a NTN (A) and are run through opportunities. Please note if you don't already hold a NTN, you must apply for the relevant speciality for clinical benchmarking.