Latest news

Join our team – Applied Research Fellowship vacancies

The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria has been awarded funding for five years, starting on 1 April 2026.

We are now opening applications for a range of Applied Research Fellowship roles.

Research Fellows will support the ARC NENC in joining national research networks to deliver impactful research and knowledge mobilisation activities with partners across the health and care system.

Our five new research themes are:

• Prevention including multiple long-term conditions
• Addressing inequity in health and care systems
• Supporting children, women, and family health
• Workforce inclusion and innovation for impact
• Care improvement and safety

You can read more about our research themes, below.

As vacancies go live, they will be added to this page.

Vacancies currently open for application (last updated 1/4/26)

Applied Research Fellow – Workforce inclusion and innovation for impact

(Teesside University)

View the role description and apply

Applications close Thursday 9 April

Applied Research Fellow – Care improvement and safety

(Northumbria University)

View the role description and apply

Applications close Sunday 12 April 2026

Applied Research Fellow – Workforce inclusion and innovation for impact

(Newcastle University)

View the role description and apply

Applications close Wednesday 15 April

Applied Research Fellow – Supporting children, women, and family health

(Newcastle University)

View the role description and apply

Applications close Thursday 16 April

More about the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria, and plans for our next funding period – from April 2026 to March 2031

Our vision is to achieve: Better, fairer health and care, at all ages and in all places.

We are an inclusive and welcoming research collaboration offering opportunities for development for our research community.

We will achieve our aims by:

• Co-producing inclusive research and evidence, working with public and community partners
• Scaling up and spreading successful innovations
• Mobilising knowledge to support implementation and system impact
• Investing in applied research capacity and capability

We will have five research themes and researchers will work across these to support our aims.

Our themes

Prevention, including multiple long-term conditions

Co-leads: Professor Amy O’Donnell (Newcastle University) and Dr Floor Christie-de Jong (Sunderland University)

Researchers working in this theme will develop projects working with partners across our areas of focus which are:

• Reshape prevention and health promotion to better support underserved groups with multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs) and complex needs
• Support healthier, longer working lives
• Improve care for older adults including those living with MLTCs
• Accelerate the implementation of evidence-based interventions to address key risk factors.

Addressing inequity in health and care systems

Co-leads: Professor Clare Bambra and Dr Steph Scott (Newcastle University)

Researchers working in this theme will develop projects working with partners across our areas of focus which are:

• Identify, implement and evaluate opportunities to address inequity in health and care systems
• Drive forward work to integrate health, care, and justice systems
• Focus on structural determinants of health including employment, housing, and multiple system use
• Examine the links between poor health and work, and evaluate public health policies that address these.

Care improvement and safety

Co-leads: Professor Tracy Finch and Dr Michael Sykes (Northumbria University)

Researchers working in this theme will develop projects working with partners across our areas of focus which are:

• Design and evaluate improved models of care that support the shift from hospital to home
• Use implementation science to improve care quality, safety and patient outcomes
• Promote sustainable and value-for-money care models
• Develop transferable knowledge and practical tools to promote care improvement, safety and sustainability.

Supporting children, women, and family health

Co-leads: Professor Judith Rankin and Dr Ryc Aquino (Newcastle University)

Researchers working in this theme will develop projects working with partners across our areas of focus which are:

• Secure a healthy start in life for those born into families living in poverty
• Co-produce and promote actions that support women to live longer and healthier lives
• Adopt a family-informed approach to inform respectful and inclusive health and social care
• Share evidence that can narrow the health and care inequities experienced by children, women and families

Workforce Innovation for Impact (cross-cutting theme)

Co-leads: Professor Emily Oliver (Newcastle University) and Dr Simon Hackett (Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust)

Researchers working in this theme will address one or more of the interconnected challenges of how we create more inclusive health and social care workforces and workplaces, diversify where and how care is delivered, and enable workforce transformation and system change at pace and scale.

Areas of focus are:

• Support the development of inclusive, resilient and diverse workforces
• Support the health and care workforce in underserved or under-represented areas
• Develop evidence that can support large-scale system change and workforce sustainability
• Support and amplify workforce-related research and share knowledge rapidly

More about us

The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC) is a partnership that includes six universities (Cumbria, Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland, and Teesside), the Integrated Care Board (ICB) North East and North Cumbria (NENC), health and care providers, Health Innovation Network (HIN) North East and North Cumbria, and voluntary sector organisations.

We are hosted by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Foundation Trust and our core team are based at St Nicholas’ Hospital in Gosforth, Newcastle.

Our Collaboration supports a network of funded researchers, students and practitioners who work closely with health and care providers, patients and members of the public to develop and deliver research which addresses some of our most pressing health and social care issues.

You can read more about our funding award for 2026-2031, here: New £15.3 million funding announced for research to improve health and care in our region and beyond – ARC