College Futures Themes PhD Programme

College Futures Themes PhD Programme

In line with our MVLS 2033 vision, the College Futures Themes PhD Programme is an MVLS-funded programme supporting up to 12 PhD studentships inspired by four exciting new College Futures T hemes.

About the Programme

The College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences (MVLS) launched the MVLS College Futures Themes PhD Programme and successfully recruited 12 PhD studentships, which commenced in October 2025.

The programme has now relaunched to recruit up to a further 12 studentships, each providing 3.5 years of funding at UKRI stipend rates, home-fee coverage, and up to £17.5k for consumables. Starting in October 2026, these studentships will support research aligned with the four MVLS 2033 themes: Fundamentals of Life, Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Health Inequalities, and Planetary Health.

• Watch the video to learn more about our College Futures

Fundamentals of Life

To drive world-leading fundamental research as an internationally recognized discovery bioscience centre.

Theme Leads :

• Our projects
• Our themes
• Dr Mick Craig
• Prof Kostas Tokatlidis

Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Pioneer the development and delivery of the next generation of novel human and animal clinical interventions.

Theme Leads:

• Our projects
• Our themes
• Prof Jesse Dawson
• Prof John Le Quesne

Health Inequalities

Understand the causes and consequences of health inequalities and to develop and implement scalable solutions to address them.

Theme Leads:

• Our projects
• Our themes
• Prof Jason Gill
• Prof Rich Mitchell

Planetary Health

Understand how environmental changes affect the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems, and to find and evaluate new ways to mitigate these threats.

Theme Leads:

• Our projects
• Our themes
• Prof Sarah Cleaveland
• Prof Dan Haydon

Eligibility

Three years home rate PhD tuition fees are covered therefore positions are open to home students only. You can check the criteria for fee status here .

Applicants must have obtained or be about to obtain a first or upper second class UK honours degree. You can see more information about eligibility on each listed project.

Timeline

12th January 2026 | Deadline for student applications

12th January 2026

Deadline for student applications

Late February/early March | Interviews

Late February/early March

Interviews

Funding

All positions are fully funded which includes home tuition fees, stipend at the UKRI rate and bench fees up to £17.5k. As previously stated this opportunity is for home students only.

Annual stipend (2025/2026 rates as set by UKRI)

Year | Stipend | Fees

2025-26 | £20,780 | £5,006

2026-27 | £21,805 | £5,238

2027-28 | £22,437 (TBC) | £5,390 (TBC)

2028-29 | £23,088 (TBC) | £5,546 (TBC)

Application process

To apply all candidates must complete and upload a 2026 Recruitment Information Form (you will find this within the application portal) to the application portal. This is the only form that will be used to shortlist candidates, therefore if not uploaded, candidates cannot be put forward for shortlisting.

The reason for this is to reduce the impact of unconscious bias in recruitment. We therefore ask that when completing this, please only provide the information requested. Information not relevant at this stage includes name, gender, ethnicity and/or nationality, names of Institutions where you attended or trained.

To ensure that the Recruitment Form can be matched with your application, please ensure that you add your application number (generated when you start an online application) to the recruitment form.

Candidates will need to additionally upload the below documents to their online application:

If you need any assistance with your application please refer to the guide below in the first instance. Please note the admissions portal will ask you to upload a cover letter, this is not required, you will have to upload something to proceed; please upload a blank word document.

Please note that we are committed to protecting your privacy and security. We will only use the information you submit to us in the selection process, sharing where necessary with University of Glasgow colleagues and other associated partners. We will never disclose personal information about you without first receiving your permission to do so, or unless we are under legal obligation to do so. At any point you may contact us and ask us to delete the information you have provided us with, without any negative consequence.

Deadline : 12th January 2026

For more information, please contact us at mvls-future-themes@glasgow.ac.uk

MVLS College Futures Themes PhD Programme

• CV/Resume,
• Recruitment Information Form
• Academic transcript,
• Passport (a scan of passport page),
• Details of referee 1 ((should be from an academic who has a knowledge of your academic ability from your most recent study/programme),
• Details of referee 2 (should be from an academic who has a knowledge of your academic ability)

Application Guide

When applying for the College Futures PhD programme, candidates have to complete the online application through the UofG application portal linked here.

4. RECRUITMENT INFORMATION FORM . One of the mandatory parts of the application process is the MVLS Future Themes Recruitment Information form. To reduce unconscious bias in the shortlisting process, all candidates have to complete a Recruitment Information Form (RIF), which does not ask for any identifying information (name, address, gender, institutions attended, employers, age), ensuring all candidates can be shortlisted equally. PLEASE NOTE, if an RIF is not completed applications will not be progressed to the shortlisting.

5. NOTING APPLICATION NUMBER. Please complete all parts of the RIF, being mindful of the word limit (the form will not restrict you from typing beyond the word limit). It is imperative that you add your application number (shown above), to the RIF. As we explicitly ask candidates not to add any personal identifying details, the application number is the only way to link the online admissions application with the RIF. Application number is an 8-digit number (as above). Please add this on the RIF where it asks for ‘Application Number’.

6. RIF CANNOT BE SAVED ON FORMS. The RIF is on Microsoft Forms, therefore has to be completed when started. It cannot be saved and returned to, therefore when the screen is shut down without submitting, candidates will have to start again.

7. TAKE SCREENSHOT. When RIF is completed, screen shot the last page of the document (shown below) as you will be required to upload this to the recruitment information form section of supporting documents, on the admissions portal.

8. FINAL NOTIFICATION. You will receive a final notification when you have submitted your application.

Please note that we are committed to protecting your privacy and security. We will only use the information you submit to us in the selection process, sharing where necessary with University of Glasgow colleagues and other associated partners. We will never disclose personal information about you without first receiving your permission to do so, or unless we are under legal obligation to do so. At any point you may contact us and ask us to delete the information you have provided us with, without any negative consequence.

• CREATE AN ACCOUNT Candidates need to create an account on the UofG Admissions portal . You will be sent an immediate email confirming that you have now set up an account showing your user id. Please note at this stage there is no application – only a user account.
• CREATE AN APPLICATION. At this point you will be sent a notification that you have started a new application but the application number is still not available. The application number is something you will require but it only becomes available when you save the application. You do not need to complete all parts of the application when first creating it, but when you save it, your application number will be available (see below highlighted in yellow).
• LOGIN INFORMATION. Please take a note of your login information so that you are able to edit your application and upload supporting documentation, some of which is mandatory. Please note that programme start date will be 1st October 2026 .

Contact Us

Each project will provide an excellent training and research experience for successful students.

For more information or support with your application, please contact us at mvls-future-themes@glasgow.ac.uk

Explore the future of research with us and contribute to groundbreaking advancements in these critical areas.

Research areas