Designing, running, and evaluating clinical trials requires specialist knowledge across a team of people. Their complexity often means many early-career researchers don’t get exposed to sufficient clinical trial design of modern methods or the practical considerations and the impact that these choices have on the quality of the research. The purpose of this training course is to provide researchers with the opportunity to access advice and support from experienced trialists and their peer-group through a bespoke programme of work.

The course is aimed at early-career researchers or researchers new to trials who wish to develop the essential skills needed to plan a clinical trial.

Priority will be given to applicants from Imperial College London and affiliated organisations. 

You will be asked to bring a research question that you have discussed with your academic mentor to the first session. During the course you will learn all the key statistical and operational considerations which are needed to run a clinical trial effectively. You will develop a protocol over the 13 weeks based on your chosen research question.

The course involves a mixture of online material and face to face small group tutorials. It is a bespoke programme of learning with a mix of independent learning and weekly peer-to-peer working.

The course is delivered over 13 weeks. This will include 8 learning weeks (online material and in-person small group tutorials), 4 reading week breaks and 1 final presentation to senior academics.

Within each learning week there is a collection of short videos that provide introductions to key topics and associated weekly tasks that are discussed within the weekly two-hour face to face tutorials.

You will have the week to review the online material, then the opportunity to consolidate the topic and apply this to your own clinical trial protocol in discussion with tutors and support from your peers in the group.

• Week 1: Preparing to Design a Trial 
• Week 2: Classification of Clinical Trials 
• Week 3: Late Phase Trial Design 
• Week 4: BREAK - Reading week 
• Week 5: Protocol Development 
• Week 6: Collecting Data 
• Week 7: Statistical Considerations 
• Week 8: BREAK - Reading week 
• Week 9: Trial Operations 
• Week 10: Analysing and Reporting Trial Outcomes 
• Week 11: BREAK - Finalise protocol 
• Week 12: BREAK – Finalise protocol 
• Week 13: Presentation Session 

•  Optional Remote session: Patient and Public Involvement 

The next in person ICCT course is planned for Spring 2025. Please email icctstats@imperial.ac.uk to register your interest.

No. The main part of the course is designed to be delivered face to face in small groups of 8 to 10 people.

The tutors are experienced ICTU staff working in Clinical Trial Statistics, Methodology, Operations and Clinical Data Systems.

Registration for the in-person ICCT course will open in Autumn 2024. Please email icctstats@imperial.ac.uk if you would like to recieve an alert when registration opens.

The course costs £900.

Please note that full payment must be transferred to ICTU on acceptance of your course place.

ICTU is unable to provide funding for this course.  If you don’t have access to funds through a training grant, for example a fellowship then we recommend you speak to your supervisor or Head of Department about funding options.

You must have:

• Basic knowledge of clinical research
• Sufficient time to complete the homework
• Availability to attend 9 face-to-face sessions (8 tutorials and 1 final presentation)
• A research question to develop during the course
• A named academic supervisor/mentor
• Funding confirmed prior to the course starting.