Sam Harding sits within the Research Grant Development Team in R&D, supporting staff with research ideas and careers.
She shares her research journey, what excites her about research, and how you can develop a research career.
My role day-to-day is quite diverse. Some days I can be sitting and writing grant proposals, other days I have the pleasure of working with people who want to get into research, finding out what their ideas are and helping them to develop their own grant ideas and find teams of people to work with.
I found my way into health research through an opportunity
I had just finished my psychology degree at university, and I heard through a friend of someone who needed a psychologist to do some research.
Research is continually exciting and dynamic
It's very much about finding out unintended consequences. People come in with an idea and they think they know the best way to do it, and the question they want to ask. But often that’s not the case at all!
That journey of discovery, right from the question setting through to finding answers – that's what drives me every day.
Video Transcript
Sam Harding - Video transcript
My name's Sam Harding and I sit within the research grant development team in the Research and Development department.
I'm really lucky. My role day-to-day is quite diverse. Some days I can be sitting and writing grants that I'm going to be leading on or be part of the team.
Other days I have the pleasure of working with people who want to get into research, finding out what their ideas are and helping them to develop their own grant ideas and find teams of people to work with.
Research is continually exciting and dynamic, and it's really very much about finding out unintended consequences.
People come in with an idea and they think they know the best way to do it, and they think they actually know the question they want to ask.
But working with them, finding advisors, you find out that actually you don't know which way you wanted to go.
And it's that journey of discovery, right from the question setting through to finding answers that's, you know, that drives me every day.
The MISLToe speech Sound disorder study. It's a study that's been looking at developing a core outcome set for children with speech sound disorder.
I'm a health psychologist by professional background, but I'm also a research methodologist.
So within the MISLToe project I led on the evidence based practise work, which was a literature review.
But I've also been part of leading the public and patient involvement and engagement group and working across communities to make sure that what we develop is not only fit for clinical practise, but it is also acceptable to the children and their parents.
So I've had the pleasure of working across multiple organisations, some in primary care, some charity sectors and most recently at North Bristol.
NBT is a absolute joy to work at. As a large acute trust, we have a really well developed support system for people who want to get into research and that's everything from people such as myself who are passionate about finding out what your ideas are and working with you, through to people who can help pull costings together for a grant and those who can identify grant funding streams.
Ask questions early, ask silly questions because they're not likely to be silly, and find someone who can advise, who's a guide.
I’m a health psychologist and a research methodologist
I've also been part of leading a public and patient involvement and engagement group and working across communities to make sure that what we develop is not only fit for clinical practise, but is also acceptable to the children and their parents.
I've been lucky to be involved with researchers who are driven by making a difference
That enables people to almost automatically have impact in their clinical working area. There are a number of cases where we have produced questionnaires that have allowed clinical teams to gain quicker, meaningful insights for their patients. This has meant important issues can be addressed in a clinic rather than being overlooked or left to be an ad hoc issue at the end of a session.
Working on a Speech sound disorder study with children has been extremely rewarding
MISLToe has been looking at developing a core outcome set for children with speech sound disorder. We've had some funding, and we have constructed a core outcome set that has been recognised internationally.
We’re having success now in rolling out that core outcome set across the country, to try and get further funding to see if it can be embedded in practise. My role was leading on the evidence-based practise work; a literature review.
A lot of people think that you have to be super academic to do research
That you have to have got the best degree and have a masters or a PhD. But the most important thing about working in research is that you are open minded, that you will admit that you don't know everything and that you don't necessarily know the best way of doing anything.
If you're willing to give stuff a try, and you're willing to do it in a rigorous and defensible fashion, then it may be the career for you.
NBT is an absolute joy to work at!
I've worked across multiple organisations, some in primary care, some in charity sectors, and most recently at North Bristol NHS Trust. As a large acute trust, we have a really well developed support system for people who want to get into research and that's everything from people such as myself, through to people who can help pull costings together for a grant and those who can identify grant funding streams. We also have a group of clinical staff who are also driven not just by our strategy, but by their passion to help support people develop their research.
Our library service is crucial
You can't find out if your questions are any good or if somebody's already answered them, if you haven't got people who can help you do that in a rigorous and methodologically sound way. Our library team are excellent at that.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering a research career?
Ask questions. Ask questions early. Ask silly questions, because they're not likely to be silly. Also, find someone who can advise, who's a guide, but is also willing to step back when they know you’ve found your footing and can be a support for you.
Who do I contact if I’m interested in research at NBT?
Contact the research department, research@nbt.nhs.uk, and they can flag you to a person who can help, or someone who works to support research development in the area you're in.
...Or audit, service evaluation and quality improvement may be for you
If research isn't a route you're comfortable with, we also have an audit, service evaluation and quality improvement department who you can bounce ideas off and they can signpost you.
Contact Sam
You can also contact me directly if you’d like help with developing a research idea or if you have questions about a research career: sam.harding@nbt.nhs.uk
Further information
- The NBT Researcher Zone is a good starting point for finding out about research, what to do with an idea and funding.