Postgraduate research

MRC AIM DTP Studentships

Qualification: PhD

Departments: Cancer Research Centre Genetics Molecular and Cell Biology Neuroscience Psychology and Behaviour Population Health Sciences School of Engineering School of Chemistry

Application deadline: midday (GMT) Friday 10 January 2025

Start date: 22 September 2025

Overview

Overview

MRC AIM is a Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) funded by the MRC between three academic partners – Universities of Birmingham, Leicester, and Nottingham.

The research projects that PhD students within AIM undertake use cutting-edge, inter-disciplinary research methods to create and interrogate innovative models of disease. As part of the partnership, AIM PhD students work with complex data, cell-based models, model organisms and patients to better understand areas of clinical need such as metabolic and infectious diseases, cancer, chronic inflammatory conditions and respiratory disease, and psychological disorders.

University of Leicester projects for September 2025 are listed below and also on the AIM website.

Training

Available training is likely to include the following although this is not a comprehensive list and is subject to change:

  • Communicating science to diverse audiences
  • Scientific writing
  • Industry networking sessions
  • Careers beyond academia sessions
  • Good research practice, reproducibility and FAIR data use
  • Ethics in research
  • Advanced research taster sessions
  • Statistics and quantitative methods in research
  • Mental health awareness and resilience
  • Coping with unpredictability in research
  • Team-building and leadership

Industrial partners

A PhD opens the door for a range of research-related careers in both academic and industry settings. The DTP offers PhD projects that are co-led by academic/industry collaborations (iCASE studentships) as well as opportunities for students to undertake placements that give them a taste of working in the biomedical industry sector. We have a close relationship with two pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca and UCBPharma, who will provide all DTP students with valuable knowledge and insight into the sector, as well as ensuring that our comprehensive training programme equips our students with the necessary skills for a career outside of academia.

Doctoral Training Partnerships

Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) and Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) are multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional schemes designed to support the training of the next generation of world-class researchers. The University of Leicester is a lead partner in four DTPs/CDTs through which we can offer funded PhD studentships in a wide range of research areas. 

Studentships are available to highly motivated and qualified applicants and provide a generous support package usually including a full fee waiver, annual stipend, and research training support grant. Studentships are in most cases offered early in the year for September start. Enquiries outside of the main application periods are welcomed.

Projects for September 2025

Professor Sylwia Bujkiewicz: Analytic methods for leveraging complex data to inform effective evaluation of cancer therapies (word doc. 20kb)

Dr Katherine Fawcett: Understanding the mechanism of action of genomic loci associated with severe asthma for clinical translation (word doc. 18kb)

Dr Roberto Feuda: Analysis of Paediatric Medulloblastoma Cellular Heterogeneity Using Single-cell transcriptomic profiling for improved therapeutic strategies. (word doc. 19kb)

Professor Ed Hollox: Functional consequences of genomic tandem repeat expansions in pulmonary fibrosis (word doc. 19kb)

Dr Richard Hopkinson: Defining how aldehydes regulate human metabolism (word doc. 18kb)

Professor G André Ng: Investigating regional changes in cardiac electrophysiology in heart failure using panoramic optical mapping (word doc. 18kb)

Prof Thomas Schalch: Targeted protein injections to combat tumour suppressor loss and restore the epigenetic landscape in mesothelioma (word doc. 18kb)

Dr. Katrin Schilcher: The Multifunctionality of Lipoproteins in the Multidrug-resistant Pathogen Staphylococcus aureus (word doc. 19kb)

iCASE projects

Dr David Guttery / Professor Huiyu Zhou: iCase: Dissecting disparities in response to immunotherapies in under-represented patients with head and neck cancer by integrative omics and machine learning (word doc. 18kb)

Dr James Hodgkinson: iCase: Using CryoEM to trap and visualise PROTAC drugs in action against cancer targets (word doc. 19kb)

Dr Harvinder Virk: iCase: Exploration of markers of fibrotic and inflammatory signalling, and associated clinical phenotypes, in patients with Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILDs) (word doc. 19kb)

Funding

Funding

The competition funding provides students with:

  • 4 years of stipend at UKRI rates
  • 4 years of tuition fees at UK fee rates  (Plus one award of a full overseas fee waiver to an international applicant)*
  • RTSG
  • Budget to help with the cost of purchasing a laptop

*International students are welcome to apply but applicants must be able to fund the cost of travel to the UK, their visa and associated costs, and the healthcare supplement.

The University of Leicester will provide full overseas fee waivers for the duration of their study to all international students accepted at Leicester. The funder, UKRI, allows us to appoint up to 30% overseas students.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

Applicants must hold, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK, in a relevant subject. A master’s qualification in a related area could be beneficial, as could additional relevant research experience.

More details can be found on the MRC website

Evidence of English Language proficiency may be required.

Informal enquiries

Informal enquiries

Project enquiries

• Please email the relevant supervisor. Supervisor profiles are on the project descriptions.

Application enquiries  aimphd@leicester.ac.uk

 

How to apply

How to apply

Select your project and follow the application guidelines on the AIM website

Completed applications to be submitted to aimphd@leicester.ac.uk before the deadline midday GMT Friday 10 January 2025

*Late applications will not be considered.

What happens after you have submitted your application?

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by 14 February 2025 via email and will be invited for interview during the week commencing 24 February 2025 

Please ensure you are available for the whole week as if you are invited for interview, we are unable to offer any alternative interview dates/time.

Eligibility

Eligibility

The MRC AIM studentships are available to UK and international* applicants who meet the academic criteria. 

Full details on eligibility, including residence requirements can be found on the Full Eligibility Criteria or on the UKRI website

*funding restrictions apply to international applicants

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