Inspiring future health and social care researchers - School of Healthcare Research Internships
We are committed to developing pathways into research for health and social care professionals and growing the next generation of researchers.
We launched the School of Healthcare research internship scheme in 2024, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), as part of the Undergraduate Internship Programme and School of Healthcare funding. Since then, we have been successful in securing funding for five undergraduate nursing student interns representing Child, Adult, and Mental Health Nursing.
Meet our 2025/2026 research interns. Daniela Grice (left) and Ellie-May Neville (right).
Our current NIHR-funded research interns (Child Nursing students, Daniela Grice and Ellie-May Neville) undertook a five-week research internship led by two mentors,Dr Emma McLorie and Rebecca Talbot. The internships were hosted across two research programmes (The MEND Study and The Response Study) within the School of Healthcare, covering research themes of ‘Ageing well’ and ‘Quality and Safety’. As well as learning more about research in health and social care settings, our interns also had the chance to attend the annual Nursing Live event and present at both the NIHR INSIGHT Programme and the British Conference of Undergraduate Research in Glasgow.
Daniela and Ellie-May embraced every aspect of the internship, combining academic learning with hands-on research experience. They engaged with leading academics, explored research career pathways, and demonstrated genuine enthusiasm for understanding how high-quality research underpins evidence-based nursing practice. Balancing clinical placements, academic work and a competitive research internship has been demanding. Yet they both approached it with great discipline, curiosity and professionalism.
Find out more about Daniela Grice and Ellie-May Neville’s internship research experience here:
Watch a video about Ellie-May Neville’s internship research experience here.
Watch a video about Daniela Grice’s internship research experience here.
We are pleased to announce that the NIHR-funded Undergraduate Internship Programme will continue in the 2026/2027 academic year within the School of Healthcare, led by mentors Dr John Ratcliffe, Dr Bethany Griffin, and Bronte Heath.
You can learn more about University of Leeds Nursing courses here.
Both Ellie-May and Daniela’s research internships were funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Undergraduate Internship Programme. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health and Care Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.
