HDR UK-Turing Wellcome PhD Programme in Health Data Science

• International applicants

  There are no nationality restrictions and international students are able to apply. However, applicants are advised the award only covers fees at the UK/Home level. International students will be required to secure an additional scholarship from our partner universities (after receiving a offer from us at interview) to cover the difference between Home and Overseas fees. This will limit the university choices available:

  (Please be aware that these are usually highly competitive and will need to be applied for separately in your application to the university post-offer. A successful application to the PhD programme does not guarantee a fee waiver or scholarship. We do not accept applications from candidates who are self-funding.)

  University	Programme	Subject specialties	International fee awards	Comments
  Queen’s University Belfast	None specified	Cancer epidemiology, public health, health economics, bioinformatics and computational biology	None
  University of Birmingham	PhD Computer Science	Medical imaging, causal reasoning, model-based learning, network models in biology	None
  University of Birmingham	PhD Cancer and Genomic Studies	Bioinformatics, genomics, electronic health records	None
  University of Cambridge	PhD Public Health	Public health, molecular epidemiology, biostatistics, computational biology and bioinformatics	None
  UCL	PhD Statistical Science	Bayesian statistical modelling, health economics	Available	One international fee award available for 2024 entry with the Department of Statistical Science. Student must remain with the department for the duration of their studies.
  UCL	PhD Institute of Health Informatics		None
  University of Edinburgh	PhD MRC Human Genetics Unit	Medical imaging, computational biology and bioinformatics, health informatics, genetic epidemiology, public health	None
  University of Manchester	PhD HDR UK Health Data Science	Clinical prediction models, text mining, medical image analysis, statistical epidemiology and wearable biosensors	Available	One international fee scholarship is available for 2024 entry.
  University of Oxford	DPhil HDR UK Health Data Science	Medical imaging, epidemiology, infectious diseases, computational biology and bioinformatics, public health, genetics	None

  These are only initial programmes of study for Year 1. Students may transfer to a new university programme from Year 2 after research projects have been confirmed.

Foundation year

• Immersions

  3-5 day immersion events allow students to gain insight into the work of HDR UK, and our academic, clinical and industry partners. Courses may be residential (expenses provided) with up to a week away from their home university or online. Students undertake an intensive deep dive into an important area of health data science. Immersion topics include risk prediction, oncology, clinical trials, epidemiology and bioinformatics. Past immersion weeks have been hosted by the Universities of Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford and University College London and the European Bioinformatics Institute.

  The immersion events encourage students to work together and stimulate new interactions:

  • Axes of Prognosis
  • The Different Facets of Data

  Research areas

  

  PhD research projects can be linked to The Institute’s:

  • Research priorities
  • Research hubs
  • Partnerships

  Team working

  Students operate as a national cohort and work collaboratively with others, overcoming traditional institutional silos. Students are registered with a partner university but can draw on academic expertise from across the HDR UK network and are supported to formulate research activities that bring together experts from across the UK.

  • You can contact us at phd@hdruk.ac.uk or phone (+44 (0)770 847 8846). 
  • For details of how we process applicants’ data see PhD Applicant Privacy Notice.
• University training

  Students have access to graduate-level courses and research project rotation in their university to introduce them to different areas of health data science and enable them to develop a bespoke research project under the guidance of our expert university leads.

  

• Workshops

  Regular workshops and short courses introduce students to the work of HDR UK experts across our hubs, themes and priority areas and to external organisations. Past contributors have included NHSX, IQVIA and AstraZeneca.

  Immersion and workshop events allow students to better understand the wider health and social care landscape and accelerate their potential to become sector leaders. They also enable students to develop more ambitious PhD research projects by stimulating collaboration with external academics, industry-based organisations, or by using national data infrastructure.

• Researcher development

  Training is provided by academic, industry and NHS experts to promote personal and professional development in leadership capability, cross-sector collaborative skills and inter-disciplinary working. In particular, HDR UK is committed to working with public and patients to build increased trust in health data research as well as designing solutions focused on improving patient outcomes and experience. Students will develop communication and collaborative skills to help put them at the forefront of this mission.

Years 2-4

• Research project

  At the end of the Foundation Year students design a bespoke three-year research project and a multi-disciplinary supervision team based on their training experiences.

  Research proposals will be rigorously reviewed by expert academics and public-patient representatives to ensure they are of the highest standards in terms of ambition, scientific methodology and impact on patient outcomes.

  The research will be carried out at their home university and could be linked to HDR UK research priorities, research hubs or partnerships.

• Leadership programme

  During years 2-4 of the programme students benefit from our expert-led Leadership Programme to help develop the skills they need to understand, collaborate and influence others in order to deliver significant advances in health and care.

  This includes short immersions plus  longer practical real-world projects with businesses and other organisations at the cutting edge of everything from medical devices, to life sciences, to vaccines. Students also learn about leadership theory and attend specially-convened seminars from senior figures in relevant areas of healthcare.

  Networks and experience: Students will be actively supported in building networks and contacts in academia, the NHS and industry as well as taking internships and other opportunities to gain real-world experience.

  Team working: Students operate as a national cohort, building strong relationships through
  joint activities and overcoming traditional institutional silos.

  Workshops: Regular workshops and short courses introduce the work of HDR UK experts and to
  external organisations.

  Immersion events: These allow students to better understand the wider health and social care
  landscape and accelerate students’ potential to become a sector leader. They also enable them
  to develop an ambitious PhD research project.

  Researcher development: Training is provided by academic, industry and NHS experts to
  promote personal and professional development in cross-sector collaborative skills,
  communication and inter-disciplinary working.

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  “Our Leadership Programme will give PhD students the chance to develop the practical skills they need to bring people together to use health data science to deliver much-needed innovations and advances in health and care,” Professor Peter Bannister

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  Our partners

  Programme partners include NHS Digital, AstraZeneca, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and University Hospitals Birmingham.

  More broadly it will work with winners of the NHSX AI Innovation Award, which funds and supports promising artificial intelligence technologies in health and care. There will also be opportunities with businesses on the DTI listed top 100 digital health innovators which are using big data for healthcare innovation.