Schools

Below are the dates for the Ninth School 2026/27. The School’s training materials and live interactions are fully online (no in-person content). Trainees are expected to attend all online plenary sessions and all relevant online group sessions.

All times are listed in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) on the dates specified.

Trainee orientation session

• Wednesday 13 January 2027 at 11:30 UTC

Session 1: The science of implementation

• Plenary session on Monday 18 January 2027 at 11:30-13:00 UTC

• Group session A on Monday 18 January 2027 at 14:00 UTC (up to two hours)

• Group session B on Tuesday 19 January 2027 at 06:30 UTC (up to two hours)

Session 2: Stakeholder engagement

• Plenary session on Wednesday 20 January 2027 at 11:30-13:00 UTC

• Group session A on Wednesday 20 January 2027 at 14:00 UTC (up to two hours)

• Group session B on Thursday 21 January 2027 at 06:30 UTC (up to two hours)

Session 3: Theories, models, frameworks, and context

• Plenary session on Monday 25 January 2027 at 11:30-13:00 UTC

• Group session A on Monday 25 January 2027 at 14:00 UTC (up to two hours)

• Group session B on Tuesday 26 January 2027 at 06:30 UTC (up to two hours)

Session 4: Designing and testing implementation strategies

• Plenary session on Monday 1 February 2027 at 11:30-13:00 UTC

• Group session A on Monday 1 February 2027 at 14:00 UTC (up to two hours)

• Group session B on Tuesday 2 February 2027 at 06:30 UTC (up to two hours)

Session 5: Integrating implementation research into your work

• Plenary session on Wednesday 3 February 2027 at 11:30-13:00 UTC

• Group session A on Wednesday 3 February 2027 at 14:00 UTC (up to two hours)

• Group session B on Thursday 4 February 2027 at 06:30 UTC (up to two hours)

Session 6: Team presentations and reflections

• Plenary session on Monday 8 February 2027 at 11:15-13:15 UTC

In 2025, the GACD Implementation Science School received a record number of high-calibre applicants, making the selection process incredibly competitive. If we were unable to offer you a place, please find below some further insight into our decision-making process to help you strengthen any future applications. We hope this provides some reassurance about the rigour of our selection process and the care put into reviewing every application.

Download the GACD School application feedback 2025

Selected trainees are asked to watch all the lecture recordings under the Fundamentals Programme on the GACD e-Hub in advance of the School start date. These materials form the core learning of the School and are open access.

All teaching and instruction will be delivered in English. Applicants should be proficient in English in order to take full advantage of the programme.

Eligible applicants include people who meet one of the following criteria:

• Completed or undertaking postgraduate coursework or research related to clinical or public health (or a related field).

• Recently completed a PhD relevant to implementation science and/or NCDs.

• Other relevant graduates with up to 5 years research experience.

Preference will be given to:

• Applicants whose research is focused on non-communicable diseases.

• Applicants from low- and middle-income countries or members of Indigenous communities.

• Early- and mid-career applicants undertaking their research within low- and middle-income countries or with Indigenous populations in high-income countries.

To ensure international diversity, trainees from any one institution may be limited. Attendees from previous GACD Implementation Science Schools will not be eligible for this event.

Applicants will be asked to submit the following information during the application process for consideration by the selection committee:

• A copy of your CV / resume.

• A personal statement outlining what has motivated you to apply and why you are a good candidate for the School (up to 300 words).

• Your two key learning objectives you hope to achieve by attending the School (up to 300 words).

• Career trajectory statement, outlining your career aspirations for the next three to five years, and how knowledge of implementation science would be beneficial to your work (up to 300 words).

• Confirmation you can commit to time requirements of the School and can attend all sessions.

• Explicit support from your supervisor, team leader, or line manager, including a letter of support.

Applications will be assessed by the selection committee based on:

• Applicant’s commitment to, and motivation for, implementation research.

• The potential for the applicant to benefit from the School.

• Robust team or institutional support for the applicant to attend the School.

AI and LLM tools are a fast-evolving technology. We endeavour to keep up with the major developments but, of course, it is out of the GACD secretariat’s scope to have a comprehensive understanding of AI, LLMs, and machine learning.

Below we have outlined six important points regarding AI and LLM tool use by applicants to our School. The aim is to preserve the unique shared learning experience between humans by allowing our selection committee to review submissions created by people, not bots.

In the context of the GACD School application process, AI and LLM tools are considered to be programs that can generate, summarise, translate, and parse text in multiple contexts.

Examples include ChatGPT, Microsoft CoPilot, and Google Gemini.

AI and LLMs are the basis for most chat bots.

There is more information in this blog from Stanford University.

For your application, AI and LLMs may be used as support tools.

We strongly encourage all applicants to write their answers themselves, without the use of such tools. However, you may wish to check grammatical accuracy and spelling if you are less confident using English.

The use of such tools must not undermine the primary creator being a human.

There is a big difference between using prompts such as, “Please check for any spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors in this sentence” versus “Please write an answer to this application question”.

You are responsible for the content derived from any AI or LLM tool used in your application.

Any attribution of authorship carries accountability for the work, and AI tools cannot take such responsibility.

You will be asked to report AI and LLM tool use in your application.

Your declaration will be shared with the selection committee. See the annex for the list of questions you will need to answer.

Applications will be checked at random using an AI detector program. The score will be shared with the selection committee for consideration.

Do not rely on new technologies to create an application for you.

There is no guarantee of data privacy for any information you upload.

AI and LLM tools can get facts wrong (called ‘hallucinations’) – for example, making up references that do not exist.

AI and LLM tools are also susceptible to inheriting and amplifying biases present in their training data. This means such biases can be present in their outputs.

And lastly, generative AI and LLM tool responses are generic. When reviewing many applications, it becomes obvious which ones have used such tools to write their answers.

There are substantial environmental impacts associated with AI and LLM use.

Please think carefully before using these tools in your work.

There is more information in this blog from the UNEP.