Neuropsychology
Cardiff University
About the Project Background ------------ Human tissue damage does not always lead to pain. There are circumstances in which damage-responsive (nociceptive) "pain" pathways are active and yet minimal, or no pain is felt. The placebo effect is one example, as are reports of soldiers feeling no pain from battle-related injuries .
- Location
- Cardiff, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 21 October 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Neuropsychology
Medical Research Council (Cambridge)
About the Project Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are the most common cause of inherited mitochondrial disease and are increasingly implicated in common age-related conditions including neurodegeneration. The pathogenic mechanisms of mtDNA mutations are poorly understood partly due to the striking phenotypic heterogeneity and complications of dynamic mutation heteroplasmy, rendering these conditions very difficult to treat.
- Location
- Cambridge, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 8 December 2026
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Neuropsychology
University of Leicester
About the Project With populations living longer worldwide, understanding how healthy ageing affects cognition is a pressing challenge. Reading is a vital skill, central to independence and wellbeing. Although ageing is linked to changes in visual and cognitive abilities, the neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. This PhD will address this gap by investigating how ageing shapes the behavioural and neural processes that support reading.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Neuropsychology
University of Birmingham
About the Project Attention control is a fundamental cognitive function that allows us to interact with our environment effectively. When perceptually salient distracting non-relevant information is present attention control processes are called upon to regulate the ensuing conflict and inhibit the distractors, or similarly to shift attention between competing inputs according to the current goal.
- Location
- Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Neuropsychology
University of Sheffield
About the Project The aim of this project is to to build a computational model of the development of cortical somatotopy in humans, focusing specifically on the representation of the hand. While many models exist that attempt to explain retinotopy in visual cortex, the equivalent problem in touch faces an additional challenge: our body is a three-dimensional object, whose representation needs to be embedded on the two-dimensional surface of the cortex.
- Location
- Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Neuropsychology
University of Sheffield
About the Project Functional brain imaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have already revolutionized how we can study the processes and functioning of the healthy human brain and are making an increasing impact on our understanding on what goes wrong in disease of the brain.
- Location
- Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Neuropsychology
University of Sheffield
About the Project Alcohol Use Disorder affects over 600,000 people in the UK, contributes to 25,000+ deaths, and costs £52 billion annually. Current treatments carry ~70% relapse rates, and a critical opportunity is being missed: around one million UK adults drink at harmful levels that fall short of AUD but risk progression to dependence.
- Location
- Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Neuropsychology
University of Reading
About the Project Research on neurodiversity, which includes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism, has primarily focused on children. However, these conditions are still prevalent in adults, approximately 3% of adults have ADHD and 1% are autistic. This project aims to address the gap in research on neurodiversity in middle to late adulthood.
- Location
- Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only