The Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience (PDN) offers excellent opportunities and facilities for training in research, leading to the MPhil (Master of Philosophy) degree.

Our one-year full-time (two years part-time) MPhil research programme leads to the MPhil in Veterinary Science degree. Students also attend relevant lectures and seminars and participate in skills development training activities organised by the department and the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences. The main aims of the course are:

• to give students with relevant experience at the first-degree level the opportunity to carry out focussed research in the discipline under close supervision; and
• to give students the opportunity to acquire or develop skills and expertise relevant to their research interests.

Students usually start their project in October and submit a thesis of not more than 20,000 words by the end of August. We also accept students to start in January and April.

Full information on potential supervisors and research projects can be found on the Postgraduate Education page on the department website. Candidates are required to contact potential supervisors in advance of applying. General enquiries concerning postgraduate opportunities within the Department of PDN can also be directed to postgradinfo@pdn.cam.ac.uk. Initial enquiries should be made as early as possible.

The Department of Veterinary Medicine houses a wide range of skilled staff, facilities and equipment, and has a wide clinical patient group to support students' research. It also has strong ties with world-class groups elsewhere in the University and its surrounding Research Institutes.

We have particular Research strengths in Disease Dynamics, Infection and Immunity, and Systems Pathology. We offer a wide range of potential research subjects, including clinical studies, laboratory work, field work and computational biology.

Our one-year full-time (two years part-time) MPhil research programme leads to the MPhil in Veterinary Science degree. Students are based in a research group and undertake research on a topic agreed with the Supervisor. There is no examined coursework but students can take part in a wide range of both knowledge-base and working skills training. Students will be expected to take training courses in specialist areas as appropriate. An examination is entirely based on the thesis presented at the end of the programme.

The programme's main aims are:

• to give students with relevant experience at a first-degree level the opportunity to carry out focussed research in the discipline under close supervision; and
• to give students the opportunity to acquire or develop skills and expertise relevant to their research interests.

There are a significant number of veterinarians carrying out research of a high standard in the course of their professional work for whom this degree provides an opportunity to present their work and obtain a formal degree. Eligibility is restricted, as the candidate must have either a University of Cambridge degree and an approved veterinary degree or hold an appointment at the Cambridge Veterinary School in addition to an approved veterinary degree.

Research projects undertaken for the degree should be designed to build on candidates' veterinary expertise and professional experience. The standard of work expected and the level of originality demanded is high, and the examinations procedure ensures that work is genuinely of doctoral standard. Examination of the VetMD consists of the submission of a thesis of the research work and an oral examination on the subject of the thesis and the general field of knowledge within which it falls.

The Department of Veterinary Medicine houses a wide range of skilled staff, facilities and equipment and has a wide clinical patient group to support students' research. It also has strong ties with world-class groups elsewhere in the University and its surrounding Research Institutes.

We have particular Research strengths in Disease Dynamics, Infection and Immunity, and Systems Pathology. We offer a wide range of potential research subjects, including clinical studies, laboratory work, field work and computational biology.

The PhD degree by research is carried out over a minimum of three and a maximum of four years (full-time), including a probationary period of one year. Each student is assigned a primary Supervisor, who will then assign an advisor or supervisory team to assist the student under their supervision.

Many research projects are carried out primarily within the department, but some of your studies may occur elsewhere or abroad. Depending on the funder, some courses include lab rotations in the first year. All students are expected to participate in the Postgraduate School of Life Science's Researcher Development Programme.

At the end of their first year of study, students are required to complete a satisfactory first-year report and assessment. A short report is also expected at the end of the second year, and students are expected to participate in departmental events such as Seminars, Journal clubs and Research Days. The final examination is by submission and a viva voce examination of a thesis.

This 10-month MPhil will consist of taught and research elements focusing on key areas of research excellence of the Department of Medicine: translational immunology, pandemic preparedness, cardiovascular and respiratory research, and acute and emergency care. Core taught elements will cover transferable skills; patient and public involvement, engagement and participation in research; and interfacing with the pharmaceutical industry.

The key educational objectives of the course are to:

1. Provide postgraduate-level knowledge and expertise in translational medical research, understanding how this leads to generating discovery research outputs with direct therapeutic applications and impacts on clinical practice and patient wellbeing.
2. Train students on the clinical and translational aspects of biomedical research, with particular emphasis on clinical trials, bench to bedside research, the patient-physician interface, the academic-pharmaceutical interface, and research involving the NHS.
3. Provide transferable knowledge and expertise in the design, analysis and critical appraisal of biomedical research as well as communication and team building in a research environment.
4. Develop skills in planning, conducting, and delivering a research project.

The MPhil in Translating Medical Device & Advanced Therapy Research is aimed at individuals who are interested in the development and implementation of medical devices and/or advanced therapy interventions. The course would benefit individuals in clinical practice, academia or industry who require the knowledge to translate research in complex interventions through the clinical validation and implementation pathway.

The taught course is delivered by experts in their field, including lectures, small group workshops and online learning. There is a particular focus on case studies of successful development and implementation of medical devices and/or cell and gene therapy research. The course will cover:

Pre-clinical development and prototyping

Innovation and team building

Regulatory and ethical frameworks

Conducting clinical trials in Medical Devices and Advanced Therapies

Statistical analyses for clinical trials

Critcal appraisal

Scale up and implementation strategy

Enterprise and commercialisation

Conducting inclusive and patient/clinician-relevant research

The course has the following aims:

1. For participants to acquire broad knowledge and expertise in medical devices and advanced therapeutics, with knowledge relevant to every stage of development from initial proof of concept work to commercialisation;

2. To establish participants abilities to map out the stages required to bring a new device or advanced therapy to market, and the knowledge to build a team with the skills to complete this;

3. For participants to acquire transferable knowledge and expertise in the design, analysis and critical appraisal of research as well as communication and team building in a research environment;

4. For participants to develop skills in planning, conducting and delivering a research project.

The course aims to select a cohort of students with the skills, motivation and ability to excel to create the next generation of scientific and business leaders in the therapeutics and healthcare sector.

This highly multi-disciplinary course is co-developed and co-delivered with industry experts.

Students will develop an understanding of the mechanisms underlying normal function and subsequent dysfunction in human diseases and their amelioration or cure with advanced therapeutic regimes. The program provides students with the tools and skills necessary to understand, develop and implement modern cutting-edge techniques in therapeutic sciences and covers a range of conventional and novel therapeutic modalities, including understanding biological pathways and therapeutic mechanisms, diagnostic and prognostic tools, identifying novel targets, and characterizing the pharmacologic profiles of new compounds, including adverse effects and toxicity. The close industry partner involvement in the development and delivery of the course sets it apart from others in the UK and internationally. Students will benefit greatly from the academic expertise and real-world insights which will be brought together in the proposed academic-industry partnership. The course covers conventional small molecule drugs and novel therapeutics approaches from recombinant protein technologies, gene therapy, to cell-based therapies, regenerative medicine and others. Students will also learn the social, financial, ethical, legal and policy implications of the introduction of new therapies, and we therefore propose to link this training very closely to industrial, entrepreneurial, and regulatory activities to encourage students to consider their studies in a society-wide context.

The aims of this one-year, full-time, training course are to:

Give the student relevant teaching of modern therapeutic science research and translation

Expose them to a variety of research and commercial environments at different developmental stages, instilling the drivers and decision making required at each stage

Introduce them to the basic theoretical and quantitative skills of experimental design, project management, time management etc. needed in research

Familiarise the student with the practicalities of scientific research

Introduce them to basic analytical techniques needed to understand and contextualise their research

Train students, by practice, in effective teamwork and basic scientific writing and presentation skills

Instil within students the importance of the scientific method and the diligence required in the planning and execution of research in an academic or industrial environment

The course will also:

Attract students from a wide range of science, medicine and technology backgrounds by providing taught modules and interactive sessions

Give students the necessary broad understanding of current therapeutic developments and trends to prepare them for future employment within appropriate sectors

Provide students with adequate experience and mentoring in therapeutic sciences to enable them to make an informed choice of PhD project or to move into an appropriate commercial environment.

The Divinity Faculty at Cambridge has a distinguished international reputation for research and teaching, and the formation of postgraduate students in Theology and Religious Studies. Consistently ranked as one of the top research units in the country in our subjects, it offers postgraduate training at an acknowledged world-class standard.

Specialisms

The teaching officers of the Faculty include leading experts in a wide range of fields:

• Biblical Studies

• Ancient, Medieval and Modern Judaism

• Patristics

• History of Christianity

• Christian Theology

• Philosophy of Religion and Ethics

• Religion and Natural Sciences

• Religion and the Social Sciences

• Study of Religions (with special reference to Judaism and Rabbinics, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism)

• World Christianity

Each major research area is centred on a senior seminar meeting fortnightly during a term. In practice, these seminars are often interdisciplinary in character (such as the D Society in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics and the Hebrew, Jewish and Early Christian Studies Seminar), and a variety of other informal postgraduate seminars and reading groups also help to expand the repertoire of exchange. A number of named lectureships (the Stanton, the Hulsean, etc.) regularly bring international figures from outside Cambridge to contribute to the research culture.

First-year PhD students are not registered for any degree and must undergo an examination at the end of their first year. If they successfully pass this, then they will be registered for the PhD degree. Candidates submit a thesis of not more than 80,000 words. The Degree Committee must approve the thesis title. There is an oral examination on the thesis and the general field of knowledge in which it falls.