What we offer

The University of Bristol is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and we welcome and encourage applications from anyone with an interest in Population Health Sciences or Translational Health Sciences. We're keen to recruit enthusiastic applicants from a wide range of training backgrounds who are interested in a career at Bristol Medical School.

This is a 4-year PhD funded studentship with a range of research training opportunities, including short courses in research, statistical, computational and generic skills.

The funding includes:

• A tax-free stipend equivalent to UKRI rates (£19,237 for 2024/25)
• £2,000/year research costs
• Waiver of tuition fees for both UK and non-UK students.

How to apply

Submit your application via the University of Bristol portal: Start your application | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol. Search for and then select the programme for your project - ‘Population Health Sciences (PhD)’ or ‘Translational Health Sciences (PhD)’. Click ‘Apply next to the September 2025 start date.

Please note: The application system only allows one application per start date. If you have already applied for the programme in September 2025, please select a different start date (e.g. January 2026). We can then change your application to the right start date if you are successful. Before applying, please check the entry requirements for the programme: Population Health Sciences PhD - Entry requirements or Translational Health Sciences PhD - Entry requirements. You must also read the ‘Detailed application guidance’ listed below before applying. These instructions override any conflicting information within our admissions guidelines.

The deadline for applications is 16:00 GMT on Friday 13th December. Applications will be reviewed in January and interviews are scheduled for February.

Detailed Application Guidance

As well as completing the required boxes, you must upload the following information to the application system. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Curriculum vitae (CV, resume):

Provide a two-page CV listing your education, employment, publications, wider contributions to research and leadership experience. Maximum of two sides of A4, 11pt font size.

Personal statement:

Please describe your past training and experience that makes you a good fit for the project, your motivation for doing a PhD, your motivations for applying to the University of Bristol, and why you think we should select you. Please also include any ideas you have for approaching or developing the project that you are applying for.

We're keen to support applicants from minority and under-represented backgrounds (based on protected characteristics) and those who have experienced other challenges or disadvantages. We encourage you to use your personal statement to ensure we can take these factors into account. Maximum of two sides of A4 page, 11pt Arial font.

References:

Please upload two signed references on headed paper. Alternatively, please give up to date contact information for two academic referees. The referee cannot be the supervisor for your project.

Research Statement:

A research statement is not needed for this studentship. Please upload a document to the research statement section, stating ‘I am applying for the Bristol Medical School Scholarships. No research statement is required.’

Funding:

In the funding section of the application form, please choose ‘University of Bristol Scholarship’.

Project Choice:

From the list below, please choose the project that you would like to apply for. In the research section, enter the project title and the supervisors’ names as written on the advert.

We recommend that you contact the supervisor of the project you are interested in to discuss further. If you would like to apply for more than one project, you will need to submit a separate application for each project.

Please note: You cannot create your own title for this studentship. You must choose from the list of projects below.

Population Health Sciences Projects

Applying Large Language Model and Natural Language Processing approaches to automate processes in evidence synthesis and evidence triangulation

Chrononutrition: Investigating the association between eating timing and metabolic health in children and adolescents

Constructing an epidemiological modelling framework to maintain health security against resurgent infectious diseases

From birth to delivery: lifelong preconception health

Hope in the Darkness: Identifying Protective Factors to Prevent Self-Harm

Inflammation as a targetable mechanism in anxiety-related disorders

Intersectional inequalities and mental health of young people with a disability or chronic illness

Is it what I think or what they think? A mixed methods PhD exploring proxy perspectives when measuring capability wellbeing

Quantifying prognosis in the current era of antiretroviral therapy among persons with HIV in Europe and North America across different HIV acquisition route groups

The management of young people's mental health in primary care

Using multivariable Mendelian Randomization to identify and estimate the effects of drug targets on disease progression in cardiometabolic health

Why are women underrepresented in cardiac surgery randomised controlled trials and what can be done to address this?

Translational Health Sciences Projects 

Decoding Heart Responses to Ischemia: Pathway to Breakthrough Therapies 

Detecting early blood vessel damage in cardiovascular disease and finding novel drugs to prevent it 

Developing a preference-based capability measure for patients with total hip replacement 

Patient-derived Retinal Organoids for Modeling Uveitis: Developing a Humanized In Vitro Model in Ocular Inflammation Research