The NIHR Schools for Primary Care Research (SPCR), Public Health Research (SPHR), and Social Care Research (SSCR) will host a joint Early Career Researcher Meeting at The Exchange, Birmingham, on Thursday 12 March 2026, 10am - 4.30pm.
The annual event brings together early career researchers from across the three NIHR Research Schools to share work, exchange ideas, and build networks. This year’s meeting will spotlight how emerging research aligns with the three strategic shifts set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England:
- Hospital to Community
- Analogue to Digital
- Sickness to Prevention
Early Career Researchers from any SPCR member department, not only those with SPCR or Three Schools funding, are invited to submit abstracts for posters or lightning talks (5-minute presentation plus 2 minutes for questions). SPCR researchers should submit via the SPCR abstract submission portal. For SPCR researchers, there will be one lightening talk and 2 posters allocated per strategic shift. There is dedicated time on the programme for posters to be presented. Please note that researchers from other Schools should submit via their own portals.
The Call for Abstracts closes on 23 December 2025, and submissions (maximum 300 words, written in plain English) should clearly describe how the work fits within one or more of the three strategic shifts.
Award holders preparing posters are encouraged to think broadly about how their work contributes to the shifts. Posters should use the official SPCR poster template for this event however SPCR/Three schools funding is not a condition of eligibility. The template is available on the SPCR Resources page. The SPCR will pay for the printing of posters for this event.
This is a free event. Attendees are asked to use their training and development budgets to support travel and accommodation where possible. However, if this is not feasible, SPCR encourages award holders to contact the team directly, as additional support will be made available.
Registration for the event is now open, along with the SPCR abstract submission form.
For further questions please contact SPCR: spcr@keele.ac.uk