Research degrees at the William Harvey Research Institute
Why apply for a PhD Programme at The William Harvey Research Institute?
The WHRI is currently the largest pharmacological research institute in the UK University sector and one of the largest in Europe. We are part of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London, which is ranked joint seventh in the UK for the quality of our research (REF 2021). We offer world-class research training for our postgraduate research students encompassing discovery and translational research in the areas of cardiovascular pharmacology, immunology, endocrinology and genomics.
We benefit from strong clinical links to cardiology, renal medicine, critical care, anaesthesia, rheumatology and clinical endocrinology in our allied Barts and The London NHS Trust. Embedded within the WHRI is also the Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, which offers research programmes in areas such as exercise physiology.
Research Subjects
The research at the WHRI falls into 3 main themes:
A list of potential PhD projects and supervisors can be found here.
Entry Requirements
Advertised studentships will include details of any specific entry requirements. General entry requirements for our PhD programmes are given below.
All applicants should have or be expecting:
- A first or upper second-class honours degree in a relevant biological subject from a UK university or the international equivalent from a recognised institution. For international equivalencies please see Queen Mary International Office. A lower second-class honours degree with an appropriate Masters qualification may also be accepted.
English Language Requirements
Applicants for whom English is not a first language will also require a IELTS (Academic) minimum score 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking. More information on Postgraduate Research English language requirements can be found here.
More information about the application process can be found here.
Structure of the PhD Programme
Full-time PhDs usually consists of 3 years of laboratory research plus a year to write up a thesis. On some of our Doctoral training programs, the structure involves 1 year of taught material plus the opportunity to undertake projects on rotation. This is then followed by 3 years in the host laboratory followed by a year to write up. More information can be found here.
Financial Support
Barts Charity Doctoral Training Programme
This 4-year PhD programme will recruit five new students per year.
The Barts DTP will offer students a progressive development programme that will provide training in key areas encompassing:
- Research skills – including in data science and use of AI.
- Understanding health challenges of the East London population.
- Collaborating across different disciplines – including roundtables with clinicians and patients.
- Career development training, including transferable skills to prepare them for diverse career paths from academia to industry, and from policy to public engagement.
The Barts Charity DTP 4-year PhD studentships will be advertised in December each year (through findaphd.com and other media) with the programme commencing in September of the following year. The application deadline will be in late-January, with interviews in early March. For further information please see: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/whri/study/barts-charity-dtp/about/
Advanced AI for Multi-modal Spatial Biology 4-year PhD studentships
The programme is delivered through a cohort-based training model, with groups of nine PhD students joining each year.
Projects will focus on research that advances machine-learning methods to analyses of multi-modal spatial biology data to address key biological questions. All projects will aim to develop advanced AI approaches - for example, deep learning, graph neural networks, generative or explainable models - applied to forward looking spatial-omics challenges such as 3D segmentation, data fusion, or cell-cell interaction analysis.
Training in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is embedded throughout the programme and will be co-delivered with experts from Queen Mary University of London and The Alan Turing Institute.
Advanced AI for Multi-modal Spatial Biology 4-year PhD studentships will be advertised in each year (through findaphd.com and other media) with the programme commencing in September of the following year. The application deadline will be in late-January, with interviews in early March. For further information please see: Eligibility and How to Apply - The William Harvey Research Institute - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
MRC Combined MRes and PhD Doctoral Training Partnership Programme in Translational Immunology
Delivered in partnership with the University of Southampton.
- Delivered in partnership with the University of Southampton Students will complete an MRes in year 1 before progressing to a PhD
- The MRes will involve 3 taught modules and 3 rotational projects.
- Students will then select one of their MRes rotational projects as the subject of their PhD
For further information please see: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/scholarships/items/mrcdoctoral-training-partnership-programme-in-translational-biomedical-sciences.html
We also frequently advertise stand-alone PhD studentships funded by charitable bodies, industry and Queen Mary University of London.
More general information on funding a PhD can be found here.
How to apply
Prospective students who have already obtained funding or are considering applying for external funding should contact: Dr Dianne Cooper and include your CV, details of funding and a brief research proposal.
Detailed information about the application process can be found here: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/applying-for-a-phd/
Contacts
Administrator: Gillian Morrey g.morrey@qmul.ac.uk
Director of Graduate Studies: Dr Dianne Cooper d.cooper@qmul.ac.uk
Deputy Director of Graduate Studies: Dr Egle Solito e.solito@qmul.ac.uk