Masters students looking for placement opportunties please click here
Postgraduate (PhD) Study at MRC Human Nutrition Research
HNR’s postgraduate training programme has been developed to foster and maintain a high quality training environment for postgraduate students.
Most of our PhD students are registered with the Faculty of Biology in the Graduate School of Biological, Medical and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Cambridge and they therefore belong to one of its Colleges, which encourages integration into the life of the University. HNR also hosts students who are registered with other universities, including the Open University. Most of our students are full-time but HNR is also able to admit part-time students at the University of Cambridge.
HNR offers four competitive MRC fully funded PhD studentships per year for students who satisfy MRC eligibility requirements. Applicants will be considered with a first or good upper second class Honours degree in a relevant subject and if they meet the University of Cambridge entrance requirements. The MRC studentship covers payment of the University and College fees, an annual maintenance award (£13,916 per annum from October 2011) conference allowance and Research Training Support Grant for the period of three years.
HNR also has a small number of students from UK and overseas who are either funded through non-MRC studentships or who have been awarded scholarships.
MRC funded PhD studentships at HNR
To read about the 2012 studentships at HNR please click on the links below.
- Vitamin D turnover in elderly people
- Nanoparticles & Chron’s Disease
- Ethnic differences in musculoskeletal phenotype
- Effectiveness of portion size tools on energy intake in overweight subjects
This year we also have a EPSRC/Philips funded PhD Studentship available at HNR. Please follow link below for more information.
The Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) also have a PhD studentship available for 2012. CEDAR is a collaboration between Medical Research Council Units in Cambridge and the Universities of Cambridge and East Anglia and is hosted by the Institute of Public Health – please note this studentship is not administered by HNR and therefore additional information should be sought from the CEDAR contact on the studentship information page (link below).
The Application Process for MRC funded PhD studentships
Initially applicants should send a covering letter, identifying which PhD project they are interested in, a full CV and the contact details of two academic referees to Gradoffice
Short-listed applicants will be invited to interview at HNR. This normally takes place in January/February.
HNR typically receives 15-30 applications per project and awards four studentships per year.
Successful applicants must then complete the University of Cambridge GRADSAF and send supporting documentation to Miss Pippa Eyre (contact details at bottom of page).
For information on completing the GRADSAF please click here
You will need to know the following information when completing the GRADSAF:
Course description: Biological Sciences
Course Code: NUHN22
Programme of study: PhD(Probationary) at MRC Human Nutrition Research
Duration: 3 years
Study Mode: Full-time
The Application Process for non-MRC funded PhD studentships
Students who have secured their own funding should initially contact the Director of Studies with an outine of their project and details of funding arrangements.
The MRC Postgraduate Studentships Handbook
The MRC Postgraduate Studentships Handbook provides detailed information about eligibility criteria, financial support, terms and conditions of the studentship, etc.
The Postgraduate Training Programme
An individually tailored research training programme is agreed between PhD students and their supervisors. This will include in-house training, courses run by the University of Cambridge and MRC, as well as externally run courses. In addition, the MRC and the University of Cambridge strongly encourage their PhD students to attend transferable skills training. Students are encouraged to attend seminars and will be expected to present their work at conferences.
Contact Information
The administration of the research students is managed by the Director of Studies, Dr Jonathan Powell, assisted by the Postgraduate Administrator.
Dr Jonathan Powell - email address
Ms Pippa Eyre - email address
MRC Human Nutrition Research
Elsie Widdowson Laboratory
Fulbourn Road
Cambridge
CB1 9NL
Useful Links
University of Cambridge Admissions Home Page
University of Cambridge Graduate Studies Prospectus On-line
Graduate School of Biological Medical and Veterinary Sciences