PhD Studentships

The Kennedy Institute is famous for its development of biologics for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and currently numbers over 20 scientific Group Leaders.

About our 4 year DPhil doctoral training programme

  • Funding for 4 years, with awards covering stipend (currently £18,000 per annum), as well as tuition and college fees, and including allowance for laboratory expenses and conference travel, with students selecting supervisor(s) and project upon application
     
  • Outstanding supervision from academics with world-class reputations, with an excellent management and mentoring programme, together multi-disciplinary research and strategic links with industry
     
  • Exceptional research facilities in a new state-of-the-art medical research institute, with close links to the Nuffield Department of Medicine, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and the Wellcome Trust funded Structural Genomics Consortium
  • First-rate track-record for thesis submission (100% of students complete and submit their theses within 4 years), with additional measures of training success including publications and successful grant applications
     
  • Career support and training in core and transferrable skills, to ensure eventual establishment of graduates as independent investigators in national and international research laboratories (over 85% of students who graduated in the last 4 years have progressed to post-doctoral research, clinical posts or healthcare-related work)
     

Studentships Currently Available at The Kennedy Institute

The Institute is currently offering a number of fully-funded “direct-entry” DPhil studentships.

2013 MSK/KIR-01

Position has been filled

Investigation of the structural basis for control of mRNA stability in inflammation

Academic Supervisor(s): Dr Jonathan Dean
Dr Nicola Burgess-Brown (Structural Genomics Consortium)

2013 MSK/KIR-02

Position has been filled

Do NK cells contribute to new bone formation in Ankylosing Spondylitis?

Academic Supervisor(s): Dr Nicole Horwood
Prof Paul Bowness (Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine)

2013 MSK/KIR-03

Position has been filled

The danger hypothesis: understanding what drives chronic inflammation in autoimmune disease

Academic Supervisor(s): Dr Kim Midwood
Prof Mike Dustin

2013 MSK/KIR-04

Position has been filled

Master regulator of macrophage polarization IRF5 in inflammation

Academic Supervisor(s): Prof Irina Udalova

2013 MSK/KIR-05

Position has been filled

Investigating how cell polarity links rheumatoid arthritis and cancer

Academic Supervisor(s): Dr Yoshi Itoh
Prof Xin Lu (Ludwig Institute)

2013 MSK/KIR-06

Position has been filled

Functional role of IRF5 in inflammatory bowel disease

Academic Supervisor(s): Prof Irina Udalova
Prof Fiona Powrie (Experimental Medicine Division)

How to apply

It is recommended that you contact the relevant supervisors in the first instance. The studentships are open to UK or EU students who are eligible for home fees. Interested applicants should have or expect to obtain a first or upper second class (2i) BSc degree or European equivalent, and will also need to provide evidence of English language competence at time of application.

Candidates must apply for both the programme, DPhil in Musculoskeletal Sciences (course code 002025), and the studentship. When completing a form, the applicant should indicate in the section headed ‘Departmental Studentship Applications’ that the application is for a studentship and enter the reference code for this studentship (201# MSK/KIR-##). 

The University requires candidates to formally apply online and for their referees to submit online references. To access the online application system, please visit www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/applyonline

To access the application guide and form, please visit www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses

Applications are ongoing.

Comments from some some of our students

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