How student internships are helping to build the future of pharmacy research 

Efforts to increase research capacity and capability within our profession continue at pace, illustrated in February 2024 by the publication of ‘Report on a UK survey of pharmacy professionals’ involvement in research’, the inception of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)-funded pharmacy incubator and the new NIHR undergraduate internship programme. The latter offers pharmacy undergraduates an opportunity to get involved in research, while giving early to mid-career researchers the chance to develop a competitive application and refine their supervisory skills. As a collaboration between pharmacy professionals working in multiple sectors intent on growing research capabilities at a grassroots level, we were successful in winning two NIHR internship awards. Coupled with awards won from two other schemes, we collectively supervised six undergraduates and two sixth-form students to undertake research activities (see Table).