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The Global Health Network and TDR Professional Development Scheme has been specifically designed for all researchers working in the field of global health. The aim of this scheme is to encourage career development for all researchers and research staff by providing a mechanism for capturing core competencies, qualifications and training.

This Scheme offers all cadres of research staff a free, online system for maintaining an secure, validated and recognised record of professional development and professional membership.

This Scheme has been developed to capture qualifications, experience and training. A unique and key element is the capture of research competencies, which are then scored according to skill level. This programme is free for individuals and we are working with organisations such as the University of Oxford to develop accreditation and validation.

The Scheme scores appropriately whether you are a recent graduate in your first post right through to a director managing a large research centre. Therefore, membership is appropriate and beneficial for all working in health research and clinical trials.

Partners and Funding

The Professional Development Scheme was developed in partnership between WHO/TDR and The Global Health Network and is based on the TDR Global Competency Framework for Clinical Research. This Competency Framework bridges the lack of information about clinical research roles, especially for those working in low and middle income countries (LMICs). It has been developed alongside experts and collaborators from around the world.

Competency Framework

The Professional Development Scheme uses The Global Health Network and -WHO TDR Global Competency Framework for Clinical Research.

This a flexible framework that lists all the competencies that should be demonstrated by a research team to carry out a successful study. The Competency Framework can be applied to any research study, regardless of the size of the team, place, disease focus and type of research.

Together with its supporting tools, the Competency Framework can be used to plan staffing requirements for a study, to carry out appraisals of staff, to guide career development, and to create educational curricula for research staff. 

The Competency Framework consists of several complementary parts, including the Competency Wheel (overview) and Dictionary (explanation) which can be downloaded below.