A health professional is an individual who is registered with a national professional regulatory body (e.g. the General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council) in the country in which the PhD programme is based. This would include, but not be limited to, the following professions:

• Allied Health Professionals (Art Therapists, Chiropodists/Podiatrists, Dieticians, Drama Therapists, Music Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Operating Department Practitioners, Orthoptists, Osteopaths, Paramedics, Physiotherapists, Prosthetists and Orthotists, Radiographers and Speech and Language Therapists)
• Chiropractors
• Clinical psychologists
• Dentists
• Dental hygienists
• Dental nurses
• Dental therapists
• Healthcare scientists (in life sciences, physiological sciences, physical sciences and biomechanical engineering, and bioinformatics)
• Health Visitors
• Medics
• Midwives
• Non-medical Public Health Specialty Trainees, specialists or Consultants
• Nurses
• Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians
• Osteopaths
• Pharmacists
• Pharmacy technicians
• Practitioner Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Vets

If you are already registered for a PhD with funding available to support the full duration of this higher degree, you are not eligible to apply to this programme.

No, all studentships are fully funded so there is no need to apply for additional funding to be considered for this PhD programme.

Please provide a one-page statement on your research interests and experience, career goals and how these fit with your preliminary project aspirations. Please state whether or not you would consider a fellowship based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute or the University of East Anglia.

Funding is not available for an individual to undertake an MPhil prior to starting a PhD.

No. This programme does encourage individuals who do not have a specific research project to experience different laboratories before making a choice of research project and supervisor; therefore, there is no requirement to have a pre-determined project proposal or supervisor in mind prior to application. Alternatively, individuals with a predetermined project and supervisor are also welcome to apply. In either case, candidates will be asked to describe their research plan or aspirations in detail at interview; and this will form part of the selection process.

Successful individuals are encouraged to take advantage of the protected research time offered by this fellowship.  Therefore, limited clinical work should be undertaken, i.e. usually maximum of one outpatient clinic/on-call per week for medics and minimal accreditation clinical work for non-medical health professionals.

No, clinicians with CCT are not eligible to apply.

The programme aims to be as inclusive as possible.  Flexible working and part-time arrangements can be accommodated with the agreement of your supervisor and the Programme Faculty.  However, part-time working is not permitted for the purposes of continuing clinical training or to maintain another salaried position.  Your salary must be 100% attributed to the fellowship.  The total course length remains at a maximum of four years.

Non-medical healthcare professionals seeking information specific to them about the PhD and application may wish to consult Professors Christi Deaton (co-lead, HEE funded Pre-doctoral Bridging Programme for nurses, midwives and AHPs intending to apply for doctoral fellowships, & Professor of Nursing, UoC) and Eneida Mioshi (Academic Career Development Lead, NIHR ARC East of England, & Chair in Dementia Care Research, UEA).  Professors Vass Vassiliou and Eneida Mioshi can also advise regarding opportunities for medical and non-medical healthcare professionals at University of East Anglia

Vets seeking advice about application to this Programme may wish to consult Professor Matthew Allen (Professor of Small Animal Surgery).

Successful fellows are employed by the University of Cambridge for the duration of their fellowship and parental leave is supported by the University’s policies.  Wellcome provide supplementary grant costs for parental leave alongside a fellowship extension.

Contact Teresa Wallman with questions about the PhD Programme itself, or the Postgraduate Admissions Office for information about the University of Cambridge Postgraduate Application Portal.