NIHR School of Primary Care Research (SPCR) PhD Studentship opportunity at QMUL

About the Project

Background

Applications are invited from individuals with a strong academic record who wish to develop a career in primary care research to apply for a PhD studentship. The PhD studentship is for 3 years and must commence in October 2026.

The awards offer traditional project-specific training in areas of particular importance to primary care and awarded to applicants from diverse backgrounds including e.g., medical statistics, social sciences, health economics, health psychology.

Within Queen Mary University of London, the student will be based within the Wolfson Institute of Population Health where they will join a lively community of postgraduate students which provides opportunities for networking, training, and dissemination.

Applicants must have been in contact with a potential supervisor from the QMUL WIPH - Wolfson Institute of Population Health to discuss their proposed application. The primary supervisor must be a member of staff at QMUL WIPH.

More information on the SPCR PhD studentships in general can be found here.

Entry

Applicants must have a first degree in a discipline relevant to primary care research and will be expected to complete a PhD/ DPhil during the award period.

Applicants must be a UK citizen or have confirmed right to work in UK and be eligible for home student PhD fees for the duration of the award or be able to provide evidence that they can fund the international portion of the tuition fee from external sources (i.e. not self-funded).

. The start date for this award is not flexible. It must have started by the 1st of October 2026.

Application Process

Stage 1

• Applicants must contact a potential supervisor to discuss their proposed application, and supervisors must advise on if they have capacity to supervise candidates.
• A two-page CV and a cover letter (no more than two pages) should then be submitted via the QMUL online system
• Candidates also need to inform the QMUL SPCR Project Manager of their intention to apply via email n.cocks@qmul.ac.uk.
• Deadline for submission is Monday the 1st of June 2026.

Stage 2

• Candidates selected for interviews will be informed mid-June
• Interviews will be online via Teams and will take place towards the end of June.

Please contact Dr Dominik Zenner for informal enquiries d.zenner@qmul.ac.uk

Funding Notes

This award will fund tuition fees to the value of home fees; students with overseas status may apply but applicants must have confirmed right to work in the UK for the duration of the award. They will need to provide evidence that they can fund the international portion of the tuition fee from external sources (i.e. not self-funded).

The studentship award includes:

• Annual tax-free stipend (in line with UKRI rate) 26/27 academic year is £21,805 per year from 1 October 2026 with additional London weighting of £2,000
• Tuition/College fees
• Research costs £2,500 per year