Details
1112108
Canterbury Christ Church University
06/07/2026
Other - See Job
296 hrs, delivered flexibly between July 2026 and March 2027
Smart Casual
Pay
£14.96
£1.81
Description
Role
The School of Nursing, Midwifery, Allied and Public Health at Canterbury Christ Church University is recruiting two NIHR-funded undergraduate research interns to support dementia and older adult rehabilitation research.
The internships are linked to two related project streams:
1. MOVE CARE: co-creating a movement and physical activity manual for people living with dementia.
2. MS DAT: supporting a scoping review on sarcopenia, dysphagia and malnutrition assessment in dementia care.
Each intern will complete 296 hours, delivered flexibly between July 2026 and March 2027. Interns will receive supervision, research training and mentoring, with opportunities to contribute to a project output such as a report, poster, abstract or conference presentation. We welcome application from all qualified students.
Duties and responsibilities
The successful interns will:
- Attend project induction, research skills training and regular supervision meetings.
- Work with the project lead and wider research team to support one of two project streams.
- For the MOVE CARE stream: support preparation for co-creation focus groups, participant-facing materials, visual prompts, transcription checking, anonymisation, preliminary qualitative coding, theme mapping and manual development.
- For the MS DAT stream: support search strategy refinement, database searching, reference management, title and abstract screening, full-text screening, data extraction, charting and evidence mapping.
- Maintain accurate project records and follow data protection, confidentiality and research governance procedures.
- Support preparation of a summary report, conference abstract, poster, blog or other student research output.
- Take part in reflective learning and supervision to develop research skills and confidence.
Skills and experience
Applicants should be current CCCU undergraduate students in a relevant allied health programme. Applications are particularly welcomed from students level 5 (physiotherapy and occupational therapy disciplines).
Applicants should have:
- An interest in dementia care, older adults, rehabilitation, public involvement or evidence-based practice.
- Good written and verbal communication skills.
- Good organisation and time management.
- Good attention to detail.
- Ability to work respectfully with others as part of a team.
- Willingness to learn new research skills.
- Ability to follow instructions, research procedures and confidentiality requirements.
- Basic confidence using Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
Previous research experience is welcome but not essential. Training and supervision will be provided.
Location
Canterbury Christ Church University campus, online/Teams, and supervised project-related research activity where appropriate
Benefits
Candidates can expect to develop:
- Research skills
- Literature searching
- Evidence synthesis skills
- Qualitative research skills
- Data organisation
- Confidentiality and data protection awareness
- Note-taking
- Academic writing
- Communication skills
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Reflective practice
- Presentation skills
- Use of research software such as Excel, NVivo, EndNote or Rayyan, depending on project stream
- Understanding of inclusive research with people living with dementia and carers
Additional information
This role is funded through the NIHR Undergraduate Internship Programme, reference NIHR511310.
There are two internship posts available. Each intern will complete 296 hours, delivered flexibly between July 2026 and March 2027. The exact working pattern will be agreed with the project lead and may include a combination of campus-based work, online meetings and supervised project activity.
The successful candidates will be allocated to one of two project streams, depending on interest, suitability and project need:
- MOVE CARE, focused on co-creation and qualitative research.
- MS-DAT, focused on scoping review and evidence synthesis.
We welcome applications from all eligible undergraduate students in relevant allied health disciplines. We particularly encourage applications from students who are underrepresented in health and social care research, including students from minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled students, neurodivergent students, students with caring responsibilities, mature students, first-generation university students and students from lower-income backgrounds.
For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Tolulope Adeniji: tolulope.adeniji@canterbury.ac.uk
Interviews
Interviews will be held on Friday 5 June 2026
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