We warmly welcome applications from both UK and Overseas individuals who are interested in completing a PhD or MPhil at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.

The CBU postgraduate community is diverse and international. We host up to 60 postgraduate students at any time and invite applications from individuals who wish to pursue research in areas covered by any of our research programmes. Our approaches include, but are not limited to: experimental cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, computational modelling, and neuroimaging using MRI, MEG, and EEG.

For an October 2023 start, the application portal opens 15th September, with deadlines as follows:

• 12th October for US candidates wishing to be considered for Gates US funding
• 1st December for all other candidates wishing to be considered for UKRI/MRC, Gates Cambridge, or other (e.g. Cambridge Trust, ESRC DTP) studentships

Please always pay careful attention to the dates in the Cambridge University application portal, in case of discrepancies with the above.

Postgraduate Open Day

The University hosts annual postgraduate visits and open days, where you can find out about the different postgraduate courses, student life within the collegiate University, as well as funding opportunities that are available for UK or overseas students. You can have a look at what’s on offer and book a place on an open day here. The MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit session which may be of particular interest will be held on 2nd November from 2:00-2:40 pm.

Trying to decide what research to propose for an MPhil or PhD at the CBU?

Whatever idea or research question you would like to pursue, you will need to produce either a 1 page (MPhil) or 2 page (PhD) proposal to upload as part of your application. We have provided some project ideas to give you a bit of inspiration, but you are also welcome to propose an idea entirely of your own. You can find out more about our current research and our programme leaders on our website.

If you are interested in pursuing research with any of our researchers, we highly recommend that you email them to find out more about their ongoing research and opportunities in their groups. They can also provide some limited feedback on your research proposal.

As a postgraduate at the MRC CBU, you will be registered as a member of the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine and additionally a Cambridge College. This ensures you will have full use of University of Cambridge facilities and your college as well as those of the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.

How to apply

For further information about how to apply for postgraduate study at the CBU, please visit the following page which has more detailed information about the application procedure: https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/study-with-us/research-degrees/how-to-apply/

Who can I contact if I have further questions?

If you require any further help or information related to studentships please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via grad-admin [@] mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk (without the brackets and spaces).

We also encourage you to make use of Unibuddy – a platform for prospective students to have a one-on-one chat with current Cambridge postgraduate students. It is a great way to gain valuable insights into student life and build connections with fellow peers. Unibuddy’s student ambassadors are experienced in answering queries relating to studies and life at Cambridge, and depending on availability, it may even be possible to connect with representatives of the CBU or your country of origin. The link to Unibuddy is here: http://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/international/chat-our-students/