NIHR GOSH BRC Catalyst Fellowships 2026

The Catalyst Fellowship aims to build the capacity of child health research by supporting post-doctoral researchers to take the next step in their careers and develop into the research leaders of the future.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR GOSH BRC) is a collaboration between Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH). The NIHR GOSH BRC provides cutting-edge facilities, world-leading expertise and access to over 200 rare disease patient populations allowing our staff and NHS, university and industry collaborators to conduct pioneering translational research into childhood illnesses. We were first awarded BRC status from the NIHR in 2007 and, in 2022, we secured £37.5 million for our fourth term until March 2028.

There are five research themes in the NIHR GOSH BRC:

• Genomic medicine (GM)
• Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM)
• Gene, stem and cellular therapies (GSCT)
• Accelerating novel therapies (ANT)
• Applied child health and informatics (ACHI)

Alongside these themes, our Central Development Hub supports our Career Development Academy, Business Development, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) activities – all of which contribute to our ongoing efforts to translate research into patient benefit.

As part of our commitment to early career researchers the BRC Junior Faculty, a group of early career researchers, plays a central role in championing research talent and shaping strategic decisions. In addition, our newly formed Paediatric Excellence Initiative, a partnership between GOSH BRC, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Sheffield Children’s Hospital supports the delivery of our BRC strategy.

The GOSH BRC Junior Faculty is pleased to launch the 2026 Catalyst Fellowship funding call. This scheme is designed to support post-doctoral researchers in taking the next step in their research career and to help retain talented child health researchers.

The Catalyst scheme is funded by the GOSH BRC and the GOSH Charity, and around £600,000 is available to support the 2026 Catalyst Fellowship call.

The Fellowship provides funding for salary costs for up to 18 months at up to 100% full time equivalent (FTE). In addition, applicants can apply for up to £10,000 for consumables. The successful applicant(s) can start their Catalyst Fellowship between 01 April 2026 and 01 October 2026. For details of future Catalyst calls, please see the Catalyst guidance and application form.

• Applications are welcome from staff substantively employed by either GOSH, ICH, or our partner hospitals (Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital or Sheffield Children’s Hospital). Honorary employees from academic institutes affiliated with the partner Trusts may be considered where their research is translational, clearly linked with the relevant Trust’s research objectives, and will be delivered in collaboration with the partner Trust. Please contact the BRC if you are unsure of the eligibility of your institute affiliation.
• Researchers working in the areas of child health from all relevant professions are invited to apply, including clinicians, non-clinical researchers, nurses, allied health professionals, pharmacists, health care scientists, biomedical engineers and any other appropriate healthcare professions.
• Applicants must have completed a PhD (or equivalent) or be a PhD student who has submitted their thesis and has a viva examination planned within four weeks of the Catalyst Fellowship deadline.
• There is no restriction on time post completion of PhD i.e. post docs applying for a fellowship.
• Applicants who have already received a postdoctoral fellowship or equivalent e.g. Wellcome, MRC or other funder Early-Career award / Career Development Award or similar are not eligible to apply. If you are unsure about your eligibility regarding this, please contact us to clarify further.
• Salary costs can be requested for up to 100% FTE and for up to 18 months.
• Reduced FTE requests will be considered to reflect clinical responsibilities and individual circumstances. Catalyst Fellowships are aimed at providing protected research time during clinical training/from clinical duties and cannot be used to support clinical, non-research activity. If you are planning to apply for a part time fellowship, please contact the BRC to discuss your plans before starting your application.
• For doctors in training, any Out of Program for Research (OOPR) proposal for the period of the Catalyst Fellowship must have been agreed, in principle, by the relevant Deanery at the time of submission of your application.

• The BRC is not allowed to support any research using animals, however, as a portion of funding for the Catalyst scheme will be provided by the GOSH Charity, it will be possible for projects to include a small component of animal work within a wider translational project with human relevance. If you plan to include any animal work in your application, please contact the BRC to discuss your plans before applying.
• The project must be registered with the GOSH/ICH R&D office (or partner site equivalent) before the application is submitted. GOSH and ICH applicants should register the project using the following link - Registering a project or funding application | Great Ormond Street Hospital (gosh.nhs.uk). Start the registration and costing process at least 6 weeks before the application deadline Monday 17 November 2025, 5 p.m. For partner sites researchers, contact research@alderhey.nhs.uk (Alder Hey), r.innovation@nhs.net (Sheffield) or bwc.research@nhs.net (Birmingham) R&D offices before applying.
• If you exceed the word limit stated in any sections of your application form, the BRC team will delete the text that comes after the limit prior to peer review.
• If any signatures are missing from the application form on the day of the deadline, the application will not be considered. Please get in touch with the BRC if you have issues obtaining signatures.
• Applicants can apply for up to £10,000 of non-pay funding for items or activities necessary to enhance external fellowship applications. The non-pay budget can be used for consumables costs, reasonable costs associated with conference and training course attendance, to conduct patient and public involvement and engagement activities and activities that address barriers to research inclusion and/or reducing health inequalities.
• Catalyst recipients must acknowledge the NIHR GOSH BRC in any publications and presentations and provide progress reports when requested by the BRC (including up to five years after the fellowship end date).

Successful Catalyst Fellows will be provided with a training package of support, including attendance at the NIHR GOSH BRC Academic Training Weekend, regular support and mentorship from the senior BRC leadership team or partner site representatives, and BRC Junior Faculty membership.

Successful Catalyst Fellows are required to identify appropriate external funding calls to submit applications to during their fellowship. The planned external fellowship should be based at GOSH, ICH or within one of our partner sites.

If a Catalyst Fellow secures external funding before completion of the Catalyst Fellowship, they will be expected to take up this external funding at the earliest opportunity.

The GOSH BRC management team, the GOSH BRC Junior Faculty and previous successful Catalyst Fellows will be holding two webinars for applicants to attend if they have any questions. Details for the webinars can be found below.

Join Webinar on Monday 08 Septembe2 2025, 12.00 p.m. to 1.00 p.m.

Topic: NIHR GOSH BRC Catalyst Fellowship - Webinar 1 Time: Sep 8, 2025 12:00 PM

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 869 4775 6340

Passcode: 879442

Join Webinar on Friday 19 September 2025, 12.00 p.m. to 1.00 p.m.

Topic: NIHR GOSH BRC Catalyst Fellowship - Webinar 2

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 861 6967 4091

Passcode: 509609

Applicants may also find it beneficial to view the GOSH BRC Junior Faculty Bitesize seminars, which provide additional advice on different aspects of research and may be helpful when preparing an application. You can find recordings of the Bitesize seminars on the NIHR GOSH BRC YouTube Channel

• The deadline for applications is Monday 17 November 2025, 5 p.m. Any application received after this time will not be considered for review.
• To apply for the Catalyst Fellowship, please read the Guidance and Application Form Document for further details about the call, including eligibility criteria, and to access the application form.
• Completed application forms should be submitted as a word document and be sent along with an up-to-date CV (maximum 2 pages), and formal costings from your Research and Development office. Submissions should be sent by e-mail to brc@gosh.nhs.uk by the deadline, Monday 17 November 2025, 5 p.m.

Following submission, applications will be reviewed and shortlisted by members of the GOSH BRC’s Leadership Team and the GOSH BRC Junior Faculty, in addition to internal and external members of academic staff. They will assess applications using the selection criteria outlined in the Catalyst Fellowship Guidance Document.

• Shortlisted applicants will be invited for interview.
• Interview dates are being finalised, but they are likely to take place in the week of the 26 January 2026.
• Applicants shortlisted for interview will also be offered a mock interview which are likely to take place the week of 12 January 2026.
• Awardees will be notified within one week of the interview date.

Please contact brc@gosh.nhs.uk if you have any questions about the scheme.