Epidemiology
University of Leicester
About the Project Background Multiple long‑term conditions (MLTC), or multimorbidity, is a growing public health challenge, affecting millions of people and placing substantial strain on healthcare systems. Despite increasing numbers of trials, the evidence base remains fragmented and inconclusive due to heterogeneity in populations, interventions, and outcomes.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- 4 October 2026
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project Clinicians, researchers and policy makers are anticipating the release of new joint British Thoracic Society/ Scottish Intercollege Guidelines Network/National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (BTS/SIGN/NICE) asthma guidelines. These guidelines are often used by other countries as a base for their own asthma guidance, but establishing whether guideline advice leads to a change in clinical practice is not simple.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cancer Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological malignancy in many countries and although it is typically associated with a good long-term outcome the prognosis of metastatic endometrial cancer (EC) is very poor. The complete response rate of advanced/recurrent EC to the current standard of care chemotherapy (carboplatin/paclitaxel) is low, and there are limited new therapies successfully approved for EC.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Iron is an essential nutrient for virtually all life on Earth, playing a critical role in processes such as respiration, DNA synthesis, and metabolism (1). Despite its abundance on our planet, iron bioavailability is highly limited.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Bacterial lipid bodies (LBs), also known as intrabacterial lipid inclusions or lipid droplets, are intracellular accumulations of neutral lipids, such as triacylglycerol (TAG) and wax esters. These are surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer containing proteins that support LB synthesis, structure and degradation. LBs are prevalent in many actinobacteria, including Mycobacterium and Rhodococcus .
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria, playing vital roles in shaping microbial communities and influencing health and disease. They are powerful natural tools for combating antimicrobial resistance, advancing biotechnology and understanding fundamental biology. At the Becky Mayer Centre for Phage Research (BMCPR) a multidisciplinary team of more than 40 researchers work together to solve current and future global challenges.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD 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
Agricultural Sciences
University of Leicester
About the Project Artificial intelligence will transform the identification, measurement, conservation and exploitation of biodiversity and the understanding and applications that can come from genomics, transcriptomics and genome assemblies. We have a range of opportunities with several directions to co-develop projects using CNNs and transformers to build foundational, multi-modal language models for plant genomics, phylogenetics and functional trait analysis.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project The addition of the monospecific chimeric CD20 antibody rituximab to chemotherapy transformed outcomes for patients with DLBCL without additional significant toxicities (1). Furthermore, bispecific CD20xCD3 antibodies show markedly enhanced activity alone and in combination with chemotherapy (2). However, up to 30% of patients either fail to respond or relapse despite most expressing abundant CD20 at the cell surface, indicating inherent resistance.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Health Psychology
University of Leicester
About the Project Background Across the NHS, threshold-based decision-support tools are widely used to structure clinical assessment and escalation. These tools simplify complex judgements by assigning numerical thresholds that trigger predefined actions, intended to standardise care and reduce missed deterioration.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Background/project proposal: Cancer is characterized by multi-cellular communities with complex interactions that shape disease progression, treatment responses, and patient survival [1]. Previous studies have revealed broad tumour microenvironment (TME) phenotypes across cancer types, such as T cell inflamed (“hot”) and T cell depleted (“cold”) subtypes [2].
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Project Summary This project will investigate how complementarity‑determining region (CDR) structural dynamics guide affinity maturation in antibodies, with the goal of improving their use in global health and biotechnology. Project Antibodies and nanobodies have emerged as versatile therapeutic and diagnostic tools due to their size, stability, and ability to access epitopes that conventional antibodies cannot.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biomedical Engineering
University of Leicester
About the Project Second Supervisor: Dr Tom Webb, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester ‘Omics’ technologies such as transcriptomics, proteomics and epigenomics analyse biological molecules on a large scale, providing comprehensive insights into the structure, function, and dynamics of organisms. When applied on cultured cells these technologies enable insight into fundamental mechanisms of health and disease.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Microbiology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project Description Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ) is a sophisticated pathogen which can replicate in eukaryotic cells and survive in infected humans for decades. Current tuberculosis treatment includes a 6-month chemotherapy with a combination of four drugs. A growing challenge of multidrug resistant TB highlights the urgent need for development of novel strategies to control, prevent and eradicate TB.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias and associated with increased risk of stroke, hospitalisation, and reduced quality of life [1], [2], [3]. Recent development in healthcare delivery have introduced Virtual wards (VWs) as an alternative model of care.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: DNA methylation is a core epigenetic mechanism involved in regulating gene expression, mediating environmental responses, and potentially influencing genome evolution. However, the function of gene-body DNA methylation is debated. One hypothesis posits that gene-body methylation stabilizes gene expression by maintaining open chromatin structure.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project The 46th chromosome in XX female mammals, the second X, has to be switched off. That way females equalize gene dosage of X-linked genes with XY males. The process of X-inactivation is a fascinating mechanism of whole chromosome silencing which initiates during early embryonic development and is maintained for life in somatic tissues thereafter.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project background Characterization of the genetic variation of bacterial species and the evolutionary mechanisms leading to that variation is crucial for understanding bacterial adaptation to their host environments, as well as the evolution of phenotypes such as virulence and antimicrobial drug resistance (AMR).
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Analytical Chemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Start Date: January 2026 Applicants are invited to undertake a 4-year, enhanced stipend PhD studentship, within the Digital Metal CDT https://digitalmetal-cdt.ac.uk/ at the University of Leicester. This PhD programme is in partnership with TWI. Project Details: Decarbonised ammonia represents a critical enabler in the global energy transition. It serves both as a versatile carbon-free fuel and as an efficient hydrogen carrier.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Clinically relevant pathogens evolve through a complex interplay of within-host evolution (including host and antibiotic selective pressure and interactions with other microorganisms), transmission dynamics, and metapopulation processes between hosts. This multifaceted system is yet to be fully understood.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Molecular Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Background IL-18 is a proinflammatory cytokine though to be involved in the induction and regulation of Type 1 immune responses (1). It functions by binding to the IL18 receptor which is composed of two proteins, IL-18 receptor 1 (IL18R1) and IL-18 receptor accessory protein (IL18RAP) (2). Both genes are found in a gene cluster on human chromosome 2q that has been associated with asthma in genome wide association studies (3).
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Molecular Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Aim: To explore the phenotypes in relation to exercise and physical activity for individuals with respiratory disease. Background: Those living with respiratory disease have increased sedentary time, reduced physical activity and reduced exercise capacity1. Individuals with respiratory disease report that they have reduced engagement in activities of daily living and loss of independence.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Analytical Chemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project We all breathe out numerous microbes, even when we are sleeping. Our group knows this through our work on facemask sampling (FMS). While respiratory output of microbes is essential to the spread of diseases such as COVID-19 and TB, we also know that many other organisms, both pathogenic and no-pathogenic, are exhaled. Surprisingly, coughing and sneezing are not needed for this and we estimate that around a thousand bacteria are expelled per minute.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Nature uses a remarkable range of oxygenase enzymes to perform highly selective oxidation reactions—transformations that are often challenging or wasteful to achieve chemically. Among these, Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent oxygenases are particularly versatile, catalysing hydroxylation, halogenation, and desaturation reactions that underpin natural product biosynthesis and modern biocatalysis.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Environmental Health
University of Leicester
About the Project Background: Climate change and air pollution pose a significant global challenge, disproportionately affecting the health and lives of children. 1 Despite lifelong exposure, little is known about how weather impacts children, even though air pollution, which is closely linked with weather, harms every organ in the body. Each year there are ~18,000 admissions to paediatric intensive care units (PICU) in the UK.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project https://le.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/research-subjects/school-of-healthcare In 2024, the University of Leicester’s School of Healthcare, opened the ‘Jo Williams Clinic’, to students, staff and the local community to improve access to timely physiotherapy assessment and rehabilitation to patients.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project The latest WHO reports that around 10.7 million people were diagnosed and 1.23 million people died from the curable and preventable disease tuberculosis (TB) in 2024, putting it in the top 10 causes of death worldwide 1 . TB is caused by infection with the bacterial pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis . M. tuberculosis infection is influenced by a number of factors including nutrition, immune dysregulation, and the genetics of both the host and the pathogen.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Analytical Chemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Despite the increase in research on the indoor environment in recent years, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding exposure to indoor air pollution (IAP) in British homes [1-5]. IAP includes volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), mould and allergens [6, 7]. Several of these pollutants have established impacts on human health [1].
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project Background: For some people with chronic lung disease high lung volumes (hyperinflation) contribute to extreme breathlessness, severely curtailed exercise capacity, and fatigue. For suitable individuals, lung volume reduction (LVR) via endobronchial or surgical intervention can reduce lung volumes, increase exercise capacity, improve quality of life and reduce mortality (NETT Trial, AJRCCM, 2011).
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Microbial communities are shaped by dynamic interspecies interactions that influence gene expression, metabolite production, and ecological behaviour. Transcriptomic data suggest that biosynthetic genes in one bacterial species are differentially regulated in response to chemical signals from another, indicating a molecular-level response.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cardiology
University of Leicester
About the Project SGLT2 inhibitors are widely prescribed for type 2 diabetes, yet their true potential may extend far beyond blood sugar control. Clinical trials have already shown that these drugs reduce cardiovascular events, protect the kidney, and improve survival. Surprisingly, many of these benefits cannot be explained by glucose lowering alone. This raises an exciting and urgent scientific question: what is SGLT2 really doing inside the body?
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Second Supervisor: Professor Peijun Zhang, Nuffield Department of Medicine University of Oxford The human genome is metres long but packed into cells only a few micrometres in diameter. To function correctly, DNA must be carefully organised so that essential processes such as gene expression, repair, replication, and cell division can occur. A key organiser is the cohesin complex, a ring-shaped protein machine that controls the structure of the genome.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Project Summary Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal lung disease affecting approximately 50 per 100,000 individuals in the UK. Despite recent therapeutic advances, prognosis remains poor, with a median survival of three years and limited treatment options. Genetic studies have revealed several risk loci, yet common genetic variants explain only about 19% of disease heritability.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Second Supervisor: Prof. Sheela Jayaraman, Health and Medical Sciences/BDI/Medicine/ Translation Medical Sciences/Centre Cancer Science, University of Nottingham Additional Supervisor: Prof.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are protein kinases performing essential functions by regulating cell cycle and RNA polymerase II transcription of protein-coding and non-coding genes. Each CDK requires an interaction with a specific cyclin partner for switching on their kinase activity. Mutations and dysregulation of different CDKs and associated cyclins have been linked to multiple cancers.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Telomeres are protein bound stretches of repetitive DNA at the end of linear chromosomes that prevent the end of the DNA being incorrectly recognised as a DNA break. The telomere cannot be fully replicated during cell division leading to a loss in length with each cycle. When a critically short length is reached the cell enters replicative senescence.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Behavioural Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Drosophila Sleep Neurogenetics Laboratory at University of Leicester is open to supervise enthusiastic students for their PhD research in the area related to neurogenetic mechanisms underlying visually-driven sleep. Please see this page for the funded opportunities and contact kc280@leicester.ac.uk to discuss any self-funded possibilities . Sleep is universally conserved behaviour across animal kingdom.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Environmental Health
University of Leicester
About the Project Project background Environmental exposures including air pollution, noise, greenspace and extreme temperature has each been investigated in relation to childhood health outcomes around the world [1] . The adverse association of air pollution [2] or heat exposure [3] with hospital admissions in children has been consistently reported across the studies.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biomedical Engineering
University of Leicester
About the Project The Cerebral Haemodynamics in Ageing and Stroke Medicine (CHiASM) Research Group of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences has an international reputation for leading research on cerebral haemodynamic alterations resulting from ischaemic and/or haemorrhagic stroke. The group’s reputation has been the result of a focused MD/PhD programme in the last 25 years, as well as several intercalated BSc and MSc projects.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Statistics
University of Leicester
About the Project Health and social care interventions—like those for quitting smoking or managing weight—are often made up of several parts. For example, a smoking cessation programme might include motivational sessions, behaviour-change strategies, and different delivery formats (online, in-person, group sessions) [1]. These programmes can vary in intensity, setting, and who delivers them.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Epidemiology
University of Leicester
About the Project Background Paediatric Critical Care Transport (PCCT) teams were established following the centralisation of Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) in the UK to ensure critically ill children receive timely access to specialist care. These teams provide “intensive care on the move,” stabilising and transporting children from referring hospitals to PICUs.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Epidemiology
University of Leicester
About the Project Background and importance: In the UK, air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health (1). Nearly 30% of preventable deaths in England are attributed to air pollution (2). Air pollution can cause and worsen the health of all people, but the most vulnerable populations in society are most affected.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Neuroscience
University of Leicester
About the Project Can you spot the grammatical error this in sentence? Many readers initially fail to detect small disruptions in a sentence, such as an omitted word, an unintended repetition, or a swap of adjacent words. These oversights are important to our theoretical understanding of the brain processes underlying reading, because they show that readers often do not perceive text exactly as it appears.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Second Supervisor: Professor Sue Francis, Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University of Nottingham Additional Supervisors: Dr Richard Allen, University of Leicester / Dr Eleanor Cox, University of Nottingham Fibrosis (scarring) is the natural process of wound-healing, the body’s response to insult and injury.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cancer Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: Radiotherapy is an effective form of cancer therapy that targets high energy irradiation to the tumour volume, resulting in destruction of cancer cells and improved survival. The treatment is well tolerated in most patients, but a minority suffer from life-long side effects that reduce quality of life. The side effects include fibrosis and atrophy of the breast, which results in a poor cosmetic outcome and pain.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Background The RAS family of small GTPases serves as signalling hubs that regulate cell proliferation and differentiation. Notably, approximately 18% of all human cancers contain mutations in KRAS , one of the RAS isoforms (Catalogue Of Somatic Mutations In Cancer (COSMIC)).
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a very large family of heptahelical, integral membrane proteins that mediate a wide variety of physiological processes ranging from the transmission of light and odorant signals to the mediation of neurotransmission and hormonal actions.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ) is a sophisticated pathogen, and it can replicate in eukaryotic cells and survive in infected humans for decades. Mtb forms dormant non-replicating persisters which are very resistant to treatment and difficult to eradicate from patients. Revival of these dormant Mtb is controlled by resuscitation-promoting factors (RPFs), a family of cell wall degrading enzymes.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project The human visual system depends on the precise interplay between retinal structure and neural processing to support high-acuity vision. Understanding this structure–function relationship is central to neuroscience and vision science, yet remains poorly characterised in humans at a population level.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Background T-cell lymphomas are rare but highly aggressive blood cancers. Despite advances in cancer research, outcomes for patients with these diseases have seen little improvement in the past 30 years. New treatment strategies are urgently needed but to realise precision medicine strategies, we first need precision diagnostics and tools that can track disease risk and treatment response in real time.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project In addition to ~20,000 protein coding genes, human genome contains ~30,000 genes that encode for functional RNAs. Apart from the rRNAs and tRNAs that are involved in translation, the famous example is the Xist RNA involved in silencing of one X chromosome in females. The functions of other non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are less understood and require more investigation.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Developmental Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: Understanding how genes shape the development of the human eye from infancy to adolescence is crucial for predicting and preventing childhood ocular diseases. This project will explore the long-term relationship between genetic variants and structural changes in the eye, using advanced handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Child Psychology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: The recent rapid expansion of social media connection and influence has seen the emergence of so-called ‘manosphere’ content, online spaces which discuss and promote toxic masculinity, misogyny and perceived opposition to feminism, and ‘manfluencers’, celebrity figureheads who use social media to defend and assert unequal gender ideals.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cardiology
University of Leicester
About the Project Heart failure remains one of the leading causes of hospitalisation and death worldwide. Two of its most important causes, type 2 diabetes and aortic stenosis, both lead to thickening and stiffening of the heart muscle, but the microscopic processes underlying these changes are not fully understood.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Child Psychology
University of Leicester
About the Project Summary People vary widely in how they handle the everyday challenges of modern life. Some notice early warning signs, prepare for possible difficulties, and draw together support from family, services, peers, and digital systems. Others experience problems accumulating across different areas such as work, health, finances, relationships, or online environments.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Statistics
University of Leicester
About the Project Project Description We invite applications for a PhD project focused on developing and evaluating statistical methods for analysing outcomes in multiple pregnancies, using data from the MBRRACE-UK national perinatal surveillance programme. This project addresses key methodological challenges in understanding perinatal mortality among twins and other multiples, with real-world impact on national reporting and clinical practice.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cell Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project In eukaryotes, chromosomes recombine during meiosis to create novel combinations of alleles that may be selected for in the next generation. Bringing together the best traits is central to plant breeding, but recombination is limited both in number and position in the majority of crops (Desjardins et al. 2022, Nature Comms. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31438-6).
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Importance The proliferation of antibiotic resistance (AMR) through horizontal-gene-transfer (HGT) is a formidable health challenge, accounting for 700,000 deaths annually 1 . Although the dissemination of AMR through HGT is described by conjugation in E. coli 2 , there are other clinically important bacterial families where AMR has come to the forefront due to the emergence of severe drug resistance.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project Mycobacterium tuberculosis has evolved to survive and replicate inside macrophages. The project will investigate the molecular mechanisms underpinning adaptation to this specialised intracellular niche. Our laboratory has made advances in understanding how bacteria sense amino acid availability and respond, via a conserved protein kinase signalling pathway, to synthesise or consume amino acids accordingly.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Second Supervisor : Dr Emma Hesketh, Leicester Institute for Structural and Chemical Biology, University of Leicester Global warming driven by rising levels of greenhouse gases, especially CO₂, is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Reducing and recycling atmospheric CO₂ into useful chemical building blocks is central to a sustainable circular energy economy.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Chemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health concern worldwide. According to the latest statistics, bacterial AMR was responsible for 4.71 million deaths in 2021. If no new antimicrobials are developed, the World Health Organisation predicts that AMR will cost the world economy $100 trillion by 2050.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Did you know that camels and llamas have a unique type of antibody that can be a powerful tool for science? These are nanobodies, tiny, highly stable, single-domain antibodies. Because of their small size, they can be used to manipulate or study the inner workings of cells in ways traditional antibodies cannot.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Agricultural Sciences
University of Leicester
About the Project Second Supervisor: Dr Marie Kirby, Agriculture and Environment, Harper Adams University Project Outline Environmentally resident mycobacteria are important animal pathogens known to infect cattle, pigs, fowl, sheep and most other commercially valuable livestock.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Agricultural Sciences
University of Leicester
About the Project At the forefront of agricultural genetics, the fundamental objectives of the project aim to define biodiversity and relationships of agricultural species and their wild relatives, leading to prospects for developing new genotypes and approaches to increase farm sustainability and ensure food security. We work on crop plants and farm animals at DNA, chromosome and genome or genomic levels.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biophysics
University of Leicester
About the Project Second Supervisor : Dr Gareth Hall, Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology & School of Biological and Biomedical Science, University of Leicester Pin1 is a prolyl isomerase enzyme that catalyses the cis/trans isomerization of proline residues in over 200 protein substrates. Dysregulation of Pin1 levels is strongly associated with regulation of pathways associated with DNA repair and ageing.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Child Psychology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: Developmental dyslexia affects 5–17% of school-age children, posing significant challenges for literacy acquisition and educational success. One cognitive skill strongly linked to reading proficiency and difficulties—including dyslexia—is Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), the ability to quickly name familiar stimuli such as letters, numbers, colours, and objects.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Analytical Chemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Have you ever wondered what really drives life under stress? For decades, biology has focused on reactive oxygen species (ROS) as the main players in health and disease. But a quiet revolution is underway: reactive sulfur species (RSS) —molecules built from sulfur—are emerging as powerful regulators of life, from bacteria thriving in extreme environments to human cells adapting to low oxygen. This PhD project invites you to explore this fascinating frontier.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cardiology
University of Leicester
About the Project Sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are an established class of antidiabetic drugs that have demonstrated additional benefits beyond glycaemic control, including cardiovascular and renal protection. Despite growing clinical evidence of their multi-system effects, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Epidemiology
University of Leicester
About the Project The LUCID (Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Chronic Kidney Disease Integrated Care Delivery) programme exemplifies how long-term condition management can be transformed through integrated, data-driven, and patient-centred care (1). Initially focused on chronic kidney disease (CKD), LUCID integrates primary and secondary care data, digital risk prediction, and medicines optimisation to enable proactive, personalised prevention and early intervention.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biodiversity
University of Leicester
About the Project This PhD will investigate whether the risk of extinction in Hymenoptera is greater than most other insect species because of a synergistic interaction between extrinsically driven decline and an intrinsic factor, their mechanism of sex determination. Insects are essential to ecosystem function but are declining because of extrinsic, human-derived impacts on environments [1].
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Statistics
University of Leicester
About the Project Project overview The UK’s national surveillance programme MBRRACE-UK provides robust estimates of perinatal mortality to maternity and neonatal care providers. However, geographically defined organisations, such as Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and local authorities, also require reliable estimates for smaller areas to target interventions effectively. Direct estimates for these areas are often unstable due to small sample sizes and rare events.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the leading global cause of death from a single infectious agent. It is a highly specialised human pathogen and is able to adapt to changing conditions in human macrophages and granulomas in order to subvert immune defences. Studying M. tuberculosis virulence proteins will shed light on how this bacterium is so successful and identify new opportunities for drug development to improve treatment of tuberculosis.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project A large proportion of the human proteome is composed of unstructured regions, termed intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). Over recent years, it has been demonstrated that these regions are crucial for almost all cellular functions but structural studies of these IDRs to unravel the molecular mechanisms of their function remain largely unknown.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project markers of adaptation. In parallel, the student will utilise muscle biopsies collected within the ongoing OPAL trial. Participants serve as their own control, with samples obtained at: 1. baseline, 2. 24 hours after an acute exercise bout prior to drug exposure, 3. 24 hours after the same exercise bout following one week of GLP-1 RA therapy, and 4. 24 hours after exercise at the end of the full training programme.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Genetic studies of disease primarily look at risk by comparing cases (with the disease) to controls. There is now great interest in investigating the potential role of genomic data on progression and prognosis for those living with disease. A recent paper has highlighted the limited overlap between genetic signals between studies on risk and mortality 1 .
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bioinformatics
University of Leicester
About the Project Meiotic recombination plays a central role in generating DNA diversity, which in turn provides the capacity for a species to evolve. In humans, most attention has been paid to characterising meiotic crossover (CO) as this is essential for the correct segregation of homologous chromosomes and therefore avoidance of aneuploidy; it is also readily detectable.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Midwifery
University of Leicester
About the Project Each year, around 1200 babies will die in the neonatal period, constituting the largest category of death in children under 5yrs. The main causes of death arise from preterm birth, adverse events during delivery, and sepsis. Whilst palliative care is becoming more well known in neonatal settings there remains very little evidence in this area, in particular around symptom management.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Data Analysis
University of Leicester
About the Project This project is an example of the type of approaches that can be applied to a wide range of multiple long-term conditions. Thyroid disorders are common, affecting an estimated 1 in 20 people in the UK (British Thyroid Foundation, 2025). Thyroid disorders have long been known to impact cardiovascular function, producing some of the classical signs and symptoms of thyroid disease (Cappola et al, 2019).
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Medicine
University of Leicester
About the Project Bacteria can populate our bodies and utilise nutrients within our tissues. The available nutrients differ by location, over time and in response to disease. Bacteria therefore need to be able to respond to this dynamic environment and these adaptations can result in a change from commensal to invasive phenotypes.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Statistics
University of Leicester
About the Project The way our bodies process medicines is not uniform across individuals, and a significant part of that variation is written into our DNA. The gene CYP2D6 encodes a cytochrome P450 enzyme responsible for metabolising approximately 25% of all clinically prescribed drugs, including opioid pain relief, antidepressants, and antipsychotics.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Behavioural Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Why do we age, and can that process be slowed? This project explores one of biology’s most fascinating and urgent questions by studying how tiny insects can reveal universal rules of ageing. The jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis offers a powerful new model for understanding how genes and the environment interact to shape how long and how well organisms live.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Molecular Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Sarcopenia is a disease that affects individuals both as part of the normal ageing process and as a consequence of systemic disease. In both cases, sarcopenia is known to be associated with significant impairments in quality of life and physical function as well as mortality.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Applied Statistics
University of Leicester
About the Project We invite applications for a PhD project aimed at improving the methods for national perinatal surveillance using real-world healthcare data. This project will use data from the MBRRACE-UK perinatal surveillance programme, which monitors stillbirths and neonatal deaths across the UK, to illustrate and test methodological innovations.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Data Analysis
University of Leicester
About the Project This project is an example of the type of approaches used by academics in the Genetic Epidemiology group, which can be applied to a wide range of health conditions. Conditions studied include asthma, chronic cough, COPD, interstitial lung disease, thyroid disease, as well as associated traits such as lung function and thyroid hormone levels.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Cancer Biology
University of Leicester
About the Project Project Summary Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting PD-1 and PD-L1 have transformed the therapeutic landscape for several solid cancers. Despite these advances, only a minority of patients experience durable clinical benefit. Both primary and acquired resistance remains a major barrier to effective treatment, and the underlying biological determinants are not yet fully understood.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Biochemistry
University of Leicester
About the Project Project: Cells rely on tiny but essential structures called centrosomes, which act as control centres to organize their internal skeleton and guide cell division. When centrosomes malfunction, cells can divide incorrectly, leading to diseases such as cancer and developmental disorders. Understanding centrosome structure and dynamics is therefore critical for both fundamental biology and human health.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bacteriology
University of Leicester
About the Project Hypothesis: We hypothesise that host stress, via catecholamine stress hormones (norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine), plays a critical role in triggering the transition of Streptococcus pneumoniae from a benign coloniser in the nasopharynx to an invasive pathogen. This microbe kills millions of people every year, mainly children and elderly. This project aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which S.
- Location
- Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
- Deadline
- Year-round applications
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only