Clinical Research

PgDip

  • Entry year 2026 or 2025
  • Duration Part time 2 years
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Overview

Do you want to lead breakthroughs in medical science? Perhaps you want to improve health outcomes and quality of life. Lancaster’s Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Clinical Research provides specialist training to advance your career. The knowledge and skills you gain during the programme will support you to progress your career in a research-intensive clinical environment.

Why Lancaster?

  • Benefit from a unique programme of study that puts science and research at the heart of medicine and healthcare.
  • Discover how to translate research into healthcare policy and practice.
  • Prepare for strategic and leadership roles, learning how to promote evidence-based healthcare using cutting-edge science.
  • Make your mark in the field by learning the most effective ways to communicate research to doctors, healthcare professionals, policy makers, patients and the wider public.
  • Invest in high-quality training and an advanced degree to help you achieve your professional goals.
  • Combine study with work commitments with our flexible study options.

Why should I study clinical research?

Advances in treatments, therapies and healthcare are only possible with clinical research.

Research is the gateway to possibility: transforming hypotheses and ideas into robust, tried and tested treatments that can be rolled out to communities with confidence.

Clinical research helps us understand what works and what doesn’t, identifying more effective and efficient treatments while highlighting important side effects and safety considerations.

This postgraduate diploma is part of our suite of clinical research courses. We also offer the following:

  • Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Clinical Research – part-time, 12 months
  • Master’s degree (MSc) in Clinical Research – 1 year part-time or two years full-time

Is clinical research for me?

If you want to be part of the team behind breakthroughs in medical science, drive progress and ultimately improve health outcomes and quality of life, boosting your clinical research skills is the right place to start.

We welcome applications from:

  • Doctors undertaking Specialty Training programmes in NHS Trusts.
  • Doctors undertaking academic attachments in local NHS Trusts as part of their F1/F2 training.
  • Consultants and General Practitioners who wish to develop their career as a research leader within their own organisation or elsewhere.
  • Nurses, allied health professionals and NHS support staff wishing to move into research-based roles.
  • Professionals with a biological or psychological background who wish to move into healthcare research.
  • Undergraduate students wishing to move into this field or take a path leading to PhD study in health.

What will I learn?

The programme provides a solid introduction to clinical research methodology, setting you up to conduct research thoroughly, reliably and ethically. You’ll learn how to interpret research findings and build important communication and presentation skills so you can share your findings.

With a focus on real-life application, you’ll look at how research can support healthcare policy and practice and contribute to healthcare innovation.

You will study themes including:

  • Lifecycle of Healthcare Research
  • Methodological Foundations in Healthcare Research
  • Policy and Practice Knowledge Translation in Healthcare Research
  • Professional Development for a Healthcare Research Career

With high-level training in advanced methodology, you will learn how to conduct research thoroughly, reliably and ethically. You will be able to interpret research findings and will develop important communication and presentation skills. You will learn to clearly articulate research outcomes, recommendations and implications and deliver recognisable impact.

How will I study?

Designed to fit around your working life, our Clinical Research PgDip is a part-time course that takes 12 months to complete.

As well as whole day face-to-face teaching sessions, you’ll benefit from the flexibility of online learning, supported by online resources, discussions and collaborations using our virtual learning environment.

What’s next?

With your research skills recharged, you’ll graduate from your PgDip ready to bring your new learning to your role and demonstrate the power of clinical research to support decision making and improve services. You may wish to take your career in a new direction and make the move into a more research-focused clinical or lab-based role.

After successful completion of the PGDip, you could take the next step and enrol on our Clinical Research MSc to complete a practice-based research project and receive a higher-level qualification.

Careers

The programme will support you in developing your clinical academic research career and become a leader in your clinical field.

You may wish to move on to doctoral-level research or enter a clinical research leadership role.

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

2:2 Hons degree (UK or international equivalent) in a relevant subject including medicine, nursing, psychology, biological sciences or related subjects. Applicants with relevant professional experience and without a first degree should contact the Course Director.

English language requirements

We require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 5.5 in each element of the test.

We also consider other English language qualifications.

Help from our Admissions team

If you are thinking of applying to Lancaster and you would like to ask us a question, complete our enquiry form and one of the team will get back to you.

We also have more details on our website about:

Pre-master's programmes

Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored pre-master's pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University master's degrees. Visit INTO Lancaster University for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.

Course structure

We continually review and enhance our curriculum to ensure we are delivering the best possible learning experience, and to make sure that the subject knowledge and transferable skills you develop will prepare you for your future. The University will make every reasonable effort to offer programmes and modules as advertised. In some cases, changes may be necessary and may result in new modules or some modules and combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.

Core

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Fees and funding

We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2026/27 entry fees have not yet been set.

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Scholarships and bursaries

Details of our scholarships and bursaries for 2026-entry study are not yet available, but you can use our opportunities for 2025-entry applicants as guidance.

Check our current list of scholarships and bursaries.

Important information

The information on this site relates primarily to the stated entry year and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

Our Students’ Charter

We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. Find out more about our  Charter and student policies.