UKTMN Monthly Bulletin
February 2025
UKTMN Annual Conference 2025
Registration is now open for the UKTMN Annual Conference 2025, which will take place in person in Newcastle on Tuesday, 3 June 2025. The programme includes keynote speakers, UKTMN member presentations, parallel sessions, and member poster presentations. This one-day conference provides a valuable opportunity to connect, share knowledge, and explore innovative developments in trial management.
Attendance for the 2025 conference is priced at £150, which includes access to the full conference, as well as refreshments and lunch. Places are available on a first-come, first-served basis
For more information and to secure your place, CLICK HERE
We look forward to seeing you there!
UKTMN ASPIRE Leadership programme - first session!
We were delighted to welcome the first UKTMN ASPIRE cohort to Manchester on 24 February 2025 for the start of session one, kicking off with a welcome meal overnight stay. Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Advisor for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) provided an inspiring speech and fantastic Q&A session for the cohort, highlighting the value of trial management within the UK research landscape.
UKTMN Routine healthcare data - online event
This online event is exclusively for UKTMN members, and is free to attend.
Tuesday 25 March 2025: 2 - 3.30pm
In response to our UKTMN training survey, we invite you to attend an online session with the TOP-CAT research team from Cardiff’s Centre for Trials Research. This online event will be split into two parts. In the first part of the session, Fiona Lugg-Widger and Rob Trubey (TOP-CAT team) will give an overview of the opportunities of linking to routine healthcare data, what types of data are currently available, how to access it and the different ways it can be used to support trial delivery. The second part will allow attendees to ask questions and share knowledge.
UKTMN Training courses
The next UKTMN training course is now fully booked. If you would like to attend this course, you can join a waiting list for spaces on the current dates or you can join a priority list; meaning you will be the first to know any future course dates. If you would like to join a waiting list or priority list for any UKTMN training courses, please email [email protected]
UKTMN Training: How to be a Good Trial Manager
FULLY BOOKED
Thursday 24 April 2025, online training, half day, 10am to 1pm
Click here to find out more and to register for your place
UKTMN/NCTU Training: Introduction to statistics for trial management professionals
This online training will take place across two consecutive half-days, from 9.15 am - 1pm.
Click here to find out more and to register for your place
As always, if you have any ideas for courses you’d like to see, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Your input is greatly appreciated.
UKTMN Forum updates
The UKTMN Forum serves as a platform for members to share knowledge by posting questions and engaging in discussions. Please see below some of the currently unanswered questions from the forum.
Questions posted on the UKTMN Forum:
- TMG meeting agendas
- QMS systems at CTUs
- Medical Record Reviews
- Creating a Medical Monitoring Plan
- IMP labelling
- REDCap for Patient Consent
Please respond to any of the posts listed above, and utilise the UKTMN Forum as a platform to share knowledge and support your peers.
Click here to access the UKTMN Forum
We would like to remind members that a communication preference specifically for forum notifications has been introduced. Moving forward, all Forum Friday broadcasts will be sent via this dedicated communication channel. If you wish to opt in to receive reminders about future forum posts, please navigate to 'My Account' > Communications and select the Forum notifications option.
External Events & Training
Below, you will find a list of upcoming external events, shared on behalf of organisations/groups in the research community:
NIHR Workshop: Optimising performance
11 March 2025 1pm - 4pm
you will need to apply by 20 February 2025 to take part
Learn how to optimise your performance by prioritisation, protection and preparation. During this 3-hour workshop you will:
discover a new way to plan and prioritise your tasks
learn how to set boundaries to protect yourself and your time
understand how to feel prepared in an ever changing, uncertain environment
For more information, and to register, please click here:
NIHR Webinar: Inspiring others with a clean vision
13 March 2025 1pm - 2pm
Learn how to inspire others and provide teams with motivation to deliver on both short and longer term goals at our webinar on 13 March from 1-2pm. Attend to find out how inspired teams emerge when colleagues resonate with the strategic direction, find their tasks achievable and share a collective responsibility for creating a meaningful impact.
For more information, and to register, please click here:
Conduct of Platform Trials
On behalf of the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology
(In-Person) MRC CTU at UCL, London, WC1V 6LJ
18 March 2025 - 10:00 - 16:30 GMT
Designed for trial managers, data managers, database developers, Chief Investigators, and statisticians, the course focuses on the unique challenges of platform trials compared to traditional two-arm randomised controlled trials. Through a mix of lectures and activity-based sessions, participants will gain a deep understanding of setting up, managing, and reporting platform trials.
For more information, and to register, please click here:
2nd Contemporary Clinical Trials Methodology Meeting (On behalf of Imperial College London)
2-3 April 2025 10:00am-16:00pm
Do you work in clinical trials and want to find out about the latest in the design and delivery of contemporary trials? Join Imperial for sessions that will dive into practical insights, including real-world examples and in-depth discussions.
For more information, and to register, please click here:
Fundamentals of Clinical Trials
On behalf of Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit
Trent Vineyard, Unit 1, Easter Park Lenton Lane, Lenton, Nottingham, NG7 2PX
19 May 2025 – 23rd May 2025
The course introduces the key considerations when designing and conducting a randomised clinical trial. Throughout the five-day course, delegates will learn why clinical trials are necessary, how different kinds of trials are designed and how bias can be minimised, how trials are managed and then analysed, interpreted and reported.
For more information, and to register, please click here:
Clinical Trials Management Crash Course (On behalf of the University of Oxford)
14-16 October 2025 9:00am - 17:00pm
The team at the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit, University of Oxford, have developed a new Clinical Trials Management course for working professionals. The course will take a practical look at clinical trial management and is open to anyone involved in clinical trials, whatever your grade, experience, or background. The tutors will take you through the real world of clinical trials with talks and interactive workshops to help you develop the skills needed to run trials to time, target, and budget.
For more information, and to register, please click here:
If you would like to share an event that you believe would be useful for the UKTMN members, please do get in touch via our email [email protected]
External survey opportunity
Exploring Opportunities and Challenges to Supporting Trialists’ Behaviours for Greener Trials
on behalf of a TMRP funded project
With an aim to reduce the carbon footprint of clinical trials, we are conducting a survey to understand trialists’ views on factors influencing their behaviours that will enable the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of greener trials. By greener trials, we mean designing and delivering trials without unnecessary and unjustified carbon output. We would greatly appreciate it if any members could complete our online survey.
The survey will take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. All data collected in the survey will be confidentially and securely stored on computer servers maintained by the University of Aberdeen. Details of the survey are available in a Participant Information Leaflet.
Any questions can be directed to [email protected]
A survey for trial management staff on RCT recruitment and retention practices
Please see below a request for response to a research study on behalf of Tony Ndung’u, PhD student at the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit
This survey will close on the 3rd March
As a clinical trial professional, your insights into participant recruitment strategies and challenges are invaluable. Your participation in this survey will make a meaningful contribution to this important area of recruitment and retention in RCTs. The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete. This study has been approved by University of Nottingham’s Ethics Committee (REF: FMHS41-1224)Your responses are strictly confidential and will be used solely for research purposes. The findings of this survey will be shared with all participants who express interest in receiving the results.
TMRP Project funding 2025:
Application deadline: 28 March 2025
The application window is now open for Trials Methodology Research Partnership project funding, available to those in a TMRP working group. More information can be found on our news page.
Campaign to recognise ‘hidden’ research outputs and roles given formal go-ahead
on behalf of the University of Southampton
A campaign to recognise the ‘hidden’ outputs and roles in successful academic research has been awarded £3.5 million to bring it into the 2029 REF.
The five-year project, called Embedding Trust in Evaluation (E-TIE), will develop recommendations for the sector to embed the formal recognition of support and technical work that underpins research in the next REF (Research Excellence Framework, the national research assessment exercise that determines public research funding for institutions).
UKTMN needs YOU!
UKTMN’s activities and resources are built upon members sharing their expertise, which significantly shapes our content. We are currently seeking volunteers to contribute to UKTMN initiatives—your experience and insights are invaluable to your peers!
There are several ways to get involved, including presenting a webinar, providing a career case study, or writing a blog post based on your professional experiences.
Last year, we introduced career case studies to highlight the varied career paths in trial management, offering inspiration to UKTMN members. We welcome members from all backgrounds to share their career journeys, regardless of experience level or pathway.
If you’re interested in any of these volunteer opportunities or would like more information, please email us at [email protected].
Did you know...
We have added 5 new trial management vacancies to our JOB PAGE
and 1 new event to our CALENDAR OF EVENTS
