Lewis Spitz Surgeon Scientist PhD Programme

The projects have now been shortlisted and are published on the UCL GOS ICH website, which are available to view here.

• Call closes: Tuesday 24 January 2023, 23:59
• Completed applications should be sent to BRC@gosh.nhs.uk
• Review and outcome notification: End of January/early February

The Lewis Spitz Surgeon Scientist PhD programme, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre (GOSH BRC) and GOSH Charity, is driven by the need to increase capacity through training in the scientific basis of paediatric surgery, with a focus on treating children who suffer from congenital malformations, cancers and other conditions requiring surgery. The key aim of the scheme is to develop future surgeon scientist leaders with excellence in translational research.

GOSH Charity is UK's largest dedicated charitable funder of child health research, and is committed to supporting world-class paediatric health research. Its five-year research strategy puts children, and the adults they will become at the centre by focusing on delivering personalised medicine for children with rare and complex conditions. Working closely with GOSH and UCL GOS Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH), GOSH Charity has the ambition to help unlock breakthroughs in child medicine by supporting researchers’ investigations into the causes of rare diseases in children and conditions that start in childhood.

The NIHR GOSH BRC funds early translational research focused on paediatric rare or complex diseases, which aims to translate discoveries from basic/discovery science into clinical research and through to patient and economic benefit. GOSH and the UCL GOS ICH were first awarded BRC status by the NIHR in 2007. In 2022, the GOSH BRC secured £35 million to take it into its fourth term, running from December 2022 to November 2027. In this fourth term, as part of a wider national collaboration, a BRC National Paediatric Excellence Initiative has been set up between GOSH BRC and children’s hospitals in Birmingham, Sheffield and Liverpool - Birmingham Women and Children’s Hospital, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, respectively.

The scheme will fund up to four surgeon scientists to pursue a doctoral research degree based at the UCL GOS ICH over the next five years. The intention is to fund two candidates each year, with start dates in October 2023 and October 2024.

This joint call invites research outline proposals to be included as part of the PhD projects portfolio that will form the basis of our joint PhD programme.

This call is open to joint clinical-academic partnerships between GOS-ICH academics and GOSH consultant surgeons, who will form the core supervisory team for successful PhD fellows registered in an academic department within the GOS ICH. With the new BRC including three children’s hospital partners from Birmingham, Sheffield and Liverpool, we also welcome collaborative projects that include the three partners, who can form co-supervisory team to the surgical PhD fellows and enable research visits and placements between GOSH/ICH and the partners.

The Lewis Spitz surgeon scientist PhD scheme will be open to all surgical trainees (ST2-ST8), therefore proposed projects can be in any area of paediatric research, aligned to the mutual priorities of the GOSH BRC and the GOSH Charity to drive translation from basic sciences into clinical research for patient benefit.

PhD candidates will be selected based on merit. The NIHR GOSH BRC is not allowed to support animal research studies. Therefore, projects will either need to be entirely human based to qualify for 100% NIHR GOSH BRC funding; involve a maximum of 50% animal research across the three-year PhD, in which case they would be eligible for co-funding by the NIHR GOSH BRC and the GOSH Charity; or involve more than 50% animal research in which case they would need to be fully funded by the GOSH Charity. In the first round of applications to the Lewis Spitz Surgeon Scientist PhD programme, we will aim to appoint two fellows to start in October 2023. One position will be reserved for a successful candidate to complete a 100% GOSH BRC-eligible project.

You do not need to have had prior links with the BRC to be eligible to apply; applications are welcome from individuals who are new to the BRC.

The key condition for the overall scheme will be for successful applicants to be appointed and registered as UCL PhD students at GOS ICH. Each fellow would have at least two supervisors – one primary and one subsidiary. The latter will ordinarily be the clinical supervisor from GOSH, who must be a consultant surgeon with appropriate level of research and student supervision experience. Additional co-supervisors can be nominated: from GOS ICH, GOSH or from within the BRC Paediatric Excellence Initiative (i.e. clinicians or academics in Birmingham, Sheffield or Liverpool children’s hospitals). Supervisor eligibility is defined by UCL Academic Manual policy.

Eligible primary academic supervisor will have primary research activity taking place at the UCL GOS ICH (this includes substantive ICH staff seconded to e.g. Francis Crick Institute or honorary ICH staff who are primarily based at the ICH/ZCR).

Eligible GOSH clinical supervisor will be a GOSH consultant surgeon with expertise in relevant proposed research area and supervisory experience.

Applicants from the GOSH BRC Paediatric Excellence Initiative Network are welcome to join the supervisory team in collaboration with GOS-ICH/GOSH, where primary supervisor is based at the GOS-ICH. They should normally: i) have expertise relevant to the area of proposed research; ii) be familiar with the standards required for MPhil/PhD/EngD/MD(Res)/MRes research.

Funding will be made available to the successful surgeon PhD applicants who will be supported for three years. This funding will provide:

• a salary appropriate to the surgeon scientist’s level of clinical training (ST2-ST8) up to but not including NHS consultant level
• UCL PhD student fees (we are only able to provide support for home fees)
• Funds for research, training and development, up to a total of £10,000 per year, including consumables, equipment (£5,000 per item maximum), travel.

• Projects should be in the remit of translational research with a mutual GOSH Charity-GOSH BRC focus on treating children who suffer from congenital malformations, cancers and other conditions requiring surgery.
• Primary supervisors may submit up to two project outlines for inclusion in the portfolio but can only take one student per round.
• PhD candidates will be substantively employed at GOSH or UCL GOS ICH.
• Inclusion of your project outline in the portfolio will not guarantee you a student.

Completed application forms and CVs for primary academic and clinical supervisors should be submitted by e-mail to BRC@gosh.nhs.uk by the deadline.

Following submission, a shortlisting panel will approve the portfolio of possible projects for inclusion in the open call for surgeon scientist PhD fellowships. All applicants will be notified of the outcome shortly after.

Following projects adoption process, we will advertise PhD fellowships externally to invite applications from surgeons who wish to conduct a PhD under this programme. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed by the Lewis Spitz Surgeon Scientist PhD programme panel.

Successful candidates will select projects and will be paired up with supervisors on the basis of the outline projects in the portfolio and their specific interests. Top selected students will get priority to their choice of a project. Supervisors will work together with the student on a full PhD project proposal which will be submitted for final approval by a sub-committee of the interview panel.