East Midlands Regional Account for Clinical Researchers (EM-RACR)

The East Midlands Regional Accelerator for Clinical and Academic Researchers (EM-RACR) is a Medical Research Council (MRC) funded initiative designed to strengthen and expand clinical academic careers across the East Midlands. Working in partnership with universities, NHS organisations and healthcare providers across the region, EM-RACR aims to increase the number of health professionals pursuing clinical academic careers and create sustainable pathways that support their development.

The programme has a particular focus on discovery and innovation research, supporting individuals to generate new knowledge, develop novel methods and technologies, and drive advances in healthcare through research excellence. EM-RACR was established in response to national workforce reviews, known as the OSCHR reports, which highlighted a significant decline in the proportion of clinical academics across healthcare professions despite substantial growth in the wider healthcare workforce. By investing in the next generation of clinical academic researchers, EM-RACR seeks to address this challenge and strengthen the clinical academic workforce for the future across nursing, midwifery, allied health professions, clinical sciences, medicine and dentistry.

At the heart of the programme are several key objectives. First, all projects supported through EM-RACR must align with the MRC research remit, with a strong emphasis on research that leads to discovery and innovation. This includes work that develops new interventions, technologies, methodologies or data science approaches that generate new knowledge and advances in healthcare. Second, EM-RACR is designed to pump-prime academic careers, focusing not only on funding high-quality research projects but also on supporting applicants to build long-term clinical academic careers beyond the duration of the fellowship.

As such, equal importance is placed on an individual's future academic development and research trajectory. Finally, the programme offers flexibility to support a diverse range of applicants and career pathways. Through ongoing collaboration with the MRC, EM-RACR has evolved to maximise opportunities for healthcare professionals across disciplines, ensuring talented individuals are supported to develop as the next generation of clinical academic researchers.