Funding a PhD or MPhil at the MRC CBU

An important note about self-funding: Following careful consultation and consideration, the CBU adopted a policy of not permitting ‘self-funded’ PhDs. That is, the CBU accepts only PhD applicants who are funded for the duration of the PhD by an MRC studentship or other award, from for example Gates Cambridge, Cambridge Trust, ESRC DTP, other charitable organisation, or the applicant’s home government. This is motivated by our commitment to the ideals of fairness, inclusivity, and equality of opportunity. It is also our experience that self-funding can place the student and supervisor under considerable strain with potential to seriously impact wellbeing. Note this is not the case for our taught MPhil in Cognitive Neuroscience, for which we will accept both funded and self-funded students.

An offer of a place to undertake postgraduate training with us and being offered funding are independent processes. If we offer you a PhD or MPhil place, we will nominate you for all available funding schemes that we consider you to be eligible for. However, being offered a ‘place’ does not guarantee funding. To take up a PhD studentship at the CBU, you will need to be awarded a minimum of 3 years of funding that covers the University Composition Fee and provides you with a maintenance stipend.

These include our own MRC studentships (see MRC eligibility details), which typically run for 4 or sometimes 3 years (for PhDs) or 1 year (for the MPhil in Cognitive Neuroscience) and cover the University composition fee while also providing a maintenance stipend (£18662 per annum from October 2023). Other funding awards tend to vary in duration and can be for 3, 3.5, or 4 years. We automatically consider all our applicants for our MRC studentships, but please also be sure to indicate in your online application any funding that you think you may be eligible for so that you are given due consideration. If we offer you a place, we will also enter you into the University postgraduate funding competition (Cambridge Trust awards), and where appropriate, for Gates Cambridge, ESRC DTP, or other funding awards.

The good news is that in 2021, 75% of new PhD students and 25% of new Masters students at the University were awarded full or partial funding. You can learn more about the different funding opportunities from across the collegiate University using the University’s Postgraduate Funding Search. For more information about funding sources outside the University, please see the External Funding Page.

Once we have entered you into the above funding competitions, decisions are out of our hands. Applicants begin to hear about funding decisions in March, though decisions can be communicated as late as June or July. As the University funding rounds are highly competitive, we always recommend that you seek out and apply for any additional funds that could support your PhD (e.g. funds from the government of your home country or a charity). We are always happy to do what we can to assist, and so please let us know if there is anything we can do to help you with your application.

Additional opportunities to secure funding for a PhD at the MRC CBU

There are several funding competitions for PhDs that are run independently from the route described above and that require applicants to make a separate application. In such cases, we recommend that you also apply via the above standard route to ensure the best possible chance of being awarded funding for a PhD. As of 15th September, the details and available projects for these schemes have not yet been confirmed or detailed on the relevant websites, but we do expect projects from a number of CBU researchers to be offered in these schemes, and so do keep checking.

There are the MRC iCASE (Industrial Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering) awards. If you apply for an MRC iCASE studentship, you will need to select from the list of available projects which often includes one or more offered by MRC CBU scientists. These studentships enable successful individuals to receive high quality research training, while additionally benefitting from a placement with an industrial partner and thus gaining unique technical and transferable skills, insight into how commercial science is conducted, and knowledge of entrepreneurial opportunities. Projects will be posted at some point *after* 3rd October 2022.

The Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine Doctoral Training Programme in Medical Research may also offer some funded PhD SCM DTP-MR studentships, with projects based in a Department or Research Unit within the School of Clinical Medicine. For October 2023 starters, the program was structured as 0.5 + 3.5 years. In the first 6 months, students completed two 3-month rotation projects in different laboratories and different disciplinary areas from their main field of research. Towards the end of the second rotation, students confirmed their preferred project and supervisor for the remaining 3.5 years of the PhD. Projects were posted in October 2022 for an October 2023 start. Do check back for details on eligibility and on whether the scheme is being offered for October 2024 entry.

We are also hopeful that BBSRC DTP 4-year studentships will be on offer for entry in October 2024. If this scheme goes ahead as hoped, students will undertake 2 rotation projects in their first year and in April-May select the group in which they wish to undertake their PhD project. The DTP website will in due course offer information about potential supervisors and research areas. Further information can be found here.