Learning and Development Opportunities for Researchers and Trialists
The Network, and its member CTUs, are committed to sharing their knowledge of best practice in clinical trials research from the absolute fundamentals of trial development and management to the use of the latest novel trial designs.
Below you can find out about some of the upcoming learning and development opportunities taking place across the Network.
Some events are open to all and allow for online registration and payment. Others are limited to staff at Registered CTUs.
Use the links below to find out more.
October 2025
Title: Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analyses: a practical introduction for healthcare research
Date: 1 – 3 October 2025
Venue: Online
Cost: FREE (institutional affiliation restrictions apply)
Are you an early-career researcher interested in multiple long-term conditions (MLTC)?
Are you interested in advancing your skills in IPD meta-analysis?
We are seeking talented emerging researchers from a range of clinical, and methodological backgrounds. Apply now for a fully-funded place.
This statistical methods course focuses on quantitative synthesis of IPD to summarise a treatment effect or examine treatment-covariate interactions, including:
~ One-stage vs. two-stage models
~ Multivariate and network meta-analysis
~ Advanced statistical techniques using R/Stata
~ Identifying prognostic/risk factors
~ Biases and handling missing data
An introductory course covering the what, why and when of IPD meta-analyses is scheduled to take place on 23 – 24 September 2025.
Deadline to Apply: 4th August 2025
Apply here: https://forms.office.com/e/Nzh7EwH3Ck
Questions? Contact Tom Crocker at: medtcro@leeds.ac.uk
Title: Clinical Trial Management Crash Course
Date: 14 – 16 October 2025
Venue: Oxford
Cost: £500
The Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford is launching a new three-day Clinical Trial Management Crash Course on 14-16 October 2025.
This comprehensive programme is designed for clinical research professionals seeking to enhance their trial management capabilities through a practical, hands-on approach. Unlike more statistically-focused courses, our programme emphasises the practical aspects of delivering trials successfully.
Led by experienced trialists from Oxford’s Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit, participants will work through a dummy trial scenario throughout the three days, embedding learning in realistic contexts. The course covers essential skills including strategic trial planning, regulatory compliance, team leadership, database management, and complex problem-solving.
At just £500 for three full days (including lunches, refreshments, and comprehensive materials), this course offers exceptional value compared to similar programmes. The historic St Luke’s Chapel in central Oxford provides an inspiring setting for learning and networking with peers and experts.
The course is ideal for:
- Clinical trial managers seeking to enhance their skills
- Research administrators looking to develop their capabilities
- Healthcare professionals transitioning into clinical trials
- Early-career trial coordinators building their expertise
Places are limited to ensure the best possible learning environment, so early registration is recommended. Employers typically require advance notice for funding approval, so please plan accordingly. For enquiries: Johanna Cook, Senior Trials Manager (johanna.cook@phc.ox.ac.uk) Register at: www.phc.ox.ac.uk/clinical-trial-crash-course
November 2025
Title: Edinburgh Clinical Trial Management Course
Date: 6 – 7 November 2025
Venue: John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh
Cost: NHS/Academic rate – £550, Optional Course dinner (06 Nov 2025) – £35, Industry Rate (including dinner) – £985
This two-day course has been running for more than two decades to support the professional development of anyone involved or interested in clinical trial management, including Clinical Trial Administrators, Trial Assistants, Trial Officers, Trial Co-ordinators, Trial Management Support Officers (TMSO), Assistant Trial Managers (ATMs), Trial Managers (TMs), and related roles.
The aims of the course are:
• To develop attendees’ knowledge and skills in clinical trial management.
• To improve attendees’ understanding of related disciplines including research governance, regulation, trial methodology, data management, monitoring, and project management, with a view to effective teamworking.
• To highlight the importance of patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE), the need for efficiency in trial design and conduct, and how to consider sustainability in trials. These threads will run through the whole course.
The course consists of a variety of workshops, practical tasks and lectures. Interactive sessions cover key topics associated with setting up and delivering clinical trials. Sessions provide practical guidance and facilitate discussion, information exchange and provide plenty of networking opportunities.
The course is co-delivered by The Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
For full details, and to register, please click here.
Title: An Introduction to Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials: Statistics for Non-Statisticians
Date: 10 – 13 November 2025
Venue: Online via Zoom
Cost: LMIC – £124, Academic / Not for Profit – £237, For Profit – £309
Course leads: Laura Murphy & Roisin Connon, MRC CTU at UCL
Are you working in clinical trials but feel lost when it comes to statistics? This four-day online course is designed just for you!
An Introduction to Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials: Statistics for Non-Statisticians will demystify the statistical concepts behind randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and help you understand what’s important and why.
Who Should Attend?
This course is aimed at people with less than 3 years’ experience in clinical trials. If you want to confidently interpret statistical results and understand key terms, this is your chance!
For full details, and to register, please click here.
Title: How to Set Up and Manage a Clinical Trial
Date: 12, 19, and 26 November 2025 (3 half days)
Venue: Online
Cost: £450
Course leads: Carla Girling, Katie Biggs, Kirsty McKendrick, Cara Mooney, Emily Turton (Sheffield CTRU)
This short course runs across three half days and will focus on the processes surrounding the set up of a clinical trial, from the point at which funding has been awarded to opening the first research sites. Through a combination of online teaching, group and individual activities, you will be taken through a practical step by step guide on the processes and dependencies in trial set up. To enhance the experience of the course we recommend you come with a project in mind (although examples will be given throughout for those who are new to research/clinical trials).
The course is ideal for researchers from across the UK looking to manage or oversee a clinical trial (within the NHS). The general skills and processes are also applicable to research with human participants outside of the NHS. Research assistants, new trial managers, PhD students, research fellows and associates, among others, would all benefit from the knowledge and skills learnt during the course. Please note that this course is aimed at those working on UK-based clinical trials due to the UK’s unique framework of rules.
For full details, and to register, please click here.
Title: Clinical Trial Management: Maximising Effectiveness
Date: 17 – 18 November 2025
Venue: Online
Cost: £250
This 2 day programme will focus on the fundamentals of the project management of trials. It will explore how to plan for and respond to clinical trial challenges, maximising effectiveness, efficiency and data quality. It is aimed at individuals working on behalf of a sponsor organisation in trial co-ordination and management who have some experience, and who would like to build on this skill set.
The Birmingham Centre for Clinical Trials (BCCT) brings together the clinical trial expertise from across the University of Birmingham and, in particular The Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit (BCTU), and The Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU). BCCT is one of the leading centres in the UK for designing and implementing high quality trials across a wide range of diseases and clinical settings. This course is organised by Razia Meer-Baloch (Training and Education Lead, BCTU) and the programme is delivered by a wide range of clinical trials experts from across BCCT.
For further information, and to register, please click here.
Title: Research Methods: Introduction to Randomised Controlled Trials in Healthcare
Date: 24 – 26 November 2025
Venue: Birmingham
Cost: £600
This 3-day course in Research Methods: Introduction to Randomised Controlled Trials in Healthcare organised by the Birmingham Centre for Clinical Trials (BCCT) provides an overview of the research process from idea and design to analysis and publication. This programme will be designed to combine theory with opportunities to apply knowledge to practice. It is delivered in 2 formats; online through a mixture of pre-recorded lectures and live online sessions, and face to face. The online version of this introductory course will take place in May 2025.
The Birmingham Centre for Clinical Trials (BCCT) brings together the clinical trial expertise from across the University of Birmingham and, in particular The Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit (BCTU), and The Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU). BCCT is one of the leading centres in the UK for designing and implementing high quality trials across a wide range of diseases and clinical settings. This course is organised by Razia Meer-Baloch (Training and Education Lead, BCTU) and Dr Sara Brookes (Training and Education Lead, CRCTU) and the programme is delivered by a wide range of clinical trials experts from across BCCT.
For more information, and to register, please click here.
Title: How to design clear and accessible Patient Information Sheets
Date: 25 November 2025
Venue: Online via Zoom
Cost: £50 (non-profit organisations). £100 (for-profit organisations)
Patient Information Sheets (PIS) are a key document for potential participants to make an informed decision about whether to take part in a clinical study. While there is clear guidance from the Health Research Authority (HRA) on content and regulatory requirements, PIS are customised for each clinical trial and the specific patient population. Choosing the right language and format for patient facing materials for research studies and clinical trials still greatly varies and depends on the skills and experience of the team putting them together.
In this workshop attendees will gain useful insights on how to work on the format, language and delivery of the PIS thanks to the participation of patient and public representatives. The session includes an initial overview of the HRA guidance on the PIS design, an introduction to writing in plain English, accessibility and a patient’s perspective, followed by group work where research staff will go into virtual breakout rooms with patient and public representatives to review together a PIS that will be provided to the attendees a week prior to the course (up to 1 hour preparation time). After the course, participants will receive a “PIS Checklist”: a memorandum of the considerations to take into account when designing (or reviewing) a Patient Information Sheet.
For more information, and to register, please click here.
Title: Statistical & practical aspects of the design/analysis of Multi-Arm Multi-Stage Platform Trials
Date: 26 November 2025 (12:00 – 17:00)
Venue: Online (via Zoom)
Cost: External delegates- £257; LMIC delegates – £107
Course Faculty: Dr Babak Choodari-Oskooei
“Navigate the Complexity of MAMS Trials with Confidence and Clarity.“
Potential Attendees:
This workshop is aimed at trial statisticians, regulators and clinicians who want to understand more about the design and analysis of multi-arm multi-stage (MAMS) platform trials, or those who are new to the area. This includes statisticians looking to design MAMS platform trials, or clinicians and researchers wanting to understand the statistical issues in designing such trials in the phase III setting.
The workshop aims to help participants:
~ understand the motivation behind these designs.
~ learn how to choose the design parameters and stopping boundaries, both for lack-of-benefit and efficacy.
~ learn how to deal with overwhelming efficacy.
~ learn about stopping randomisation to research arms.
~ learn how to add a new research arm, and how to control Type I and II error rates in both pre-planned and unplanned addition of a new research arm.
~ learn about MAMS designs in which arms are ranked and selectively chosen to continue.
~ learn how the programs written in Stata software can be used to design MAMS trials with time-to-event and binary outcomes.
Structure of the workshop:
This half-day workshop consists of two main sessions. The first session of the workshop provides an overview of the design issues involved in MAMS platform protocols. The second session focuses on the implementation of the statistical aspects of such trials and provides guidelines on the design and analysis of such trials. It will also explore further design issues such as adding new research arms, and designs in which research arms are ranked and selectively chosen to continue.
There will be an opportunity for delegates to send questions in advance so that they can be addressed at the workshop.
For further details, and to register, please click here.
December 2025
Title: Running a Trial from Concept to Completion
Date: 8 December 2025 (10:00 – 13:00)
Venue: 90 Tottenham Court Road, London
Cost: Non-profit – £50, For-profit – £100
Course lead: Rubina Begum (CR UK & UCL CTC)
This session gives an introductory overview of all the steps required to design, set up and complete an academic cancer trial conducted in the hospital setting.
Participants will know what all the organisations and people involved in trials do and what permissions and documents need to be in place at different stages of a trial. The course is of most interest to those new to working in academic cancer clinical trials. Those currently working in the field who would like to gain an overview of what happens at other stages to the one familiar to them, may also benefit.
For further information, and to book your place, please click here.
January 2026
Title: Entering patients into cancer clinical trials
Date: 13 January 2026 (10:00 – 13:00)
Venue: 90 Tottenham Court Road, London
Cost: Non-profit – £50, For-profit – £100
Course lead: Laura Hughes (CR UK & UCL CTC)
This session gives a comprehensive overview of the clinical pathways cancer patients can take to be eventually referred for trial entry.
The first part of the session spans across the diagnostic methods and staging of cancer and gives a brief overview of the common tests carried out prior to trial treatment. In the second part of the session participants will learn about the importance of ensuring only eligible patients enter a trial and how eligibility criteria help to safeguard patients and differ amongst different phases of trials. They will also learn the importance of assessing treatment compliance and how every clinical intervention comes with a different set of challenges in collecting data about patient compliance.
For further information, and to book your place, please click here.
Title: A Masterclass in the Design and Conduct of Complex Intervention Evaluations
Date: 26 January, 2 February, & 9 February 2026
Venue: Online
Cost: Early bird (until 19 Decembers 2025) – £475, Full cost £525
This will be an online course, running across three consecutive Mondays on January 26th, February 2nd & 9th 2026.
Teaching will take place live online.
There will be a strong emphasis on practical exercises where participants will gain hands-on experience in the design and conduct of complex intervention evaluations, using a variety of real-life examples.
Topics covered include:
~ What makes an intervention complex?
~ An overview of existing frameworks.
~ The role of pilot and feasibility studies.
~ Trial design for complex intervention evaluation.
~ Intervention implementation and the role of a process evaluation.
~ Practical considerations in the set-up and delivery of complex intervention trials.
Registration is via the University of Leeds Store (link below). An early bird rate of £475 will be available until Friday 19th December 2025. The subsequent registration fee will be £525.
Registration will close on Friday 21st January 2026.
Book your place here.
February 2026
Title: Introduction to cancer clinical trials
Date: 5 February 2026 (10:00 – 13:00)
Venue: 90 Tottenham Court Road, London
Cost: Non-profit – £50, For-profit – £100
Course lead: Giulia Pellizzari (CR UK & UCL CTC)
This session provides a general introduction to cancer clinical trials for staff new to academic cancer studies.
Participants will get an overview on what clinical trials are and how they can have a preventative, curative or palliative aim. The session covers the practical and scientific reasons why we need clinical trials, what are the differences between Phase I, II, II and IV studies and the different methods of randomisation. The session also highlights how drug development trials in cancer differ from non-cancer studies and how the new era of targeted therapy and immunotherapy is changing the way cancer trials are designed.
For further information, and to book your place, please click here.
Title: Quality of life assessment in cancer studies
Date: 24 February 2026
Venue: 90 Tottenham Court Road , London W1T 4TJ
Cost: £100 (non-profit organisations). £200 (for-profit organisations)
*** Last registration date – 17 February 2026 ***
Aims
Health-related quality of life (QoL) is an essential outcome in contemporary clinical trials. This course will provide an overview of QoL assessment in oncology, including selecting appropriate QoL instruments and implementing, analysing, and interpreting QoL data across trial phases (I–III) and real-world studies.
The course will also cover incorporating QoL into grant applications and protocols, and its use in decision-making to support the implementation of new interventions into clinical practice (e.g. surgery or radiotherapy) or for market authorisation and market access of new cancer drugs. Sessions will be interactive and based on real-life examples.
Target Audience
This course is for researchers, clinicians, healthcare professionals and statisticians from universities, pharmaceutical companies, NHS, and regulatory and health technology assessment agencies. No prior knowledge of quality of life is required.
For further details, and to register, please click here.
Title: Cancer treatments and their side-effects
Date: 26 February 2026 (10:00 – 13:00)
Venue: 90 Tottenham Court Road, London
Cost: Non-profit – £50, For-profit – £100
Course lead: Giulia Pellizzari (CR UK & UCL CTC)
This session is a basic introduction to cancer treatments and their most common side-effects and adverse reactions.
The course provides an overview on cancer surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy we well as insights on the mechanisms of action of targeted therapies such as monoclonal antibodies, small inhibitory molecules, CAR-T cell therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors.
In the second part of the session, participants will learn about the mechanisms of toxicity linked to the different categories of cancer therapy and how these are managed.
This course is not recommended for clinicians.
For further information, and to book your place, please click here.
March 2026
Title: Trial outcomes: what are we trying to measure?
Date: 5 March 2026 (10:00 – 13:00)
Venue: 90 Tottenham Court Road, London
Cost: Non-profit – £50, For-profit – £100
Course lead: Will Wilson (CR UK & UCL CTC)
This session, aimed at non-statisticians, will cover the most common primary outcomes measures used in early and late phase cancer trials.
Participants will learn what makes a good outcome measure, how outcomes measures are defined and what data need to be collected to assess the outcome, especially for tumour response assessment and time to event measures such as survival and disease (or progression) free survival.
For further information, and to book your place, please click here.
April 2026
Title: Sample size calculations in randomised clinical trials: Beyond the basics
Date: 28 April 2026
Venue: MRC CTU at UCL, 90 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6LJ
Cost: Early bird – Academic / Not-for-profit – £200, For-profit – £380 Standard fee (after 1 January 2026) – Academic / Not-for-profit – £250, For-profit – £475
Course Leads: Dr Babak Choodari-Oskooei, Ian White, Andrew Copas, Matteo Quartagno
Sample size calculations arise in planning a study. It is one of the most important aspects of any design since it drives study timelines and the cost of undertaking the protocol. It determines the degree of required information to robustly answer the primary research questions in the study. If the sample size is too small, the study is likely to be inconclusive. Furthermore, increasing sample size during the study can be expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, it is imperative to accurately estimate the required sample size and trial timelines from the outset, and particularly for any funding application.
This course builds on a basic course in sample-size calculations such as the one provided by the ICH, and provides an overview of the underlying statistical theory for sample size calculations within the hypothesis testing framework. It addresses practical issues and statistical considerations when calculating sample sizes for a wide range of advanced trial designs and outcome distributions, including factorial, non-inferiority, group sequential, and clustered randomised clinical trials. It uses real advanced trial examples to calculate the sample size using the available user-written software in both R and Stata.
It is suitable for those working on trials and study designs, which includes trialists, trial statisticians, clinicians and other scientists. Familiarity with the hypothesis testing framework (i.e., type I error rate, power, and various effect sizes) are essential. Familiarity with sample size calculation for simple/basic designs is desirable but not essential.
For further information, and to register, please click here.
Flexible Online Training
Title: Introduction to Randomised Controlled Trials
Date: Anytime
Venue: Online course on FutureLearn
Cost: Available via subscription
Course Lead: Razia Meer-Baloch, Birmingham CTU
Discover the importance of trials in evidence-based medicine and learn about the trial lifecycle from conception to publication.
This course has been built by a team of expert research trial staff from the Birmingham Centre for Clinical Trials within Birmingham University. This team will guide you through the entire process for conducting randomised controlled trials and how to report results that can then be used to inform guidelines.
This course is designed for new or existing clinical trial staff. It may also be of interest to anyone looking to learn more about the wider randomised controlled trials process.
For further information, and to register, please click here.
Title: Introduction to Data Management in Clinical Research
Date: Anytime
Venue: Online course on FutureLearn
Cost: Available via subscription
Course Lead: Razia Meer-Baloch, Birmingham CTU
Improve the quality of medical research with clinical data management tools to collect, manage, and store trial data effectively.
This introductory course is for anyone setting up clinical trials and responsible for ensuring trial data integrity, such as aspiring chief investigators, trial coordinators, managers, data managers, and administrators. No prior knowledge is needed to join.
For further information, and to register, please click here.
Title: Statistics in Clinical Trials for the Non-Statistician
Date: Anytime
Venue: Online course on FutureLearn
Cost: Available via subscription
Course Lead: Sara Brookes, CRUK CTU
Discover the crucial role statistics plays in clinical trials and enhance your understanding of clinical trial data and analysis.
This course is ideal for individuals involved in clinical trials, whether in academia or the NHS, as well as those without a background in statistics. This includes aspiring chief investigators, research nurses, trial coordinators, trial managers, data managers, quality assurance team members, trial administrators, and other members of trial teams such as qualitative researchers or health economists.
The course is introductory with no prior knowledge or experience of statistics required.
For more information, and to register, please click here.
Post-Graduate Degrees
Title: Clinical Trials MSc/PGDip/PGCert
Institution: University of Birmingham
Teaching Staff: Razia Meer-Baloch, Birmingham CTU and Sara Brookes, CRUK CTU
This Master’s degree (Also available as a postgraduate diploma and certificate with modules available as standalone options) provides students with an excellent foundation in clinical trials, covering the theoretical and practical aspects of the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of clinical trials, promoting efficient trials that reach successful completion. The programme aims to produce skilled specialist trials staff in the existing workforce and expert trial Chief Investigators of the future.
This course will run over 12 months in a full-time-mode. There’s also scope to undertake the programme on a part-time basis or flexibly (up to 5 years).
For further information please click here.
