Data Science Internships Overview

Changes this year

Unfortunately, this year we can’t offer funded places as we have done previously. We are aiming to re-establish these funded internships after NHS England has been combined with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

How this change impacts the scheme:

  • Previously our interns occupied permanent band 6 roles with full agenda for change conditions for 5-month periods. This came with a band 6 spine point 1 wage and included access to data.
    This year our interns will sign a voluntary agreement honorary contract which enables the project to go ahead, and then a separate data sharing agreement which enables access to the data. This will come with no wage and so the intern will need to be funded by their current PhD body throughout the duration of the industrial placement.

  • Previously we could only offer four internships (due to the limitation on available permanent places) – two in January and two in June. This year we have up to ten places available with five starting in January and five in April. There is flexibility on the start date and time-period going from three to five months and an opportunity to group interns if it would be beneficial to have a team work on a project together.

  • Previously we’ve been limited to applicants who are on a current PhD programme throughout the duration of the internship and have an established right to work in the UK.
    This year these constraints will still apply.

Note: we welcome applications from students on visas that restrict their weekly working hours as we are looking to match the right student to the right project which will result in an innovative and usable project which is by no means directly correlated to the number of hours available.

Please email datascience@nhs.net with any queries and questions. Please do not send CVs or personal data here.

Overview

This scheme aims to connect NHS real data and issues with academic thought and research through short-term PhD internships. The benefit to the NHS is the added value that academia brings to evidence-based research but on timescales that allow the insights to be acted upon. For the student and university, the benefit is an avenue to conduct related research in an industrial environment and access to NHS data where appropriate.

We are looking for PhD students working in a quantitative discipline but with an interest in applying their knowledge and gaining experience of creating solutions for the NHS. The student will be funded funding can’t be offered in 2026 and interns will have to be self-funded from their current PhD funding body during the duration of the internship covering between three and five months.

Our aim is to continually build on previous learning whilst having an avenue for including the latest research and approaches. Where possible we will work in an open and transparent way ensuring that learning is shared and insights made available for others to reproduce. At the end of the project the applicant will submit a final report suitable for publication in open literature, and presentations to NHS England on their results including their experience of the project. The nature of the output will depend on the specific project.

Key priorities of the internship will be:

  • Safe and appropriate use of NHS data
  • To producing a balanced outcome for both the student and NHS England, with useable outputs
  • To provide the student(s) with experience of completing a live business project
  • To provide the NHS with an avenue to experience current research and ideas
  • To kick-start or accelerate current projects and ideas
  • To build a long term programme with developing research areas

The Role

The successful candidate will occupy a permanent role sit within the Data Science Team under a honorary contract. During the internship the candidate will be expected to progress their chosen project autonomously with supervision from internal colleagues as well as their current academic supervisor(s). The candidate will be expected to be focussed on the project and self-driven during the internship period, providing regular updates on progress and issues.

Within the topic area of the chosen project, there will be some freedom to direct the development of the research and knowledge but this will also need to be balanced against creating a learning outcome or tangible output, that benefits the PhD scheme objectives and is in a shareable state for future projects to pick up and continue the development.

As the candidate will be a NHS England employee on an voluntary agreement honorary contract during the internship period, standard employment checks and some mandatory training are required.

A key aim for the intern will be to progress the research project ensuring learning/outcomes are shareable with NHS England and where appropriate made suitable for publication.

Projects

A list of currently available projects can be found on the scheme site with links to project specific details on github. These projects are updated in July/August and we welcome project proposals from both prospective students and interested organisations.

During the project period, the student will be allocated an NHS England supervisor and in some instances a project specific mentor. It is also required that an academic supervisor from the hosting university is identified before the student can accept the internship place.

Funding

For the entirety of the internship, the applicant would be paid as a NHS band 6 (spine point 1) post according to NHS Terms and Conditions (AfC) pay scales - Annual will need to be self-funded

Application Process

Eligibility criteria

Applicants will need:

  • to provide acceptable proof of legal right to study in the UK or ability to satisfy the current requirements of UK Visa and Immigration.
  • to be enrolled in a PhD programme in a qualitative field of study (such as mathematics, statistics, data engineering, computer science, data science, physics, …) during the course of the internship.
  • to provide a statement of current PhD supervisor support stating that the student is able to conduct this work alongside their study ~or that the student will take a break from their current funding whilst conducting this work~.

Timelines

Applications Open - Start of October

Applications Close - End of October

Each application will have its content extracted and anonymised before multiple reviewers assess the application.

  • An initial sift will check that applicants meet the eligibility requirements
  • A second stage sift will consider the content of the CV and covering letter

Interviews - Mid to late November

Outcomes Communicated - By the End of November

January Wave Start - Mid-January (Flexible)

June Wave Start - Mid-April (Flexible)

How to Apply

Please email (jonathanpearson@nhs.net) directly to apply.

Your data will be stored in a secure space for the duration of the application and then deleted once outcomes have been communicated. A record of name, contact and feedback provided will be retained for audit purposes.

Please include:

  • Curriculum Vitae
    • Name
    • Contact email
    • Education including current PhD scheme and supervisor contact
    • Previous relevant employment & experience
    • Technical experience such as coding, tooling proficiency
    • Links to relevant papers, Github repositories, etc..
  • Covering letter
    • Which project(s) (from those available at https://nhsx.github.io/nhsx-internship-projects/projects.html) you are interested in working on (maximum two).
    • Why you are interested in the scheme and chosen project(s)
    • How your chosen project builds on your experience and/or interests
    • Where you see the potential for the project to have a positive impact for NHS patients
    • What initial considerations you would want to consider for the project to ensure impact and appropriate implementation for healthcare.
    • A reference and contact email (either academic or employment) which you would be happy for us to contact