7 course(s) offered in the Department of Medicine
Bioscience Enterprise - MPhil
The MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise (MBE) programme is an intensive taught science and business course intended for those who have an interest in enterprise and the ambition to found technology companies or take up leadership, executive or consultancy roles in the life sciences sector.
The syllabus comprises a series of interdisciplinary modules covering the commercial exploitation of the latest advances in biotechnology together with the business expertise and management skills associated with bringing scientific opportunities to market. Further to the extensive lecture programme, students gain practical business and management experience through professional practice assignments, and will participate in a consulting project and a research placement, both of which they normally undertake with host companies.
Experimental Cardiovascular Research - PhD
The overarching aim of this PhD programme is to reduce the burden of vascular disease by training a new generation of interdisciplinary cardiovascular scientists to investigate, prevent, and reverse the progression of vascular dysfunction.
Despite decades of research, conditions such as angina, myocardial infarction, stroke, and aneurysms remain prevalent and poorly treated. This programme will address the urgent need for new therapeutic approaches for secondary prevention interventions that halt, or regress established disease in high-risk individuals. This directly aligns with The BHF’s 2030 strategy to “support innovative approaches aimed at the prevention of heart and circulatory diseases".
Infection and Immunity - PhD
Infection and Immunity represent an ongoing challenge to global health and wealth – as emphasised by the recent COVID-19 crisis. This PhD programme offers exceptional training in this subject area. Recent advances in genomics and proteomics have emphasized how the pathogen:immune interface shapes the host environment and identified both host and pathogen genes implicated in disease. By studying these interactions, and the autoreactive potential of the immune response, we aim to improve our knowledge and understanding of the pathogenesis of immune and infectious disorders and develop therapeutic strategies to benefit human health. No single student can be experienced in all these areas, but by providing rigorous training in a well-resourced scientific environment our exciting and challenging programme aims to equip the next generation of scientists with the necessary skills and broad academic insight to bring novel and innovative approaches to the study of immunity and infection.
The Programme is offering three fully funded studentships at the Home fee rate, for projects commencing in October 2027. International students may apply to the Programme, but will need to obtain funding and should therefore also apply to the University’s funding competition, by the relevant deadline.
Medical Science (Medicine) - MPhil
The MPhil in Medical Science is a 1-year programme. Studies are carried out by science graduates, medical students combining clinical training, and clinically qualified doctors undertaking scientific training. The research covers the whole spectrum of medical science, from fundamental disease biology and translational medicine through to clinical therapies. Along with the specific research training provided in the laboratory in which you work, you receive further training within the department in the form of graduate workshops concentrating on research techniques, research seminars both on the Addenbrooke's site and elsewhere in the University, and graduate student seminars dealing with generic skills such as intellectual property rights, writing a thesis or paper, and entrepreneurship. You will be assigned a principal supervisor, whom you should expect to see on a regular basis. The department will also appoint a second supervisor whom you will meet less regularly and who provides expertise in a related field.
Medicine - PhD
The 3–4-year PhD in Medicine programme at the University of Cambridge offers an outstanding opportunity to pursue cutting-edge biomedical research in a world-class academic and clinical environment. Doctoral studies are carried out by science postgraduates, medical students combining clinical training with the PhD, and clinically qualified doctors undertaking scientific training. Students are embedded within one of three designated research sections — Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine (CaRM), Immunology and Infectious Disease (ImID), and Perioperative, Acute, and Critical Care and Emergency Medicine (PACE) — each addressing critical challenges in human health through interdisciplinary collaboration. The research covers the whole spectrum of medical science, from fundamental disease biology and translational medicine through to clinical therapies.
National Institutes of Health Oxford/Cambridge Programme NIH Ox/Cam - PhD
This innovative programme was established in 2002 as a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US. Its aim is to train outstanding students in biomedical research, taking advantage of the excellent research environments in Cambridge and the US. Students work on collaborative projects organised by co-supervisors in Cambridge and the NIH, spending two years at each institution. Students have access to all NIH facilities and are paid by the NIH. The PhD is awarded by the University of Cambridge.
Translational Medical Research - MPhil
The MPhil in Translational Medical Research aims to train the next generation of scientists and practitioners in Translational Medicine. Translational research is 'the process of applying ideas, insights, and discoveries generated through basic scientific inquiry to the treatment or prevention of human disease'. The philosophy of 'bench to bedside' underpins the concept of translational medicine, ie. from basic research to patient care. The course will provide an exceptional hands-on experience in state-of-the-art translational medical research. This research element will be complemented with a strong foundation of core lectures, practical courses, literature reviews and transferable skills workshops, all delivered by internationally recognized experts in the field. Students will additionally choose three out of four taught themes focusing on key areas of research excellence in the Department of Medicine: translational immunology, pandemic preparedness, cardiovascular and respiratory research, and acute and emergency care.
The long-term aim is to generate discovery research outputs of the highest quality with therapeutic applications, impacts on clinical practice and patient wellbeing. This MPhil will enhance the interface of graduate education with the NHS at the research and clinical levels.
4 course(s) also advertised in the Department of Medicine
Cardiovascular Research - PhD
From the Department of Public Health and Primary Care
The BHF 4-year PhD programme aims to train the next generation of researchers to develop innovative approaches for preventing cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of illness and death worldwide. Preventing these conditions before they develop is one of the most effective ways to improve health. However, doing this requires new approaches that combine insights from biology, population health and data science.
This PhD programme will train a new generation of researchers to tackle cardiovascular disease prevention by equipping a new generation of cross-disciplinary researchers to work at the intersection of three frontiers:
Population health – analysing large-scale health data from diverse populations to understand disease risk and prevention
Systems biology – studying the biological processes underlying disease across multiple levels, from cells to whole organisms
Artificial intelligence and data science – developing computational methods to integrate and interpret complex biomedical data.
The programme brings together leading scientists from the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Imperial College London and Oxford, working in partnership with our academic or industry partners, including EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Sanger Institute, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Genomics Ltd, Owlstone Medical, ThermoFischer Scientific and Flagship Pioneering. By combining interdisciplinary training with real-world collaboration, the programme seeks to equip students with the expertise and networks needed to become leaders in cardiovascular disease prevention research.
MD (Doctor of Medicine) - MD
From the Faculty of Clinical Medicine
The MD degree is a doctorate, specific to the University of Cambridge, awarded to clinicians who undertake an extended period of scientific research into the science, art, or history of medicine. It provides an opportunity for doctors to receive recognition of research achievement within an approved academic programme.
The MD programme, on a par academically with the PhD, spans a maximum of six years on a part-time basis, allowing candidates to undertake their research alongside clinical or other responsibilities, at the end of which their thesis is examined by Viva. Any candidate working in a Cambridge University Health Partner institution will be assigned a University supervisor and will become a registered student of the University and a member of one of the Colleges. Any candidate intending to work at an institution outside Cambridge must already hold a Cambridge primary degree and must apply to take the MD by Special Regulations.
Medical Science (CIMR) - MPhil
From the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) is one of the leading research institutions in the UK. The Institute’s mission is to determine the molecular mechanisms of disease in order to advance human health, and the institute is founded on the principle of interdisciplinarity, leveraging extensive collaboration between basic and clinician scientists, outstanding core facilities and an inclusive, supportive working environment to tackle big problems.
CIMR’s ambitious Research Strategy is to generate a detailed understanding of cellular homeostasis across three main themes: protein folding and quality control, membrane trafficking and organelle biology. These pathways are fundamental to normal cellular function, so when they are altered by mutation they can lead to diseases that are rare, devastating, and frequently occur in the nervous system. Numerous infectious pathogens have also evolved to infect cells by exploiting and manipulating these pathways. CIMR, therefore, focuses on genetic and infectious disease areas where cellular homeostasis is altered, and which are frequently neglected and overlooked, meaning there is significant unmet patient need: rare genetic disease, neurological disease, and intracellular infection. There are 26 research groups working across these research themes at CIMR.
A one-year full-time MPhil programme of research is offered under the individual supervision of principal investigators based in CIMR. This course can also be taken as a part-time option over two years. During their MPhil, the students are based in a research group, supported by their primary supervisor and the CIMR Postgraduate Education Committee. There is no taught and examined coursework, but students are encouraged to attend research seminars at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and elsewhere in the University, and postgraduate student seminars dealing with generic skills such as intellectual property rights, writing a thesis or paper, and entrepreneurship. Students write a thesis, which is examined via an oral examination.
Medical Science (CIMR) - PhD
From the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) is one of the leading research institutions in the UK. The Institute’s mission is to determine the molecular mechanisms of disease in order to advance human health, and the institute is founded on the principle of interdisciplinarity, leveraging extensive collaboration between basic and clinician scientists, outstanding core facilities and an inclusive, supportive working environment to tackle big problems.
CIMR’s ambitious Research Strategy is to generate a detailed understanding of cellular homeostasis across three main themes: protein folding and quality control, membrane trafficking and organelle biology. These pathways are fundamental to normal cellular function, so when they are altered by mutation they can lead to diseases that are rare, devastating, and frequently occur in the nervous system. Numerous infectious pathogens have also evolved to infect cells by exploiting and manipulating these pathways. CIMR therefore focuses on genetic and infectious disease areas where cellular homeostasis is altered, and which are frequently neglected and overlooked, meaning there is significant unmet patient need: rare genetic disease, neurological disease, and intracellular infection. There are 26 research groups working across these research themes at CIMR.
A three-year full-time PhD programme of research is offered under the individual supervision of principal investigators based in CIMR. This course can also be taken as a part-time option for over six years. The PhD students are based in a research group, supported by their primary supervisor, their academic adviser, and the CIMR Postgraduate Education Committee. There is no taught and examined course work, but students can take part in core principles discussion sessions held by PIs in the CIMR.
Along with the specific research training provided in the laboratory in which the student works, he or she receives further training within the CIMR in the form of postgraduate workshops concentrating on research techniques, research seminars both on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and elsewhere in the University, and postgraduate student seminars dealing with generic skills such as intellectual property rights, writing a thesis or paper, and entrepreneurship. Students write a thesis, which is examined via an oral examination.