Research in polar studies embraces both the natural sciences and social sciences and humanities. The PhD in Polar Studies is a full-time, three-year research degree (or 4 to 7 years part-time) examined by a thesis. A successful thesis will represent a substantial contribution to knowledge and will also represent a realistic amount of work for three years of full-time study (or equivalent part-time). Students are based in the Scott Polar Research Institute, which is a sub-department of the Department of Geography.

In the first year, students attend a comprehensive training programme based around lectures, seminars, and workshops on fundamental ideas in geography, the design of research projects, and empirical methods and techniques. The University of Cambridge also offers a wide range of training courses for personal and professional development. There is no set course material.

The Department of Plant Sciences is an outstanding University Centre for research in plant and microbial sciences. It offers excellent research and training opportunities in the following areas of plant and microbial science:

• Cell function & responses to the environment
• Developmental biology & signalling
• Genetics and epigenetics
• Ecosystem function and conservation
• Evolution and diversity
• Microbiology & biotic interactions
• Plant pathology and epidemiology
• Mathematical biology
• Enhancing photosynthesis
• Biotechnology and engineering

The Crop Science Centre is an alliance between the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences and the crop research organisation NIAB. The Centre will serve as a global hub for crop science research and a base for collaborations with research partners around the world.

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the University's principal research degree. A PhD in Plant Sciences takes three to four years of full-time study to complete (or four to seven years part-time) and consists of research and courses as required under academic supervision. Applicants should contact a potential supervisor before proceeding with their PhD application. You can browse the personal/group pages of the Research Group Leaders to check details of their research.

The aim of PhD training is to develop a deep theoretical and practical understanding through research into aspects of Plant Sciences, augmented by appropriate lecture courses delivered within the department or, more generally, across the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences.

The course provides training in a wide range of disciplines, including plant genetic engineering, plant development, plant molecular biology, plant biochemistry, plant-microbe interactions, microbiology, plant ecology, crop biology, plant virology, plant epigenetics, epidemiology, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, eco-physiology, and bioinformatics.

Having identified a research area of interest and contacted the appropriate Supervisor, the first stage in developing an application should be to draft an appropriate research summary of the training to be undertaken.

Full-time PhD students must submit a thesis for examination by the end of their fourth year of study, although we encourage students and their supervisors to complete the thesis and submit it within the period of funding support, which, depending on the programme, may range from three to four years.

All postgraduate students attend induction and safety training courses in the department.

In addition to undertaking their research, students will attend relevant courses and lectures, for example, instrumentation, sequencing and database use, statistics, experimental design, analysing data, writing reports and a thesis, and how to give effective scientific presentations. Students are expected to take part in the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences' Researcher Development Programme.

Students receive termly reports on their work.

Plant Biosystems Design is jointly administered by the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge and York, and the John Innes Centre. It aims to catalyse interdisciplinary partnerships and drive innovation in the application of engineering principles to plant biology and biotechnology. Research projects will develop knowledge, talent and technologies to provide sustainable access to plant products, optimise crop performance and drive novel applications of plants through rational engineering. The interdisciplinary nature and focus of the course align to the UK’s National Engineering Biology Programme. We offer two types of studentships: standard and iCASE. Standard studentships are supervised by academic researchers while iCASE studentships are co-supervised by an Industrial Partner. All students must undertake a placement which lasts a minimum of three months. This placement does not need to occur in one single continuous period. iCASE students must undertake a placement with their Industrial Partner for a minimum of three months.

A PhD in Plant Biosystems Design takes four years of full-time study to complete (or equivalent part-time) and consists of research and training courses under academic supervision. All students will attend an annual three-day residential training retreat. Students will develop a deep theoretical and practical understanding through research into aspects of Engineering Biology in plant cells and systems, augmented by training courses delivered within the University of Cambridge’s School of Biological Sciences, or in cohort training delivered by Universities of Bristol, York and the John Innes Centre. Students will be trained to apply the engineering principles of problem-driven research, standardisation, and iterative design-build-test-learn processes that incorporate simulations and modelling. Training will include computational modelling, data science, genetic logic and circuit design, protein design, entrepreneurship, and responsible innovation. These specialist training will be underpinned by training in data-management, statistics, personal development, project management, research integrity, health and safety, wellbeing, writing a thesis, and how to give effective scientific presentations.

Full-time PhD students must submit a thesis for examination by the end of their fourth year of study.

The objectives of this program are to train students to conduct research in bioengineered plant cells and systems, and to apply engineering biology to the application areas of clean growth, environmental solutions and food systems. Students will follow a programme that includes research and personal and professional development via training in specific (technical) and generic (transferrable) skills. In the final assessment, candidates will be assessed on their thesis and by oral examination. They will demonstrate attainment of higher education qualification at level 8 on the FHEQ (Doctoral degree) via the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, original research that extends the forefront of the discipline, and demonstration of the ability to conceptualise, design and implement research projects.

The unequal distribution of income, jobs, and welfare across cities, places, and regions is one of the defining issues of our time, and it is increasingly seen as a waste of economic potential, as well as a challenge for social cohesion and sustainable development. The MPhil in Planning, Growth and Regeneration (PGR) is the flagship programme of the University of Cambridge aiming to address issues of urban and regional planning and development.

The programme is based on renowned planning research and practice at the Department of Land Economy, with input from leading planning and relevant professionals. It provides advanced skills training to professionals involved in managing local economic growth and regeneration through place-based public policy, regulating land use, and undertaking strategic planning at different subnational scales.

The course features a multidisciplinary approach which draws from Urban and Spatial Planning, Economics, and Geography, with additional specialism in Law, Finance, and Environmental Policy. It aims to enable students to 1) understand the nature, processes and challenges of planning, growth, and regeneration in an urban/regional context, 2) develop key analytical skills for assessing and devising spatial planning solutions based on international best practice; and 3) work cooperatively with relevant professionals to develop effective and just planning policy solutions.

Core and optional modules focus on both Global North and Global South policy examples and case studies, with the goal of identifying the different spatial planning and developmental challenges and opportunities at different urban, local, and regional scales. Most teaching material draws on original cutting-edge research carried out by lecturers and international best practices, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods.

The focus of the course is applied and policy-relevant, and graduates from PGR are expected to join private (such as consultancies, real estate developers and financial professionals) and public organisations (such as civil service and NGOs) leading spatial planning and development practice at the subnational, national, and international scale. PGR is also an excellent starting point for a career in postgraduate research in local and regional planning and development, with the possibility to progress to the PhD in Land Economy.

The programme is targeted at two groups of applicants. First, those who have finished a degree in a relevant discipline and aim to gain a better understanding of urban and regional planning and development, and build up applied research skills. Second, practitioners, managers and planners who have some work experience in relevant sectors and want to widen their current knowledge in the interdisciplinary environment of Land Economy.

The MPhil in Planning, Growth and Regeneration is designed to provide students with the following competences in spatial planning and development:

• Understanding the process of and key considerations for land-use and infrastructure planning and development at various spatial levels;
• Designing efficient and effective spatial planning policies to manage transformative socio-economic, environmental and technological changes;
• Evaluating alternative approaches for the design and implementation of spatial plans, and then assessing their outcomes;
• Addressing the legal implications of planning policies for landownership, land/property law and use rights, and resources management;
• Developing an interdisciplinary and cooperative approach for understanding and managing growth and decline.

The course encompasses several different educational and societal objectives:

• Societal demand for multi-domain expertise to tackle the challenges posed by observing and modelling complex systems;
• The need to train postgraduate students with high levels of interdisciplinary fluency and team working skills; and,
• A demand for highly trained research scientists able to drive data analysis on feature- rich sets of data from diverse sources.

The course has four primary objectives for the training it will provide:

• To develop students’ expertise in the techniques used to study planets, from the Earth’s deepest past, the solar system planets, to exoplanets;
• To give students a working knowledge of the structure of life, its essential physical- chemical requirements, and its impacts on planetary environments;
• To ensure students get essential practical experience in running a research project in an interdisciplinary team; and,
• To build students’ capacity in modern data handling techniques and convey an awareness of the wide range of academic and industrial applications of these skills.

The course will benefit students seeking to pursue a variety of careers:

• Academic research careers in planetary or exoplanetary science, evolutionary biology, or Earth sciences;
• Careers as research leaders in high-technology enterprises; and,
• Consultants, assimilating complex multi-domain information and communicating results to stakeholders and teams.

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

It is our aim to develop in our students the skills required to submit a satisfactory PhD thesis at the end of three or four years or part-time over five years. To achieve this, a student will have acquired the essential skills required to design and conduct experiments (including applying for ethics approval where necessary), analyse results, and communicate these both in writing and orally. These skills will include those that can be transferred successfully to their choice of academic or other careers.

The PhD at the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience is achieved by supervised research and is under the jurisdiction of the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Biology. The Postgraduate School of Life Science also helps by providing additional transferable skills training. Within the department, the internal Departmental Postgraduate Educational Committee is responsible for all aspects of the running of the degree. A suitable project that falls within the interests of the Supervisor and is sustainable within the limits imposed by the facilities available in the department is agreed upon by both the student and Supervisor and endorsed by the Postgraduate Committee at the point of admission. Each postgraduate student has a primary Supervisor, who will supervise the main body of their research, and an academic advisor, who acts as a supplementary source of advice and support.

Students attend a variety of seminars given by distinguished scientists and are also able to present their research by giving seminars at our annual symposium, usually in their first year and at our weekly seminar series in their third year.

The majority of students start in October, but it is also possible to start in January or April. The department has over 40 potential PhD supervisors and a flourishing postgraduate community with over 100 research students. 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 before 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 MASt in Physics is a taught master's-level course which is designed to act as a top-up course for students who already hold a three-year undergraduate degree in physics (or an equivalent subject with similar physics content) and who are likely to wish to subsequently pursue research in physics, either within the Department or elsewhere.

The course aims to bring students close to the boundaries of current research and is thus somewhat linked to the expertise from within the specific research groups in the Department of Physics. Candidates make a series of choices as the year proceeds which allow them to select a bias towards particular broad areas of physics such as condensed matter physics, particle physics, astrophysics, biophysics, or semiconductor physics. The emphasis can range over the spectrum from strongly experimental to highly theoretical physics, and a range of specialist options are available.

All students also undertake a substantial research project, which is expected to take up one-third of their time for the year. MASt students study alongside the fourth-year students taking the physics part of the integrated Cambridge Natural Science course, commonly referred to as Part III physics. Details of the current Part III physics course can be found on the Department of Physics website. Please note that the courses available to students may change from year to year (especially the Minor Topic courses taken in the Lent term) and so this year's course listing should only be used as a guide to what courses might be available in future.

The PhD in Physics is a full-time period of research that introduces or builds upon research skills and specialist knowledge. Students are assigned a research Supervisor, a specialist in part or all of the student's chosen research field, and join a research group that might vary in size between a handful to many tens of individuals.

Although the Supervisor is responsible for the progress of a student's research programme, the extent to which a postgraduate student is assisted by the Supervisor or by other members of the group depends almost entirely on the structure and character of the group concerned. The research field is normally determined at entry after consideration of the student's interests and the facilities available. The student, however, may work within a given field for a period of time before their personal topic is determined.

There is no requirement made by the University for postgraduate students to attend formal courses or lectures for the PhD. Postgraduate work is largely a matter of independent research and successful postgraduates require a high degree of self-motivation. Nevertheless, lectures and classes may be arranged, and students are expected to attend both seminars (delivered regularly by members of the University and by visiting scholars and industrialists) and external conferences. Postgraduate students are also expected to participate in the undergraduate teaching programme at some time whilst they are based at the Cavendish, in order to develop their teaching, demonstrating, outreach, organisational and person-management skills.

It is expected that postgraduate students will also take advantage of the multiple opportunities available for transferable skills training within the University during their period of research.

The MPhil is offered by the Department of Physics as a full-time period of research and introduces students to research skills and specialist knowledge. Its main aims are:

• to give students with relevant experience, at a first-degree level, the opportunity to carry out focused 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.

The programme is designed to begin to equip students for engineering leadership positions, developing a high level of understanding and skills in photonic and electronic systems, in particular, the fundamentals of the field together with technology, systems and applications knowledge, and some research experience.

Accordingly, the programme aims to:

develop strong business awareness in MRes graduates and foster an understanding of the foundations of management theory and the connections between technology, management and entrepreneurship;

encourage an appreciation of applications drivers for photonic systems technologies and the business, road-mapping and cost analysis tools used to determine the adoption of new technological solutions;

expose the students to a range of technology areas and provide an experience of a variety of different research and development cultures;

encourage students to study across discipline boundaries, with the resultant enhancement of interdisciplinary understanding; and

equip the graduates of the programme with generic communications skills as well as research-specific training, which would put them in an excellent position to continue on to a doctoral research programme.