Clinical Research (Human Nutrition)
Receive broad training and practical experience in designing, implementing and reporting clinical studies.
Clinical Research (Human Nutrition)
Receive broad training and practical experience in designing, implementing and reporting clinical studies.
Course key facts
Qualification
MRes
Duration
1 year, 2 years
Start date
October 2027
Study mode
Full-time, Part-time
Delivered by
Location
-
Hammersmith
-
Qualification
PG Cert
Duration
1 year
Start date
October 2027
Study mode
Part-time
Delivered by
Location
-
Hammersmith
-
Course overview
Investigate nutrition-related health conditions and contribute to better understanding of nutritional physiology.
Working with the Faculty of Medicine’s Nutrition Section, you’ll join cutting-edge researchers investigating areas like precision nutrition and appetite regulation.
You will also use novel techniques such as cameras and metabolite analysis to improve accuracy of data within clinical nutrition research.
Clinical Research
This is a stream in our Clinical Research course. Taught through innovative approaches to develop your skills, you will receive high quality training and research experience to embark on a successful career in human clinical research, or laboratory research relevant to human disease within the world-leading clinical research environment of Imperial College London.
You will also gain an understanding of “Bench-to-Bedside” research, where preclinical laboratory findings are translated to living humans to develop the disease treatment approaches of the future.
Whether you are interested in laboratory, data-driven or human clinical trial research, this course will develop the essential clinical research skills in your subject area of interest and prepare you for clinical research-oriented career or further research study, such as a PhD.
Choose your stream
- Diabetes and Obesity
- Human Nutrition (this stream)
- Multiple Long-Term Conditions
- Translational Medicine
Your pathway will dictate the topic focus of your degree, through a stream-specific module and 10-month research project.
Investigate nutrition-related health conditions and contribute to better understanding of nutritional physiology.
Working with the Faculty of Medicine’s Nutrition Section, you’ll join cutting-edge researchers investigating areas like precision nutrition and appetite regulation.
You will also use novel techniques such as cameras and metabolite analysis to improve accuracy of data within clinical nutrition research.
Clinical Research
This is a stream in our Clinical Research course. Taught through innovative approaches to develop your skills, you will receive high quality training and research experience to embark on a successful career in human clinical research, or laboratory research relevant to human disease within the world-leading clinical research environment of Imperial College London.
You will also gain an understanding of “Bench-to-Bedside” research, where preclinical laboratory findings are translated to living humans to develop the disease treatment approaches of the future.
Whether you are interested in laboratory, data-driven or human clinical trial research, this course will develop the essential clinical research skills in your subject area of interest and prepare you for clinical research-oriented career or further research study, such as a PhD.
Choose your stream
- Diabetes and Obesity
- Human Nutrition (this stream)
- Multiple Long-Term Conditions
- Translational Medicine
Your pathway will dictate the topic focus of your certificate through a stream-specific module.
Structure
This page is updated regularly to reflect the latest version of the curriculum. However, this information is subject to change.
Find out more about potential course changes.
Please note: it may not always be possible to take specific combinations of modules due to timetabling conflicts. For confirmation, please check with the relevant department.
You’ll study all the following modules.
Core modules
Explore and investigate the design, challenges and considerations and around research in humans, become familiar with clinical research regulatory frameworks, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), PPI, statistics in clinical research and clinical research study design.
Gain insight into the design and conduct of clinical research in non-typical and challenging situations and populations, as well as developing a rounded researcher skillset, initiative and confidence through a simulated realistic grant application exercise.
Develop the crucial ability to appraise clinical research literature, study design and judge its validity.
Develop an interdisciplinary understanding of the underlying pathophysiology, and research advances in the nutritional aspects of ageing, including prevention, management and treatment of chronic conditions.
You will also gain an appreciation of the ways that we measure the dietary intake of individuals and populations and use these measurements in calculations relating to nutritional physiology of health and disease.
You will be exposed to the cutting edge in nutrition-related research, taught by the world-leading researchers within the field.
You will also learn how to apply nutritional research findings to a public health nutrition setting, in addition to learning a variety of techniques needed to measure human body composition in human clinical trials.
Apply a range of clinical and laboratory techniques to a specific research area on an extensive project of your choosing.
The project topic will be based on your selected pathway, and supervised by a Imperial based research academic.
Your work will be assessed by a research proposal, research paper and oral viva voce examination.
You’ll study all the following modules.
Core modules
Explore and investigate the design, challenges and considerations and around research in humans, become familiar with clinical research regulatory frameworks, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), statistics in clinical research and clinical research study design.
Gain insight into the design and conduct of clinical research in non-typical and challenging situations and populations, as well as developing a rounded researcher skillset, initiative and confidence through a simulated realistic grant application exercise.
Develop the crucial ability to appraise clinical research literature, study design and judge its validity.
Develop an interdisciplinary understanding of the underlying pathophysiology, and research advances in the nutritional aspects of ageing, including prevention, management and treatment of chronic conditions.
You will also gain an appreciation of the ways that we measure the dietary intake of individuals and populations and use these measurements in calculations relating to nutritional physiology of health and disease.
You will be exposed to the cutting edge in nutrition-related research, taught by the world-leading researchers within the field.
You will also learn how to apply nutritional research findings to a public health nutrition setting, in addition to learning a variety of techniques needed to measure human body composition in human clinical trials.
Teaching and assessment
Balance of teaching and learning
This is a general guide to how teaching and learning are usually balanced across this course. The methods used may change based on the modules you take.
Key
- Lectures, seminars and independent study
- Research project
- 30% Title 1 goes here
- 70% Title 2 goes here
Teaching and learning methods
-
Lectures
-
Interactive workshops
-
Journal clubs
-
Virtual learning environment
-
Presentations
-
Group work
-
Project reports
-
Research proposal
Balance of assessment
Key
- Examinations
- Coursework
- Practicals
- 16% Title 1 goes here
- 50% Title 2 goes here
- 34% Title 3 goes here
Assessment methods
-
Case studies
-
Critical appraisal reports
-
Documentation
-
Oral examination
-
Online exams
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-
Research Article
Balance of teaching and learning
This is a general guide to how teaching and learning are usually balanced across this course. The methods used may change based on the modules you take.
Key
- Lectures, seminars and independent study
- Research project
- 100% Title 1 goes here
Teaching and learning methods
-
Lectures
-
Interactive workshops
-
Journal clubs
-
Virtual learning environment
-
Presentations
-
Group work
-
Project reports
-
Research proposal
Assessment methods
-
Case studies
-
Critical appraisal reports
-
Documentation
-
Oral examination
-
Online exams
-
Research Article
Entry requirements
We consider all applicants on an individual basis, welcoming students from all over the world.
How to apply
Applications open on Wednesday 30 September 2026.
We operate a staged admissions process with several application rounds throughout the year.
Apply by 23.59 (UK time) on the closing date of an application round, to ensure you receive a response on your application by the relevant decision date.
Round 1
Business School courses only.
Round 2
- Applications open on Wednesday 30 September 2026
- Applications close on Wednesday 6 January 2027
- Decision by Wednesday 3 March 2027
Round 3
- Applications open on Thursday 7 January 2027
- Applications close on Wednesday 10 March 2027
- Decision by Wednesday 5 May 2027
Round 4
- Applications open on Thursday 11 March 2027
- Applications close on Wednesday 28 April 2027
- Decision by Thursday 1 July 2027
We recommend applying as early as you can – we cannot guarantee that places will be available, or that courses will remain open, in later rounds.
This course is divided into two progressional levels of study:
- PG Certificate (PG Cert)
- MRes
Each level of study has its own separate entry point; you can apply to either level in the first instance.
Read more about Postgraduate Certificate, Diploma and Master's courses.
Consider which Clinical Research stream is right for you, according to your career aims and research interests.
When applying via our application portal My Imperial, at the start of the process you should choose the relevant mode and level of study: MRes 1YFT (1 year full-time) or MRes 2YPT (2 years part-time). Then, you will choose your specialist stream, later in the application platform.
If an offer of admission is made, it will correspond to a specific stream. Switching streams is only possible under certain conditions.
If you are applying for a Master’s course, you will need to pay an application fee before submitting your application.
The fee applies per application and not per course.
The application fees for postgraduate courses are:
- £90 for all Master's applications, excluding those to Imperial Business School
- £125 for MSc applications to Imperial Business School
- £150 for MBA applications to Imperial Business School
There is no application fee for Postgraduate Certificates, Postgraduate Diplomas, or courses such as PhDs and EngDs. This includes MRes and PhD combined (1+3) courses with the Centre for Doctoral Training.
If you are facing financial hardship and are unable to pay the application fee, we encourage you to apply for our application fee waiver.
Find out more about how to apply for a Master's course, including references and personal statements.
An ATAS certificate is not required for students applying for this course.
Fees and funding
Home fee (Clinical Research - Standard)
MRes (full-time)
Not set
As a guide, the total fee for 2026-27 was £16,000.
MRes (part-time)
Not setper year
As a guide, the fee for 2026-27 was £8,000 per year.
PG Cert
Not set
As a guide, the total fee for 2026-27 was £8,000.
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the university, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our tuition fees payment terms, including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out how we assess your fee status.
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
The maximum value of the loan is £13,206 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2026.
The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Please note that the loan is only available if you’re studying a full Master’s course from the start. If you start on a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) or Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) and later move on to the Master’s, you won’t be eligible for this loan.
Important: Local taxes apply to the tuition fee for students studying this course from India or Singapore. Refer to the 'Goods and Services Tax (GST) – India and Singapore' tab for details or visit the Goods and Services Tax page for more information.
Overseas fee (Clinical Research - Standard)
MRes (full-time)
Not set
As a guide, the total fee for 2026-27 was £47,300.
MRes (part-time)
Not setper year
As a guide, the fee for 2026-27 was £23,650 per year.
PG Cert
Not set
As a guide, the total fee for 2026-27 was £23,650.
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the university, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our tuition fees payment terms, including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out how we assess your fee status.
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
The maximum value of the loan is £13,206 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2026.
The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Please note that the loan is only available if you’re studying a full Master’s course from the start. If you start on a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) or Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) and later move on to the Master’s, you won’t be eligible for this loan.
Important: Local taxes apply to the tuition fee for students studying this course from India or Singapore. Refer to the 'Goods and Services Tax (GST) – India and Singapore' tab for details or visit the Goods and Services Tax page for more information.
Scholarships
View all scholarshipsMRes in Clinical Research Bursary
Value per award
- £2,000 towards tuition fees
Who it's for
- Students taking MRes Clinical Research commencing October 2026
How will studying at Imperial help my career?
Graduates of our faculty of medicine courses go on to succeed in a wide range of sectors. These include healthcare, pharamceuticals, government, charities and NGOs, consultancy, technology, research and development, education.
Who do our graduates work for?
Our faculty of medicine graduates have worked for companies including Cancer Research, NHS, Department of Health and Social Care, Costello Medical, Medpace, Sanofi, AstraZenica, Oxford Genetics, Wellcome Stranger Institute.
What jobs do our graduates do?
Data analyst, Policy advisor, Trainee Patent Attorney, Project Manager, Medical Affairs Writer, Associate Scientist, Regulatory advisor, Healthcare Consultant.
What about further study?
PhD at leading institutions worldwide.
What careers support does Imperial offer?
Our Careers Service can support you as you consider your next steps. You can access one-to-one guidance, workshops, employer events and online resources to help you explore your options and plan your career.
Further links
Contact the department
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3313 6114
Email: s.hoskins@imperial.ac.uk
Course Directors: Professor David Owen and Professor Jonathan Valabhji
Visit the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction website.
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Our students
Meet Clinical Research students and see what they have to say about their studies.
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Register your interest
Stay up to date on news, events, scholarship opportunities and information related to this course.
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Events, tasters and talks
Meet us and find out more about studying at Imperial.
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Terms and conditions
There are some important pieces of information you should be aware of when applying to Imperial. These include key information about your tuition fees, funding, visas, accommodation and more.
You can find further information about your course, including degree classifications, regulations, progression and awards in the programme specification for your course.
Programme specifications